1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
|
'\" t
.\" Copyright 1996, Joerg Wunsch
.\" Copyright, the authors of the Linux man-pages project
.\"
.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
.\"
.TH sysexits.h 3head 2025-05-17 "Linux man-pages (unreleased)"
.SH NAME
sysexits.h \- exit codes for programs
.SH LIBRARY
Standard C library
.RI ( libc )
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.B #include <sysexits.h>
.fi
.TS
lB2 lB2 l1 lX.
#define EX_OK 0 /* T{
successful termination */
T}
.P
#define EX__BASE 64 /* T{
base value for error messages */
T}
.P
#define EX_USAGE 64 /* T{
command line usage error */
T}
#define EX_DATAERR 65 /* T{
data format error */
T}
#define EX_NOINPUT 66 /* T{
cannot open input */
T}
#define EX_NOUSER 67 /* T{
addressee unknown */
T}
#define EX_NOHOST 68 /* T{
host name unknown */
T}
#define EX_UNAVAILABLE 69 /* T{
service unavailable */
T}
#define EX_SOFTWARE 70 /* T{
internal software error */
T}
#define EX_OSERR 71 /* T{
system error (e.g., can't fork) */
T}
#define EX_OSFILE 72 /* T{
critical OS file missing */
T}
#define EX_CANTCREAT 73 /* T{
can't create (user) output file */
T}
#define EX_IOERR 74 /* T{
input/output error */
T}
#define EX_TEMPFAIL 75 /* T{
temp failure; user is invited to retry */
T}
#define EX_PROTOCOL 76 /* T{
remote error in protocol */
T}
#define EX_NOPERM 77 /* T{
permission denied */
T}
#define EX_CONFIG 78 /* T{
configuration error */
T}
.P
.T&
lB2 l2 l1 lX.
#define EX__MAX ... /* T{
maximum listed value */
T}
.TE
.SH DESCRIPTION
A few programs exit with the following error codes.
.P
The successful exit is always indicated by a status of
.BR 0 ,
or
.B EX_OK
(equivalent to
.B EXIT_SUCCESS
from
.IR <stdlib.h> ).
Error numbers begin at
.B EX__BASE
to reduce the possibility of clashing with other exit statuses
that random programs may already return.
The meaning of the code is approximately as follows:
.TP
.B EX_USAGE
The command was used incorrectly,
e.g.,
with the wrong number of arguments,
a bad flag,
bad syntax in a parameter,
or whatever.
.TP
.B EX_DATAERR
The input data was incorrect in some way.
This should only be used for user's data and not system files.
.TP
.B EX_NOINPUT
An input file (not a system file) did not exist or was not readable.
This could also include errors like "No message" to a mailer
(if it cared to catch it).
.TP
.B EX_NOUSER
The user specified did not exist.
This might be used for mail addresses or remote logins.
.TP
.B EX_NOHOST
The host specified did not exist.
This is used in mail addresses or network requests.
.TP
.B EX_UNAVAILABLE
A service is unavailable.
This can occur if a support program or file does not exist.
This can also be used as a catch-all message
when something you wanted to do doesn't work, but you don't know why.
.TP
.B EX_SOFTWARE
An internal software error has been detected.
This should be limited to non-operating system related errors if possible.
.TP
.B EX_OSERR
An operating system error has been detected.
This is intended to be used for such things as
"cannot fork",
"cannot create pipe",
or the like.
It includes things like
.BR getuid (2)
returning a user that does not exist in the
.BR passwd (5)
file.
.TP
.B EX_OSFILE
Some system file
(e.g.,
.IR /etc/passwd ,
.IR /etc/utmp ,
etc.)
does not exist,
cannot be opened,
or has some sort of error (e.g., syntax error).
.TP
.B EX_CANTCREAT
A (user specified) output file cannot be created.
.TP
.B EX_IOERR
An error occurred while doing I/O on some file.
.TP
.B EX_TEMPFAIL
Temporary failure,
indicating something that is not really an error.
For example that a mailer could not create a connection,
and the request should be reattempted later.
.TP
.B EX_PROTOCOL
The remote system returned something that
was "not possible" during a protocol exchange.
.TP
.B EX_OSFILE
You did not have sufficient permission to perform the operation.
This is not intended for file system problems,
which should use
.B EX_NOINPUT
or
.BR EX_CANTCREAT ,
but rather for higher level permissions.
.TP
.B EX_CONFIG
Something was found in an unconfigured or misconfigured state.
.P
The numerical values corresponding to the symbolical ones
are given in parenthesis for easy reference.
.SH STANDARDS
BSD.
.SH HISTORY
The
.I <sysexits.h>
file appeared in 4.0BSD for use by the deliverymail utility,
later renamed to
.BR sendmail (8).
.SH CAVEATS
The choice of an appropriate exit value is often ambiguous.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR err (3),
.BR error (3),
.BR exit (3)
|
