Originální popis anglicky:
vfork - create a child process and block parent
Návod, kniha: Linux Programmer's Manual
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <unistd.h>
pid_t vfork(void);
(From XPG4 / SUSv2 / POSIX draft.) The
vfork() function has the same
effect as
fork(), except that the behaviour is undefined if the process
created by
vfork() either modifies any data other than a variable of
type pid_t used to store the return value from
vfork(), or returns from
the function in which
vfork() was called, or calls any other function
before successfully calling
_exit() or one of the
exec family of
functions.
- EAGAIN
- Too many processes - try again.
- ENOMEM
- There is insufficient swap space for the new process.
vfork, just like
fork(2), creates a child process of the calling
process. For details and return value and errors, see
fork(2).
vfork() is a special case of
clone(2). It is used to create new
processes without copying the page tables of the parent process. It may be
useful in performance sensitive applications where a child will be created
which then immediately issues an
execve().
vfork() differs from fork in that the parent is suspended until the child
makes a call to
execve(2) or
_exit(2). The child shares all
memory with its parent, including the stack, until
execve() is issued
by the child. The child must not return from the current function or call
exit(), but may call
_exit().
Signal handlers are inherited, but not shared. Signals to the parent arrive
after the child releases the parent.
Under Linux,
fork() is implemented using copy-on-write pages, so the only
penalty incurred by
fork() is the time and memory required to duplicate
the parent's page tables, and to create a unique task structure for the child.
However, in the bad old days a
fork() would require making a complete
copy of the caller's data space, often needlessly, since usually immediately
afterwards an
exec() is done. Thus, for greater efficiency, BSD
introduced the
vfork system call, that did not fully copy the address
space of the parent process, but borrowed the parent's memory and thread of
control until a call to
execve() or an exit occurred. The parent
process was suspended while the child was using its resources. The use of
vfork was tricky - for example, not modifying data in the parent process
depended on knowing which variables are held in a register.
It is rather unfortunate that Linux revived this spectre from the past. The BSD
manpage states: "This system call will be eliminated when proper system
sharing mechanisms are implemented. Users should not depend on the memory
sharing semantics of
vfork as it will, in that case, be made synonymous
to
fork."
Formally speaking, the standard description given above does not allow one to
use
vfork() since a following
exec might fail, and then what
happens is undefined.
Details of the signal handling are obscure and differ between systems. The BSD
manpage states: "To avoid a possible deadlock situation, processes that
are children in the middle of a
vfork are never sent SIGTTOU or SIGTTIN
signals; rather, output or
ioctls are allowed and input attempts result
in an end-of-file indication."
Currently (Linux 2.3.25),
strace(1) cannot follow
vfork() and
requires a kernel patch.
The
vfork() system call appeared in 3.0BSD. In BSD 4.4 it was made
synonymous to
fork(), but NetBSD introduced it again, cf.
http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/kernel/vfork.html . In Linux, it has been
equivalent to
fork() until 2.2.0-pre6 or so. Since 2.2.0-pre9 (on i386,
somewhat later on other architectures) it is an independent system call.
Support was added in glibc 2.0.112.
The
vfork call may be a bit similar to calls with the same name in other
operating systems. The requirements put on
vfork by the standards are
weaker than those put on
fork, so an implementation where the two are
synonymous is compliant. In particular, the programmer cannot rely on the
parent remaining blocked until a call of
execve() or
_exit() and
cannot rely on any specific behaviour w.r.t. shared memory.
clone(2),
execve(2),
fork(2),
wait(2)
