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SHMGET(2)		   Linux Programmers Manual		    SHMGET(2)



NAME
       shmget - allocates a shared memory segment

SYNOPSIS
       #include 
       #include 

       int shmget(key_t key, size_t size, int shmflg);

DESCRIPTION
       shmget() returns the identifier of the shared memory segment associated
       with the value of the argument key.  A new shared memory segment,  with
       size  equal to the value of size rounded up to a multiple of PAGE_SIZE,
       is created if key has the value IPC_PRIVATE or key  isnt  IPC_PRIVATE,
       no  shared memory segment corresponding to key exists, and IPC_CREAT is
       specified in shmflg.

       If shmflg specifies both IPC_CREAT and IPC_EXCL	and  a	shared	memory
       segment	already  exists for key, then shmget() fails with errno set to
       EEXIST.	(This is analogous to the effect of the combination O_CREAT  |
       O_EXCL for open(2).)

       The value shmflg is composed of:

       IPC_CREAT   to  create  a  new segment.	If this flag is not used, then
		   shmget() will find the  segment  associated	with  key  and
		   check  to see if the user has permission to access the seg
		   ment.

       IPC_EXCL    used with  IPC_CREAT  to  ensure  failure  if  the  segment
		   already exists.

       mode_flags  (least  significant	9  bits)  specifying  the  permissions
		   granted to the owner, group, and world.   These  bits  have
		   the same format, and the same meaning, as the mode argument
		   of open(2).	Presently, the	execute  permissions  are  not
		   used by the system.

       SHM_HUGETLB (since Linux 2.6)
		   Allocate  the  segment  using "huge pages."	See the kernel
		   source file	Documentation/vm/hugetlbpage.txt  for  further
		   information.

       SHM_NORESERVE (since Linux 2.6.15)
		   This  flag serves the same purpose as the mmap(2) MAP_NORE
		   SERVE flag.	Do not reserve swap space  for	this  segment.
		   When  swap space is reserved, one has the guarantee that it
		   is possible to modify the segment.  When swap space is  not
		   reserved  one might get SIGSEGV upon a write if no physical
		   memory is available.  See also the discussion of  the  file
		   /proc/sys/vm/overcommit_memory in proc(5).

       When  a new shared memory segment is created, its contents are initial
       ized to zero values, and its associated data structure,	shmid_ds  (see
       shmctl(2)), is initialized as follows:

	      shm_perm.cuid  and shm_perm.uid are set to the effective user ID
	      of the calling process.

	      shm_perm.cgid and shm_perm.gid are set to the effective group ID
	      of the calling process.

	      The  least  significant  9  bits of shm_perm.mode are set to the
	      least significant 9 bit of shmflg.

	      shm_segsz is set to the value of size.

	      shm_lpid, shm_nattch, shm_atime and shm_dtime are set to 0.

	      shm_ctime is set to the current time.

       If the shared memory segment already exists, the permissions are  veri
       fied, and a check is made to see if it is marked for destruction.

RETURN VALUE
       A valid segment identifier, shmid, is returned on success, -1 on error.

ERRORS
       On failure, errno is set to one of the following:

       EACCES	   The user does not have permission to access the shared mem
		   ory	segment,  and does not have the CAP_IPC_OWNER capabil
		   ity.

       EEXIST	   IPC_CREAT | IPC_EXCL was specified and the segment  exists.

       EINVAL	   A new segment was to be created and size < SHMMIN or size >
		   SHMMAX, or no new segment was to be created, a segment with
		   given  key  existed,  but  size is greater than the size of
		   that segment.

       ENFILE	   The system limit on the total number of open files has been
		   reached.

       ENOENT	   No  segment exists for the given key, and IPC_CREAT was not
		   specified.

       ENOMEM	   No memory could be allocated for segment overhead.

       ENOSPC	   All possible shared memory IDs have been taken (SHMMNI), or
		   allocating  a segment of the requested size would cause the
		   system to exceed the system-wide  limit  on	shared	memory
		   (SHMALL).

       EPERM	   The	SHM_HUGETLB flag was specified, but the caller was not
		   privileged (did not have the CAP_IPC_LOCK capability).

CONFORMING TO
       SVr4, POSIX.1-2001.

       SHM_HUGETLB is a non-portable Linux extension.

NOTES
       IPC_PRIVATE isnt a flag field but a key_t type.	If this special value
       is  used for key, the system call ignores everything but the least sig
       nificant 9 bits of shmflg and creates a new shared memory  segment  (on
       success).

       The  following  limits  on  shared  memory segment resources affect the
       shmget() call:

       SHMALL	  System wide maximum of shared memory pages (on  Linux,  this
		  limit can be read and modified via /proc/sys/kernel/shmall).

       SHMMAX	  Maximum size in bytes for a shared  memory  segment:	policy
		  dependent (on Linux, this limit can be read and modified via
		  /proc/sys/kernel/shmmax).

       SHMMIN	  Minimum size in bytes for a shared memory segment: implemen
		  tation  dependent (currently 1 byte, though PAGE_SIZE is the
		  effective minimum size).

       SHMMNI	  System wide maximum number of shared memory segments: imple
		  mentation  dependent	(currently  4096, was 128 before Linux
		  2.3.99; on Linux, this limit can be read  and  modified  via
		  /proc/sys/kernel/shmmni).

       The  implementation  has no specific limits for the per-process maximum
       number of shared memory segments (SHMSEG).

   Linux Notes
       Until version 2.3.30 Linux would return	EIDRM  for  a  shmget()  on  a
       shared memory segment scheduled for deletion.

BUGS
       The name choice IPC_PRIVATE was perhaps unfortunate, IPC_NEW would more
       clearly show its function.

SEE ALSO
       shmat(2),    shmctl(2),	   shmdt(2),	 ftok(3),     capabilities(7),
       shm_overview(7), svipc(7)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 3.05 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, and information about reporting  bugs,  can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



Linux				  2006-05-02			     SHMGET(2)




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