1.\" $NetBSD: sysexits.3,v 1.2 2005/10/03 19:16:35 wiz 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 31, 1996 31.Os 32.Dt SYSEXITS 3 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 42a program. 43Instead, the pre-defined exit codes from 44.Nm 45should be used, so the caller of the process can get a rough 46estimation about the failure class without looking up the source code. 47.Pp 48The successful exit is always indicated by a status of 0, or 49.Dv EX_OK . 50Error numbers begin at 51.Dv EX__BASE 52to reduce the possibility of clashing with other exit statuses that 53random programs may already return. 54The meaning of the codes is 55approximately as follows: 56.Bl -tag -width "EX_UNAVAILABLEXX(XX)" 57.It Dv EX_USAGE Pq 64 58The command was used incorrectly, e.g., with the wrong number of 59arguments, a bad flag, a bad syntax in a parameter, or whatever. 60.It Dv EX_DATAERR Pq 65 61The input data was incorrect in some way. 62This should only be used 63for user's data and not system files. 64.It Dv EX_NOINPUT Pq 66 65An input file (not a system file) did not exist or was not readable. 66This could also include errors like 67.Dq \&No message 68to a mailer (if it cared to catch it). 69.It Dv EX_NOUSER Pq 67 70The user specified did not exist. 71This might be used for mail 72addresses or remote logins. 73.It Dv EX_NOHOST Pq 68 74The host specified did not exist. 75This is used in mail addresses or 76network requests. 77.It Dv EX_UNAVAILABLE Pq 69 78A service is unavailable. 79This can occur if a support program or file 80does not exist. 81This can also be used as a catchall message when 82something you wanted to do does not work, but you do not know why. 83.It Dv EX_SOFTWARE Pq 70 84An internal software error has been detected. 85This should be limited 86to non-operating system related errors as possible. 87.It Dv EX_OSERR Pq 71 88An operating system error has been detected. 89This is intended to be 90used for such things as 91.Dq cannot fork , 92.Dq cannot create pipe , 93or the like. 94It includes things like getuid returning a user that 95does not exist in the passwd file. 96.It Dv EX_OSFILE Pq 72 97Some system file (e.g., 98.Pa /etc/passwd , 99.Pa /var/run/utmp , 100etc.) does not exist, cannot be opened, or has some sort of error 101(e.g., syntax error). 102.It Dv EX_CANTCREAT Pq 73 103A (user specified) output file cannot be created. 104.It Dv EX_IOERR Pq 74 105An error occurred while doing I/O on some file. 106.It Dv EX_TEMPFAIL Pq 75 107Temporary failure, indicating something that is not really an error. 108In sendmail, this means that a mailer (e.g.) could not create a 109connection, and the request should be reattempted later. 110.It Dv EX_PROTOCOL Pq 76 111The remote system returned something that was 112.Dq not possible 113during a protocol exchange. 114.It Dv EX_NOPERM Pq 77 115You did not have sufficient permission to perform the operation. 116This 117is not intended for file system problems, which should use 118.Dv EX_NOINPUT 119or 120.Dv EX_CANTCREAT , 121but rather for higher level permissions. 122.It Dv EX_CONFIG Pq 78 123Something was found in an unconfigured or misconfigured state. 124.El 125.Pp 126The numerical values corresponding to the symbolical ones are given in 127parenthesis for easy reference. 128.Sh SEE ALSO 129.Xr err 3 , 130.Xr exit 3 131.Sh HISTORY 132The 133.Nm 134file appeared somewhere after 135.Bx 4.3 . 136The 137.Nm 138man page appeared in 139.Nx 4.0 . 140.Sh AUTHORS 141This manual page was written by 142.An J\(:org Wunsch 143after the comments in 144.In sysexits.h . 145.Sh BUGS 146The choice of an appropriate exit value is often ambiguous. 147