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chroot(2)
NAME
  chroot - Change the effective root directory

SYNOPSIS
  #include <unistd.h>

  int chroot(
	  const char *path );

STANDARDS
  Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards
  as follows:

  chroot(): XSH4.0, XSH4.2, XSH5.0

  The chroot() function is marked as a LEGACY function in XSH5.0 and is not
  considered portable to other conforming implementations.

  Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about
  industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS
  path
      Points to the new effective root directory. If the path parameter
      refers to a symbolic link, the chroot() function sets the effective
      root directory to the directory pointed to by the symbolic link.

DESCRIPTION
  The chroot() function causes the directory named by the path parameter to
  become the effective root directory.

  The effective root directory is the starting point when searching for a
  file's pathname that begins with a / (slash). The current working directory
  is not affected by the chroot() function.

  The calling process must have superuser privilege in order to change the
  effective root directory. The calling process must also have search access
  to the new effective root directory.

  The .. (dot-dot) entry in the effective root directory is interpreted to
  mean the effective root directory itself. Thus, .. (dot-dot) cannot be used
  to access files outside the subtree rooted at the effective root directory.

RETURN VALUES
  Upon successful completion, a value of 0 (zero) is returned. If the
  chroot() function fails, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to
  indicate the error.

ERRORS
  If the chroot() function fails, the effective root directory remains
  unchanged and errno may be set to one of the following values:

  [EACCES]
      Search permission is denied for any component of the pathname.

  [EFAULT]
      [Tru64 UNIX]  The path parameter points outside the process' allocated
      address space.

  [EIO]
      [Tru64 UNIX]  An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to
      the file system.

  [ELOOP]
      More than MAXSYMLINKS symbolic links are encountered while resolving
      path.

  [ENAMETOOLONG]
      The length of the path argument exceeds PATH_MAX or a pathname
      component is longer than NAME_MAX.

  [ENOENT]
      The path parameter does not exist or points to an empty string.

  [ENOTDIR]
      A component of path is not a directory.

  [EPERM]
      The process does not have appropriate privilege.

SEE ALSO
  Functions: chdir(2)

  Commands: cd(1)

  Standards: standards(5)

Index for Section 2

Alphabetical listing for C

Top of page