/share/man/man3/sysexits.3

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 26.\" $FreeBSD$
 27.\"
 28.\" "
 29.Dd January 21, 2010
 30.Dt SYSEXITS 3
 31.Os
 32.Sh NAME
 33.Nm sysexits
 34.Nd preferable exit codes for programs
 35.Sh SYNOPSIS
 36.In sysexits.h
 37.Sh DESCRIPTION
 38According to
 39.Xr style 9 ,
 40it is not a good practice to call
 41.Xr exit 3
 42with arbitrary values to indicate a failure condition when ending
 43a program.
 44Instead, the pre-defined exit codes from
 45.Nm
 46should be used, so the caller of the process can get a rough
 47estimation about the failure class without looking up the source code.
 48.Pp
 49The successful exit is always indicated by a status of 0, or
 50.Sy EX_OK .
 51Error numbers begin at
 52.Sy EX__BASE
 53to reduce the possibility of clashing with other exit statuses that
 54random programs may already return.
 55The meaning of the codes is
 56approximately as follows:
 57.Bl -tag -width "EX_UNAVAILABLEXX(XX)"
 58.It Sy EX_USAGE Pq 64
 59The command was used incorrectly, e.g., with the wrong number of
 60arguments, a bad flag, a bad syntax in a parameter, or whatever.
 61.It Sy EX_DATAERR Pq 65
 62The input data was incorrect in some way.
 63This should only be used
 64for user's data and not system files.
 65.It Sy EX_NOINPUT Pq 66
 66An input file (not a system file) did not exist or was not readable.
 67This could also include errors like
 68.Dq \&No message
 69to a mailer (if it cared to catch it).
 70.It Sy EX_NOUSER Pq 67
 71The user specified did not exist.
 72This might be used for mail
 73addresses or remote logins.
 74.It Sy EX_NOHOST Pq 68
 75The host specified did not exist.
 76This is used in mail addresses or
 77network requests.
 78.It Sy EX_UNAVAILABLE Pq 69
 79A service is unavailable.
 80This can occur if a support program or file
 81does not exist.
 82This can also be used as a catchall message when
 83something you wanted to do does not work, but you do not know why.
 84.It Sy EX_SOFTWARE Pq 70
 85An internal software error has been detected.
 86This should be limited
 87to non-operating system related errors as possible.
 88.It Sy EX_OSERR Pq 71
 89An operating system error has been detected.
 90This is intended to be
 91used for such things as
 92.Dq cannot fork ,
 93.Dq cannot create pipe ,
 94or the like.
 95It includes things like getuid returning a user that
 96does not exist in the passwd file.
 97.It Sy EX_OSFILE Pq 72
 98Some system file (e.g.,
 99.Pa /etc/passwd ,
100.Pa /var/run/utx.active ,
101etc.) does not exist, cannot be opened, or has some sort of error
102(e.g., syntax error).
103.It Sy EX_CANTCREAT Pq 73
104A (user specified) output file cannot be created.
105.It Sy EX_IOERR Pq 74
106An error occurred while doing I/O on some file.
107.It Sy EX_TEMPFAIL Pq 75
108Temporary failure, indicating something that is not really an error.
109In sendmail, this means that a mailer (e.g.) could not create a
110connection, and the request should be reattempted later.
111.It Sy EX_PROTOCOL Pq 76
112The remote system returned something that was
113.Dq not possible
114during a protocol exchange.
115.It Sy EX_NOPERM Pq 77
116You did not have sufficient permission to perform the operation.
117This
118is not intended for file system problems, which should use
119.Sy EX_NOINPUT
120or
121.Sy EX_CANTCREAT ,
122but rather for higher level permissions.
123.It Sy EX_CONFIG Pq 78
124Something was found in an unconfigured or misconfigured state.
125.El
126.Pp
127The numerical values corresponding to the symbolical ones are given in
128parenthesis for easy reference.
129.Sh SEE ALSO
130.Xr err 3 ,
131.Xr exit 3 ,
132.Xr style 9
133.Sh HISTORY
134The
135.Nm
136file appeared somewhere after
137.Bx 4.3 .
138.Sh AUTHORS
139This manual page was written by
140.An J\(:org Wunsch
141after the comments in
142.In sysexits.h .
143.Sh BUGS
144The choice of an appropriate exit value is often ambiguous.