Appendix C: Linux Kernel Calls

This is a list of Linux kernel calls from section 2 of the manual.

  _exit - terminate the current process
  _llseek - reposition read/write file offset
  _newselect - NQS
  sysctl - read/write system parameters
  accept - accept a connection on a socket
  access - check user's permissions for a file
  acct - switch process accounting on or off
  adjtimex - tune kernel clock
  afs_syscall - unimplemented
  alarm - set an alarm clock for delivery of a signal
  bdflush - start, flush, or tune buffer-dirty-flush daemon
  bind - bind a name to a socket
  break - unimplemented
  brk - change data segment size
  cacheflush - (MIPS) flush  contents of instruction and/or data cache
  chdir - change working directory
  chmod - change permissions of a file
  chown - change ownership of a file
  chroot - change root directory
  __clone - create a child process for multithreading
  close - close a file descriptor
  connect - initiate a connection on a socket
  creat - open and possibly create a file or device
  create_module - create a loadable module entry
  delete_module - delete a loadable module entry
  dup - duplicate a file descriptor
  dup2 - duplicate a file descriptor
  execve - execute program
  exit - cause normal program termination
  fchdir - change working directory
  fchmod - change permissions of a file
  fchown - change ownership of a file
  fcntl - manipulate file descriptor
  fdatasync - synchronize a file's in-core data with that on disk
  flock - apply or remove an advisory lock on an open file
  fork - create a child process
  fstat - get file status
  fstatfs - get file system statistics
  fsync - synchronize a file's complete in-core state with that on disk
  ftruncate - truncate a file to a specified length
  get_kernel_syms - retrieve exported kernel and module symbols
  getdents - get directory entries
  getdomainname - get domain name
  getdtablesize - get descriptor table size
  getgid - get group identity
  geteuid - get user identity
  getgid - get group identity
  getgroups - get/set list of supplementary group
  gethostid - get the unique identifier of the current host
  gethostnamee - get host name
  getitimer - get value of an interval timer
  getpagesize - get system page size
  getpeername - get name of connected peer
  getpgid - get process group
  getpgrp - get process group
  getpid - get process identification
  getppid - get process identification
  getpriority - get/set program scheduling priority
  getresgid - get real, effective and saved group ID
  getresuid - get real, effective and saved user ID
  getrlimit - get resource limits
  getrusage - get resource limits
  getsid - get session ID
  getsockname - get socket name
  getsockopt - get options on sockets
  gettimeofday - get time
  getuid - get user identity
  gtty - unimplemented
  idle - make process 0 idle
  init_module - initialize a loadable module entry
  ioctl - control device
  ioperm - set port input/output permissions
  iopl - change I/O privilege level
  ipc - System V IPC system calls
  kill - send signal to a process
  killpg - send signal to a process group
  lchown - change ownership of a file
  link - make a new name for a file
  listen - listen for connections on a socket
  llseek - reposition read/write file offset
  lock - unimplemented
  lseek - reposition read/write file offset
  lstat - get file status
  mkdir - create a directory
  mknod - create a directory or special or ordinary file
  mlock - disable paging for some parts of memory
  mlockall - disable paging for calling process
  mmap - map files or devices into memory
  modify_ldt - get or set ldt
  mount - mount and unmount filesystems.
  mprotect - control allowable accesses to a region of memory
  mpx - unimplemented
  mremap - re-map a virtual memory address
  msgctl - message control operations
  msgget - get a message queue identifier
  msgrcv - receive a messsage
  msgsnd - send a message
  msync - synchronize a file with a memory map
  munlock - reenable paging for some parts of memory
  munlockall - reenable paging for calling process
  munmap - unmap files or devices into memory
  nanosleep - pause execution for a specified time
  nfsservctl - syscall interface to kernel nfs daemon
  nice - change process priority
  oldfstat - obsolete
  oldlstat - obsolete
  oldolduname - obsolete
  oldstat - obsolete
  olduname - obsolete
  open - open a file or device
  outb, outw, outl - port output macros
  pause - wait for signal
  personality - set the process execution domain
  pipe - create pipe
  poll - wait for some event on a file descriptor
  prctl - operations on a process
  prof - unimplemented
  ptrace - process trace
  query_module - query the kernel for various bits pertaining to modules
  quotactl - manipulate disk quotas
  read - read from a file descriptor
  readdir - read directory entry
  readlink - read value of a symbolic link
  readv - read a vector
  reboot - reboot or enable/disable Ctrl-Alt-Del
  recv - receive a message from a socket
  recvfrom - receive a message from a socket
  recvmsg - receive a message from a socket
  rename - change the name or location of a file
  rmdir - delete a directory
  sbrk - change data segment size
  sched_get_priority_max - get static priority range
  sched_get_priority_min - get static priority range
  sched_getparam - get scheduling parameters
  sched_setscheduler - get schedule algorithm/parameters
  sched_rr_get_interval - get the SCHED_RR interval for the named process
  sched_setparam - set scheduling parameters
  sched_setscheduler - set schedule algorithm/parameters
  sched_yield - yield the processor
  select - synchronous I/O multiplexing
  semctl - semaphore control operations
  semget - get a semaphore set identifier
  semop - semaphore operations
  send - send a message from a socket
  sendfile - transfer data between file descriptors
  sendmsg - send a message from a socket
  sendto - send a message from a socket
  setdomainname - set domain name
  setegid - set effective group ID
  seteuid - set effective user ID
  setfsgid - set group identity used for file system checks
  setfsuid - set user identity used for file system checks
  setgid - set group identity
  setgroups - set list of supplementary group
  sethostid - set the unique identifier of the current host
  sethostname - set host name
  setitimer  - get  or set value of an interval timer
  setpgid - set process group ID
  setpgrp - set process group
  setpriority - set program scheduling priority
  setregid - set real group ID
  setresgid - set real, effective and saved user
  setresuid - set real, effective and saved user
  setreuid - set real and / or effective user ID
  setrlimit - set resource limits
  setsid - creates a session and sets the process group ID
  setsockopt - set options on sockets
  settimeofday - get / set time
  setuid - set user identity
  setup - setup devices and file systems, mount root file (not available)
  sgetmask - ANSI C signal handling
  shmat - shared memory operations
  shmctl - shared memory control
  shmdt - shared memory operations
  shmget - allocates a shared memory segment
  shutdown - shut down part of a full-duplex connection
  sigaction - change signal action
  sigblock - change blocked signals
  siggetmask - get blocked signals
  sigmask - C macro to create signal masks
  signal - install signal handler
  sigpause - atomically release blocked signals and wait for interrupt
  sigpending - examine pending signals
  sigprocmask - change blocked signals
  sigreturn - return from signal handler and cleanup stack
  sigsetmask - set net group of blocked signals
  sigsuspend - replace signal mask and suspend process
  sigvec - obsolete
  socket - create an endpoint for communication
  socketcall - socket system calls entry point
  socketpair - create a pair of connected sockets
  ssetmask - NQS
  stat - get file status
  statfs - get file system statistics
  stime - set time
  stty - unimplemented
  swapoff - stop swapping to file/device
  swapon - start swapping to file/device
  symlink - make a new name for a file
  sync - commit buffer cache to disk
  sysctl - read/write system parameters
  sysfs - get file system type information
  sysinfo - returns information on overall system statistics
  syslog - read and/or clear kernel message ring buffer; set console_loglevel
  time - get time in seconds
  times - get process times
  truncate - truncate a file to a specified length
  umask - set file creation mask
  umount - unmount filesystems
  uname - get name and information about current kernel
  unlink - delete a name and possibly the file it refers to
  uselib - select shared library
  ustat - get file system statistics
  utime - change access and/or modification times of an inode
  utimes - change access and/or modification times of an inode
  vfork - alias for fork
  vhangup - virtually hangup the current tty
  vm86 - (Intel) enter virtual 8086 mode
  vm86old - obsolete
  wait - wait for process termination
  wait3 - wait for process termination, BSD style
  wait4 - wait for process termination, BSD style
  waitpid - wait for process termination
  write - write to a file descriptor
  writev - read or write a vector