sockaddr(3type) sockaddr(3type) NAME sockaddr, sockaddr_storage, sockaddr_in, sockaddr_in6, sockaddr_un, socklen_t, in_addr, in6_addr, in_addr_t, in_port_t, - socket address LIBRARY Standard C library (libc) SYNOPSIS #include struct sockaddr { sa_family_t sa_family; /* Address family */ char sa_data[]; /* Socket address */ }; struct sockaddr_storage { sa_family_t ss_family; /* Address family */ }; typedef /* ... */ socklen_t; typedef /* ... */ sa_family_t; Internet domain sockets #include struct sockaddr_in { sa_family_t sin_family; /* AF_INET */ in_port_t sin_port; /* Port number */ struct in_addr sin_addr; /* IPv4 address */ }; struct sockaddr_in6 { sa_family_t sin6_family; /* AF_INET6 */ in_port_t sin6_port; /* Port number */ uint32_t sin6_flowinfo; /* IPv6 flow info */ struct in6_addr sin6_addr; /* IPv6 address */ uint32_t sin6_scope_id; /* Set of interfaces for a scope */ }; struct in_addr { in_addr_t s_addr; }; struct in6_addr { uint8_t s6_addr[16]; }; typedef uint32_t in_addr_t; typedef uint16_t in_port_t; UNIX domain sockets #include struct sockaddr_un { sa_family_t sun_family; /* Address family */ char sun_path[]; /* Socket pathname */ }; DESCRIPTION sockaddr Describes a socket address. sockaddr_storage A structure at least as large as any other sockaddr_* address structures. It's aligned so that a pointer to it can be cast as a pointer to other sockaddr_* structures and used to access its fields. socklen_t Describes the length of a socket address. This is an integer type of at least 32 bits. sa_family_t Describes a socket's protocol family. This is an unsigned integer type. Internet domain sockets sockaddr_in Describes an IPv4 Internet domain socket address. The sin_port and sin_addr members are stored in network byte order. sockaddr_in6 Describes an IPv6 Internet domain socket address. The sin6_addr.s6_addr array is used to contain a 128-bit IPv6 address, stored in network byte order. UNIX domain sockets sockaddr_un Describes a UNIX domain socket address. STANDARDS POSIX.1-2008. HISTORY POSIX.1-2001. socklen_t was invented by POSIX. See also accept(2). These structures were invented before modern ISO C strict-aliasing rules. If aliasing rules are applied strictly, these structures would be extremely difficult to use without invoking Undefined Behavior. POSIX Issue 8 will fix this by requiring that implementations make sure that these structures can be safely used as they were designed. NOTES socklen_t is also defined in . sa_family_t is also defined in and . SEE ALSO accept(2), bind(2), connect(2), getpeername(2), getsockname(2), getsockopt(2), sendto(2), setsockopt(2), socket(2), socketpair(2), getaddrinfo(3), gethostbyaddr(3), getnameinfo(3), htonl(3), ipv6(7), socket(7) Linux man-pages 6.7 2023-10-31 sockaddr(3type)