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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 inter- preter sh(1). The calling process waits for the shell to finish execut- ing 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 mali- cious user to run arbitrary command, because all meta-characters sup- ported by sh(1) would be honored. User supplied parameters should always be carefully santized before they appear in string. FreeBSD 13.0 July 25, 2015 FreeBSD 13.0
NAME | LIBRARY | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUES | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
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