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1[/
2 / Copyright (c) 2003-2021 Christopher M. Kohlhoff (chris at kohlhoff dot com)
3 /
4 / Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
5 / file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
6 /]
7
8[section:posix POSIX-Specific Functionality]
9
10[link boost_asio.overview.posix.local UNIX Domain Sockets]
11
12[link boost_asio.overview.posix.stream_descriptor Stream-Oriented File Descriptors]
13
14[link boost_asio.overview.posix.fork Fork]
15
16[section:local UNIX Domain Sockets]
17
18Boost.Asio provides basic support for UNIX domain sockets (also known as local
19sockets). The simplest use involves creating a pair of connected sockets.
20The following code:
21
22  local::stream_protocol::socket socket1(my_io_context);
23  local::stream_protocol::socket socket2(my_io_context);
24  local::connect_pair(socket1, socket2);
25
26will create a pair of stream-oriented sockets. To do the same for
27datagram-oriented sockets, use:
28
29  local::datagram_protocol::socket socket1(my_io_context);
30  local::datagram_protocol::socket socket2(my_io_context);
31  local::connect_pair(socket1, socket2);
32
33A UNIX domain socket server may be created by binding an acceptor to an
34endpoint, in much the same way as one does for a TCP server:
35
36  ::unlink("/tmp/foobar"); // Remove previous binding.
37  local::stream_protocol::endpoint ep("/tmp/foobar");
38  local::stream_protocol::acceptor acceptor(my_io_context, ep);
39  local::stream_protocol::socket socket(my_io_context);
40  acceptor.accept(socket);
41
42A client that connects to this server might look like:
43
44  local::stream_protocol::endpoint ep("/tmp/foobar");
45  local::stream_protocol::socket socket(my_io_context);
46  socket.connect(ep);
47
48Transmission of file descriptors or credentials across UNIX domain sockets is
49not directly supported within Boost.Asio, but may be achieved by accessing the
50socket's underlying descriptor using the [link
51boost_asio.reference.basic_socket.native_handle native_handle()] member function.
52
53[heading See Also]
54
55[link boost_asio.reference.local__connect_pair local::connect_pair],
56[link boost_asio.reference.local__datagram_protocol local::datagram_protocol],
57[link boost_asio.reference.local__datagram_protocol.endpoint local::datagram_protocol::endpoint],
58[link boost_asio.reference.local__datagram_protocol.socket local::datagram_protocol::socket],
59[link boost_asio.reference.local__stream_protocol local::stream_protocol],
60[link boost_asio.reference.local__stream_protocol.acceptor local::stream_protocol::acceptor],
61[link boost_asio.reference.local__stream_protocol.endpoint local::stream_protocol::endpoint],
62[link boost_asio.reference.local__stream_protocol.iostream local::stream_protocol::iostream],
63[link boost_asio.reference.local__stream_protocol.socket local::stream_protocol::socket],
64[link boost_asio.examples.cpp03_examples.unix_domain_sockets UNIX domain sockets examples].
65
66[heading Notes]
67
68UNIX domain sockets are only available at compile time if supported by the
69target operating system. A program may test for the macro
70`BOOST_ASIO_HAS_LOCAL_SOCKETS` to determine whether they are supported.
71
72[endsect]
73
74[section:stream_descriptor Stream-Oriented File Descriptors]
75
76Boost.Asio includes classes added to permit synchronous and asynchronous read and
77write operations to be performed on POSIX file descriptors, such as pipes,
78standard input and output, and various devices.
79
80These classes also provide limited support for regular files. This support
81assumes that the underlying read and write operations provided by the operating
82system never fail with `EAGAIN` or `EWOULDBLOCK`. (This assumption normally
83holds for buffered file I/O.)  Synchronous and asynchronous read and write
84operations on file descriptors will succeed but the I/O will always be
85performed immediately. Wait operations, and operations involving
86`boost::asio::null_buffers`, are not portably supported.
87
88For example, to perform read and write operations on standard input
89and output, the following objects may be created:
90
91  posix::stream_descriptor in(my_io_context, ::dup(STDIN_FILENO));
92  posix::stream_descriptor out(my_io_context, ::dup(STDOUT_FILENO));
93
94These are then used as synchronous or asynchronous read and write streams. This
95means the objects can be used with any of the [link boost_asio.reference.read
96read()], [link boost_asio.reference.async_read async_read()], [link
97boost_asio.reference.write write()], [link boost_asio.reference.async_write async_write()],
98[link boost_asio.reference.read_until read_until()] or [link
99boost_asio.reference.async_read_until async_read_until()] free functions.
100
101[heading See Also]
102
103[link boost_asio.reference.posix__stream_descriptor posix::stream_descriptor],
104[link boost_asio.examples.cpp03_examples.chat Chat example (C++03)],
105[link boost_asio.examples.cpp11_examples.chat Chat example (C++11)].
106
107[heading Notes]
108
109POSIX stream descriptors are only available at compile time if supported by the
110target operating system. A program may test for the macro
111`BOOST_ASIO_HAS_POSIX_STREAM_DESCRIPTOR` to determine whether they are supported.
112
113[endsect]
114
115[section:fork Fork]
116
117Boost.Asio supports programs that utilise the `fork()` system call. Provided the
118program calls `io_context.notify_fork()` at the appropriate times, Boost.Asio will
119recreate any internal file descriptors (such as the "self-pipe trick"
120descriptor used for waking up a reactor). The notification is usually performed
121as follows:
122
123  io_context_.notify_fork(boost::asio::io_context::fork_prepare);
124  if (fork() == 0)
125  {
126    io_context_.notify_fork(boost::asio::io_context::fork_child);
127    ...
128  }
129  else
130  {
131    io_context_.notify_fork(boost::asio::io_context::fork_parent);
132    ...
133  }
134
135User-defined services can also be made fork-aware by overriding the
136`io_context::service::notify_fork()` virtual function.
137
138Note that any file descriptors accessible via Boost.Asio's public API (e.g. the
139descriptors underlying `basic_socket<>`, `posix::stream_descriptor`, etc.) are
140not altered during a fork. It is the program's responsibility to manage these
141as required.
142
143[heading See Also]
144
145[link boost_asio.reference.io_context.notify_fork io_context::notify_fork()],
146[link boost_asio.reference.io_context.fork_event io_context::fork_event],
147[link boost_asio.reference.execution_context__service.notify_fork io_context::service::notify_fork()],
148[link boost_asio.examples.cpp03_examples.fork Fork examples].
149
150[endsect]
151
152[endsect]
153