prctl(1)
NAME
prctl - Process operations
SYNOPSIS
prctl [-v] [-h|--help] [--version] <-q|<options....>> [command] where <options> are: --unaligned=[silent|signal|always-signal|default] --fpemu=[silent|signal|default] --mcekill=[early|late|default]
DESCRIPTION
prctl allows you to query or control certain process behavior.
Supported options are:
Unaligned memory access: When a process performs an unaligned memory
access, by default the kernel would emulate the unaligned access
correctly and log the unaligned access in syslog. This behavior can be
changed so the kernel could either emulate the unaligned access
correctly without logging an error ("silent") or send SIGBUS to the
process ("signal" and "always-signal"). "always-signal" is available on
ia64 only.
Floating point assistance faults: when a process encounters a floating
point assist fault, kernel would invoke floating point emulator and log
the floating point assist fault. This behavior can be changed so the
kernel could either emulate floating point operation without logging an
error ("silent") or send SIGFPE to the offending process ("signal").
Machine check memory corruption kill policy: If a hardware memeory
corruption is detected inside a thread's address space, mmemory
corruption kill policy determines whether the thread received SIGBUS as
soon as corruption is detected ("early"), when it accesses corrupted
memory ("late"), or use system wide default.
prctl can optionally be followed by a command. If a command is
specified, prctl will exec the command with the processor behavior set
to as specified by the options. If a command is not specified, prctl
will fork a new shell unless the command only queried the current
settings. The shell started by prctl will be as defined by the
environment variable SHELL. If environment variable SHELL is not
defined, shell in the password entry for the user will be started. If a
shell is not found in the password entry, bash will be started.
OPTIONS
-v Verbose mode. In verbose mode, any new settings are confirmed
with a message on stdout.
--help Print usage information and exit.
--version
Print software version and exit.
-q Query the current settings for the process options controllable
by prctl.
--unaligned=[silent|signal|always-signal|default]]
Set unaligned memory access behavior to not log the access
(silent), send SIGBUS to the process (signal), or do the default
(default). On IA-64 architecture an additional value always-
signal is supported which causes a SIGBUS to be generated every
time an unaligned access occurs. Refer to the section titled
"Memory Datum Alignment and Atomicity" in "Intel IA-64
Architecture Software Developer's Manual: Volume 2" for details
on when an unaligned access would not generate signal normally.
If a value is not specified after "=", current setting is
returned.
--fpemu=[silent|signal|default]]
Set floating point assist fault behavior to not log the faulti
(silent), send SIGFPE to the process (signal), or do the default
(default). If a value is not specified after "=", current
setting is returned.
If an option is specified multiple times, the last one takes effect.
EXAMPLES
prctl --unaligned=signal
starts up a shell (as defined by the environment variable SHELL)
and sets up any process running under this shell to be sent
SIGBUS upon an unaligned memory access.
prctl --unaligned=signal gdb tst
starts up a gdb session for the program "tst" with the process
set to receive SIGBUS upon unligned memory access.
prctl --unaligned=
displays the current setting for unaligned memory access
handling.
prctl --unaligned= gdb tst
displays the current setting for unaligned memory access
handling and starts up a gdb session for the program "tst".
NOTES
prctl works on 2.4.0 and above kernels only. --fpemu= option is specific to IPF (Itanium Processor Family, previously known as IA-64) and is supported on kernels 2.4.11 and above. Other architectures and kernels may return "Invalid argument" error.
SEE ALSO
prctl(2)
AUTHOR
Khalid Aziz <khalid.aziz@oracle.com>
LICENSE
This software is made available under the GNU General Public License
(GPL) Version 2. This software comes with NO WARRANTY.
Process operations PRCTL(1)
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