SEM_OVERVIEW
SEM_OVERVIEW
NAMEDESCRIPTION
CONFORMING TO
NOTES
EXAMPLE
SEE ALSO
COLOPHON
NAME
sem_overview − overview of POSIX semaphores
DESCRIPTION
POSIX semaphores allow processes and threads to synchronize their actions.
A semaphore is an integer whose value is never allowed to fall below zero. Two operations can be performed on semaphores: increment the semaphore value by one (sem_post(3)); and decrement the semaphore value by one (sem_wait(3)). If the value of a semaphore is currently zero, then a sem_wait(3) operation will block until the value becomes greater than zero.
POSIX
semaphores come in two forms: named semaphores and unnamed
semaphores.
Named semaphores
A named semaphore is identified by a name of the form /somename; that is, a null-terminated string of up to NAME_MAX−4 (i.e., 251) characters consisting of an initial slash, followed by one or more characters, none of which are slashes. Two processes can operate on the same named semaphore by passing the same name to sem_open(3).
The sem_open(3) function creates a new named semaphore or opens an existing named semaphore. After the semaphore has been opened, it can be operated on using sem_post(3) and sem_wait(3). When a process has finished using the semaphore, it can use sem_close(3) to close the semaphore. When all processes have finished using the semaphore, it can be removed from the system using sem_unlink(3).
Unnamed semaphores (memory-based semaphores)
An unnamed semaphore does not have a name. Instead the semaphore is placed in a region of memory that is shared between multiple threads (a thread-shared semaphore) or processes (a process-shared semaphore). A thread-shared semaphore is placed in an area of memory shared between the threads of a process, for example, a global variable. A process-shared semaphore must be placed in a shared memory region (e.g., a System V shared memory segment created using shmget(2), or a POSIX shared memory object built created using shm_open(3)).
Before being used, an unnamed semaphore must be initialized using sem_init(3). It can then be operated on using sem_post(3) and sem_wait(3). When the semaphore is no longer required, and before the memory in which it is located is deallocated, the semaphore should be destroyed using sem_destroy(3).
The remainder of this section describes some specific details of the Linux implementation of POSIX semaphores.
Versions
Prior to kernel 2.6, Linux supported only unnamed,
thread-shared semaphores. On a system with Linux 2.6 and a
glibc that provides the NPTL threading implementation, a
complete implementation of POSIX semaphores is provided.
Persistence
POSIX named semaphores have kernel persistence: if not
removed by sem_unlink(3), a semaphore will exist
until the system is shut down.
Linking
Programs using the POSIX semaphores API must be compiled
with cc −pthread to link against the real-time
library, librt.
Accessing
named semaphores via the filesystem
On Linux, named semaphores are created in a virtual
filesystem, normally mounted under /dev/shm, with
names of the form sem.somename. (This is the
reason that semaphore names are limited to
NAME_MAX−4 rather than NAME_MAX
characters.)
Since Linux 2.6.19, ACLs can be placed on files under this directory, to control object permissions on a per-user and per-group basis.
CONFORMING TO
POSIX.1-2001.
NOTES
System V semaphores (semget(2), semop(2), etc.) are an older semaphore API. POSIX semaphores provide a simpler, and better designed interface than System V semaphores; on the other hand POSIX semaphores are less widely available (especially on older systems) than System V semaphores.
EXAMPLE
An example of the use of various POSIX semaphore functions is shown in sem_wait(3).
SEE ALSO
sem_close(3), sem_destroy(3), sem_getvalue(3), sem_init(3), sem_open(3), sem_post(3), sem_unlink(3), sem_wait(3), pthreads(7)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.69 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man−pages/.
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
