daemon(3)                  Library Functions Manual                  daemon(3)

NAME
       daemon - run in the background

LIBRARY
       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       int daemon(int nochdir, int noclose);

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

       daemon():
           Since glibc 2.21:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE
           In glibc 2.19 and 2.20:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE || (_XOPEN_SOURCE && _XOPEN_SOURCE < 500)
           Up to and including glibc 2.19:
               _BSD_SOURCE || (_XOPEN_SOURCE && _XOPEN_SOURCE < 500)

DESCRIPTION
       The daemon() function is for programs wishing to detach themselves from
       the controlling terminal and run in the background as system daemons.

       If nochdir is zero, daemon() changes the process's current working
       directory to the root directory ("/"); otherwise, the current working
       directory is left unchanged.

       If noclose is zero, daemon() redirects standard input, standard output,
       and standard error to /dev/null; otherwise, no changes are made to
       these file descriptors.

RETURN VALUE
       (This function forks, and if the fork(2) succeeds, the parent calls
       _exit(2), so that further errors are seen by the child only.)  On
       success daemon() returns zero.  If an error occurs, daemon() returns -1
       and sets errno to any of the errors specified for the fork(2) and
       setsid(2).

ATTRIBUTES
       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
       attributes(7).

       +--------------------------------------------+---------------+---------+
       |Interface                                   | Attribute     | Value   |
       +--------------------------------------------+---------------+---------+
       |daemon ()                                   | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
       +--------------------------------------------+---------------+---------+
VERSIONS
       A similar function appears on the BSDs.

       The glibc implementation can also return -1 when /dev/null exists but
       is not a character device with the expected major and minor numbers.
       In this case, errno need not be set.

STANDARDS
       None.

HISTORY
       4.4BSD.

BUGS
       The GNU C library implementation of this function was taken from BSD,
       and does not employ the double-fork technique (i.e., fork(2),
       setsid(2), fork(2)) that is necessary to ensure that the resulting
       daemon process is not a session leader.  Instead, the resulting daemon
       is a session leader.  On systems that follow System V semantics (e.g.,
       Linux), this means that if the daemon opens a terminal that is not
       already a controlling terminal for another session, then that terminal
       will inadvertently become the controlling terminal for the daemon.

SEE ALSO
       fork(2), setsid(2), daemon(7), logrotate(8)

Linux man-pages 6.7               2023-10-31                         daemon(3)