epoll_ctl(2) — Linux manual page
epoll_ctl(2) System Calls Manual epoll_ctl(2)
NAME
epoll_ctl - control interface for an epoll file descriptor
LIBRARY
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/epoll.h>
int epoll_ctl(int epfd, int op, int fd,
struct epoll_event *_Nullable event);
DESCRIPTION
This system call is used to add, modify, or remove entries in the
interest list of the epoll(7) instance referred to by the file
descriptor epfd. It requests that the operation op be performed
for the target file descriptor, fd.
Valid values for the op argument are:
EPOLL_CTL_ADD
Add an entry to the interest list of the epoll file
descriptor, epfd. The entry includes the file descriptor,
fd, a reference to the corresponding open file description
(see epoll(7) and open(2)), and the settings specified in
event.
EPOLL_CTL_MOD
Change the settings associated with fd in the interest
list to the new settings specified in event.
EPOLL_CTL_DEL
Remove (deregister) the target file descriptor fd from the
interest list. The event argument is ignored and can be
NULL (but see BUGS below).
The event argument describes the object linked to the file
descriptor fd. The struct epoll_event is described in
epoll_event(3type).
The data member of the epoll_event structure specifies data that
the kernel should save and then return (via epoll_wait(2)) when
this file descriptor becomes ready.
The events member of the epoll_event structure is a bit mask
composed by ORing together zero or more event types, returned by
epoll_wait(2), and input flags, which affect its behaviour, but
aren't returned. The available event types are:
EPOLLIN
The associated file is available for read(2) operations.
EPOLLOUT
The associated file is available for write(2) operations.
EPOLLRDHUP (since Linux 2.6.17)
Stream socket peer closed connection, or shut down writing
half of connection. (This flag is especially useful for
writing simple code to detect peer shutdown when using
edge-triggered monitoring.)
EPOLLPRI
There is an exceptional condition on the file descriptor.
See the discussion of POLLPRI in poll(2).
EPOLLERR
Error condition happened on the associated file
descriptor. This event is also reported for the write end
of a pipe when the read end has been closed.
epoll_wait(2) will always report for this event; it is not
necessary to set it in events when calling epoll_ctl().
EPOLLHUP
Hang up happened on the associated file descriptor.
epoll_wait(2) will always wait for this event; it is not
necessary to set it in events when calling epoll_ctl().
Note that when reading from a channel such as a pipe or a
stream socket, this event merely indicates that the peer
closed its end of the channel. Subsequent reads from the
channel will return 0 (end of file) only after all
outstanding data in the channel has been consumed.
And the available input flags are:
EPOLLET
Requests edge-triggered notification for the associated
file descriptor. The default behavior for epoll is level-
triggered. See epoll(7) for more detailed information
about edge-triggered and level-triggered notification.
EPOLLONESHOT (since Linux 2.6.2)
Requests one-shot notification for the associated file
descriptor. This means that after an event notified for
the file descriptor by epoll_wait(2), the file descriptor
is disabled in the interest list and no other events will
be reported by the epoll interface. The user must call
epoll_ctl() with EPOLL_CTL_MOD to rearm the file
descriptor with a new event mask.
EPOLLWAKEUP (since Linux 3.5)
If EPOLLONESHOT and EPOLLET are clear and the process has
the CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND capability, ensure that the system
does not enter "suspend" or "hibernate" while this event
is pending or being processed. The event is considered as
being "processed" from the time when it is returned by a
call to epoll_wait(2) until the next call to epoll_wait(2)
on the same epoll(7) file descriptor, the closure of that
file descriptor, the removal of the event file descriptor
with EPOLL_CTL_DEL, or the clearing of EPOLLWAKEUP for the
event file descriptor with EPOLL_CTL_MOD. See also BUGS.
EPOLLEXCLUSIVE (since Linux 4.5)
Sets an exclusive wakeup mode for the epoll file
descriptor that is being attached to the target file
descriptor, fd. When a wakeup event occurs and multiple
epoll file descriptors are attached to the same target
file using EPOLLEXCLUSIVE, one or more of the epoll file
descriptors will receive an event with epoll_wait(2). The
default in this scenario (when EPOLLEXCLUSIVE is not set)
is for all epoll file descriptors to receive an event.
EPOLLEXCLUSIVE is thus useful for avoiding thundering herd
problems in certain scenarios.
If the same file descriptor is in multiple epoll
instances, some with the EPOLLEXCLUSIVE flag, and others
without, then events will be provided to all epoll
instances that did not specify EPOLLEXCLUSIVE, and at
least one of the epoll instances that did specify
EPOLLEXCLUSIVE.
The following values may be specified in conjunction with
EPOLLEXCLUSIVE: EPOLLIN, EPOLLOUT, EPOLLWAKEUP, and
EPOLLET. EPOLLHUP and EPOLLERR can also be specified, but
this is not required: as usual, these events are always
reported if they occur, regardless of whether they are
specified in events. Attempts to specify other values in
events yield the error EINVAL.
EPOLLEXCLUSIVE may be used only in an EPOLL_CTL_ADD
operation; attempts to employ it with EPOLL_CTL_MOD yield
an error. If EPOLLEXCLUSIVE has been set using
epoll_ctl(), then a subsequent EPOLL_CTL_MOD on the same
epfd, fd pair yields an error. A call to epoll_ctl() that
specifies EPOLLEXCLUSIVE in events and specifies the
target file descriptor fd as an epoll instance will
likewise fail. The error in all of these cases is EINVAL.
RETURN VALUE
When successful, epoll_ctl() returns zero. When an error occurs,
epoll_ctl() returns -1 and errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORS
EBADF epfd or fd is not a valid file descriptor.
EEXIST op was EPOLL_CTL_ADD, and the supplied file descriptor fd
is already registered with this epoll instance.
EINVAL epfd is not an epoll file descriptor, or fd is the same as
epfd, or the requested operation op is not supported by
this interface.
EINVAL An invalid event type was specified along with
EPOLLEXCLUSIVE in events.
EINVAL op was EPOLL_CTL_MOD and events included EPOLLEXCLUSIVE.
EINVAL op was EPOLL_CTL_MOD and the EPOLLEXCLUSIVE flag has
previously been applied to this epfd, fd pair.
EINVAL EPOLLEXCLUSIVE was specified in event and fd refers to an
epoll instance.
ELOOP fd refers to an epoll instance and this EPOLL_CTL_ADD
operation would result in a circular loop of epoll
instances monitoring one another or a nesting depth of
epoll instances greater than 5.
ENOENT op was EPOLL_CTL_MOD or EPOLL_CTL_DEL, and fd is not
registered with this epoll instance.
ENOMEM There was insufficient memory to handle the requested op
control operation.
ENOSPC The limit imposed by /proc/sys/fs/epoll/max_user_watches
was encountered while trying to register (EPOLL_CTL_ADD) a
new file descriptor on an epoll instance. See epoll(7)
for further details.
EPERM The target file fd does not support epoll. This error can
occur if fd refers to, for example, a regular file or a
directory.
STANDARDS
Linux.
HISTORY
Linux 2.6, glibc 2.3.2.
NOTES
The epoll interface supports all file descriptors that support
poll(2).
BUGS
Before Linux 2.6.9, the EPOLL_CTL_DEL operation required a non-
null pointer in event, even though this argument is ignored.
Since Linux 2.6.9, event can be specified as NULL when using
EPOLL_CTL_DEL. Applications that need to be portable to kernels
before Linux 2.6.9 should specify a non-null pointer in event.
If EPOLLWAKEUP is specified in flags, but the caller does not
have the CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND capability, then the EPOLLWAKEUP flag
is silently ignored. This unfortunate behavior is necessary
because no validity checks were performed on the flags argument
in the original implementation, and the addition of the
EPOLLWAKEUP with a check that caused the call to fail if the
caller did not have the CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND capability caused a
breakage in at least one existing user-space application that
happened to randomly (and uselessly) specify this bit. A robust
application should therefore double check that it has the
CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND capability if attempting to use the EPOLLWAKEUP
flag.
SEE ALSO
epoll_create(2), epoll_wait(2), ioctl_eventpoll(2), poll(2),
epoll(7)
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Linux man-pages 6.9.1 2024-06-12 epoll_ctl(2)
Pages that refer to this page: epoll_create(2), epoll_wait(2), io_uring_enter2(2), io_uring_enter(2), signalfd(2), syscalls(2), epoll_event(3type), sd_event_add_io(3), sd_event_get_fd(3), sd_notify(3), proc_pid_fdinfo(5), epoll(7)