GETSOCKOPT(2)		   Linux Programmers Manual		GETSOCKOPT(2)



NAME
       getsockopt, setsockopt - get and set options on sockets

SYNOPSIS
       #include 	       /* See NOTES */
       #include 

       int getsockopt(int s, int level, int optname,
		      void *optval, socklen_t *optlen);
       int setsockopt(int s, int level, int optname,
		      const void *optval, socklen_t optlen);

DESCRIPTION
       getsockopt()  and setsockopt() manipulate the options associated with a
       socket.	Options may exist at multiple protocol levels; they are always
       present at the uppermost socket level.

       When  manipulating socket options the level at which the option resides
       and the name of the option must be specified.  To manipulate options at
       the  socket  level,  level  is  specified as SOL_SOCKET.  To manipulate
       options at any other level the protocol number of the appropriate  pro
       tocol  controlling  the	option	is supplied.  For example, to indicate
       that an option is to be interpreted by the TCP protocol,  level	should
       be set to the protocol number of TCP; see getprotoent(3).

       The  arguments  optval  and optlen are used to access option values for
       setsockopt().  For getsockopt() they identify a	buffer	in  which  the
       value  for  the	requested  option(s) are to be returned.  For getsock
       opt(), optlen is a value-result argument, initially containing the size
       of  the buffer pointed to by optval, and modified on return to indicate
       the actual size of the value returned.  If no option  value  is	to  be
       supplied or returned, optval may be NULL.

       Optname	and  any  specified  options  are  passed uninterpreted to the
       appropriate protocol  module  for  interpretation.   The  include  file
        contains definitions for socket level options, described
       below.  Options at other protocol levels vary in format and name;  con
       sult the appropriate entries in section 4 of the manual.

       Most socket-level options utilize an int argument for optval.  For set
       sockopt(), the argument should be non-zero to enable a boolean  option,
       or zero if the option is to be disabled.

       For a description of the available socket options see socket(7) and the
       appropriate protocol man pages.

RETURN VALUE
       On success, zero is returned.  On error, -1 is returned, and  errno  is
       set appropriately.

ERRORS
       EBADF	 The argument s is not a valid descriptor.

       EFAULT	 The  address  pointed	to by optval is not in a valid part of
		 the process address space.  For getsockopt(), this error  may
		 also be returned if optlen is not in a valid part of the pro
		 cess address space.

       EINVAL	 optlen invalid in setsockopt().

       ENOPROTOOPT
		 The option is unknown at the level indicated.

       ENOTSOCK  The argument s is a file, not a socket.

CONFORMING TO
       SVr4,  4.4BSD  (these  system  calls   first   appeared	 in   4.2BSD),
       POSIX.1-2001.

NOTES
       POSIX.1-2001  does not require the inclusion of , and this
       header file is not required on Linux.  However, some  historical  (BSD)
       implementations	required  this	header file, and portable applications
       are probably wise to include it.

       The optlen argument of getsockopt() and setsockopt() is in  reality  an
       int  [*]  (and  this  is  what 4.x BSD and libc4 and libc5 have).  Some
       POSIX confusion resulted in the present socklen_t, also used by	glibc.
       See also accept(2).

BUGS
       Several	of the socket options should be handled at lower levels of the
       system.

SEE ALSO
       ioctl(2), socket(2), getprotoent(3), protocols(5),  socket(7),  tcp(7),
       unix(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				  1999-05-24			 GETSOCKOPT(2)