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Command: system | Section: 3 | Source: FreeBSD | File: system.3.gz
SYSTEM(3) FreeBSD Library Functions Manual SYSTEM(3)
NAME
system - pass a command to the shell
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
int
system(const char *string);
DESCRIPTION
The system() function hands the argument string to the command
interpreter sh(1). The calling process waits for the shell to finish
executing the command, ignoring SIGINT and SIGQUIT, and blocking SIGCHLD.
If string is a NULL pointer, system() will return non-zero if the command
interpreter sh(1) is available, and zero if it is not.
RETURN VALUES
The system() function returns the exit status of the shell as returned by
waitpid(2), or -1 if an error occurred when invoking fork(2) or
waitpid(2). A return value of 127 means the execution of the shell
failed.
SEE ALSO
sh(1), execve(2), fork(2), waitpid(2), popen(3), posix_spawn(3)
STANDARDS
The system() function conforms to ISO/IEC 9899:1990 ("ISO C90") and is
expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2") compatible.
SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
The system() function is easily misused in a manner that enables a
malicious user to run arbitrary command, because all meta-characters
supported by sh(1) would be honored. User supplied parameters should
always be carefully santized before they appear in string.
FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE-p8 July 25, 2015 FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE-p8