1.\" $NetBSD: sysexits.3,v 1.6 2011/04/08 10:14:24 jruoho Exp $ 2.\" 3.\" Copyright (c) 1996 Joerg Wunsch 4.\" 5.\" All rights reserved. 6.\" 7.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without 8.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions 9.\" are met: 10.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright 11.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 12.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 13.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 14.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 15.\" 16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE DEVELOPERS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR 17.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES 18.\" OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. 19.\" IN NO EVENT SHALL THE DEVELOPERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, 20.\" INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT 21.\" NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, 22.\" DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY 23.\" THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT 24.\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF 25.\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. 26.\" 27.\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man3/sysexits.3,v 1.16 2005/06/30 13:13:49 hmp Exp $ 28.\" 29.\" " 30.Dd March 25, 2010 31.Dt SYSEXITS 3 32.Os 33.Sh NAME 34.Nm sysexits 35.Nd preferable exit codes for programs 36.Sh SYNOPSIS 37.In sysexits.h 38.Sh DESCRIPTION 39It is not a good practice to call 40.Xr exit 3 41with arbitrary values to indicate a failure condition when ending a program. 42In addition to the two standard constants in 43.In stdlib.h , 44.Dv EXIT_SUCCESS 45and 46.Dv EXIT_FAILURE , 47the header 48.In sysexits.h 49defines few exit codes that can be used as a parameter to the 50.Xr exit 3 51function. 52By using these constants the caller of the process can get a rough 53estimation about the failure class without looking up the source code. 54.Pp 55The successful exit is always indicated by a status of 0, or 56.Dv EX_OK . 57Error numbers begin at 58.Dv EX__BASE 59to reduce the possibility of clashing with other exit statuses that 60random programs may already return. 61The meaning of the codes is 62approximately as follows: 63.Bl -tag -width "EX_UNAVAILABLEXX(XX)" 64.It Dv EX_USAGE Pq 64 65The command was used incorrectly, e.g., with the wrong number of 66arguments, a bad flag, a bad syntax in a parameter, or whatever. 67.It Dv EX_DATAERR Pq 65 68The input data was incorrect in some way. 69This should only be used 70for user's data and not system files. 71.It Dv EX_NOINPUT Pq 66 72An input file (not a system file) did not exist or was not readable. 73This could also include errors like 74.Dq \&No message 75to a mailer (if it cared to catch it). 76.It Dv EX_NOUSER Pq 67 77The user specified did not exist. 78This might be used for mail 79addresses or remote logins. 80.It Dv EX_NOHOST Pq 68 81The host specified did not exist. 82This is used in mail addresses or 83network requests. 84.It Dv EX_UNAVAILABLE Pq 69 85A service is unavailable. 86This can occur if a support program or file 87does not exist. 88This can also be used as a catchall message when 89something you wanted to do does not work, but you do not know why. 90.It Dv EX_SOFTWARE Pq 70 91An internal software error has been detected. 92This should be limited 93to non-operating system related errors as possible. 94.It Dv EX_OSERR Pq 71 95An operating system error has been detected. 96This is intended to be 97used for such things as 98.Dq cannot fork , 99.Dq cannot create pipe , 100or the like. 101It includes things like getuid returning a user that 102does not exist in the passwd file. 103.It Dv EX_OSFILE Pq 72 104Some system file (e.g., 105.Pa /etc/passwd , 106.Pa /var/run/utmp , 107etc.) does not exist, cannot be opened, or has some sort of error 108(e.g., syntax error). 109.It Dv EX_CANTCREAT Pq 73 110A (user specified) output file cannot be created. 111.It Dv EX_IOERR Pq 74 112An error occurred while doing I/O on some file. 113.It Dv EX_TEMPFAIL Pq 75 114Temporary failure, indicating something that is not really an error. 115In sendmail, this means that a mailer (e.g.) could not create a 116connection, and the request should be reattempted later. 117.It Dv EX_PROTOCOL Pq 76 118The remote system returned something that was 119.Dq not possible 120during a protocol exchange. 121.It Dv EX_NOPERM Pq 77 122You did not have sufficient permission to perform the operation. 123This 124is not intended for file system problems, which should use 125.Dv EX_NOINPUT 126or 127.Dv EX_CANTCREAT , 128but rather for higher level permissions. 129.It Dv EX_CONFIG Pq 78 130Something was found in an unconfigured or misconfigured state. 131.El 132.Pp 133The numerical values corresponding to the symbolical ones are given in 134parenthesis for easy reference. 135.Sh SEE ALSO 136.Xr err 3 , 137.Xr exit 3 , 138.Xr stdlib 3 139.Sh HISTORY 140The 141.In sysexits.h 142header appeared somewhere after 143.Bx 4.3 . 144The manual page for it appeared in 145.Nx 4.0 . 146.Sh AUTHORS 147This manual page was written by 148.An J\(:org Wunsch 149after the comments in 150.In sysexits.h . 151.Sh BUGS 152The choice of an appropriate exit value is often ambiguous. 153