chdir(2)                      System Calls Manual                     chdir(2)

NAME
       chdir, fchdir - change working directory

LIBRARY
       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       int chdir(const char *path);
       int fchdir(int fd);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       fchdir():
           _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500
               || /* Since glibc 2.12: */ _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L
               || /* glibc up to and including 2.19: */ _BSD_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION
       chdir() changes the current working directory of the calling process to
       the directory specified in path.

       fchdir() is identical to chdir(); the only difference is that the
       directory is given as an open file descriptor.

RETURN VALUE
       On success, zero is returned.  On error, -1 is returned, and errno is
       set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
       Depending on the filesystem, other errors can be returned.  The more
       general errors for chdir() are listed below:

       EACCES Search permission is denied for one of the components of path.
              (See also path_resolution(7).)

       EFAULT path points outside your accessible address space.

       EIO    An I/O error occurred.

       ELOOP  Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving path.

       ENAMETOOLONG
              path is too long.

       ENOENT The directory specified in path does not exist.

       ENOMEM Insufficient kernel memory was available.

       ENOTDIR
              A component of path is not a directory.

       The general errors for fchdir() are listed below:

       EACCES Search permission was denied on the directory open on fd.

       EBADF  fd is not a valid file descriptor.

       ENOTDIR
              fd does not refer to a directory.

STANDARDS
       POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY
       POSIX.1-2001, SVr4, 4.4BSD.

NOTES
       The current working directory is the starting point for interpreting
       relative pathnames (those not starting with '/').

       A child process created via fork(2) inherits its parent's current
       working directory.  The current working directory is left unchanged by
       execve(2).

SEE ALSO
       chroot(2), getcwd(3), path_resolution(7)

Linux man-pages 6.7               2023-10-31                          chdir(2)