chdir(2) - Linux manual page (original) (raw)

chdir(2) System Calls Manual chdir(2)

NAME top

   chdir, fchdir - change working directory

LIBRARY top

   Standard C library (_libc_, _-lc_)

SYNOPSIS top

   **#include <unistd.h>**

   **int chdir(const char ***_path_**);**
   **int fchdir(int** _fd_**);**

Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

   **fchdir**():
       _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500
           || /* Since glibc 2.12: */ _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L
           || /* glibc up to and including 2.19: */ _BSD_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION top

   **chdir**() changes the current working directory of the calling
   process to the directory specified in _path_.

   **fchdir**() is identical to **chdir**(); the only difference is that the
   directory is given as an open file descriptor.

RETURN VALUE top

   On success, zero is returned.  On error, -1 is returned, and _[errno](../man3/errno.3.html)_
   is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS top

   Depending on the filesystem, other errors can be returned.  The
   more general errors for **chdir**() are listed below:

   **EACCES** Search permission is denied for one of the components of
          _path_.  (See also [path_resolution(7)](../man7/path%5Fresolution.7.html).)

   **EFAULT** _path_ points outside your accessible address space.

   **EIO** An I/O error occurred.

   **ELOOP** Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving _path_.

   **ENAMETOOLONG**
          _path_ is too long.

   **ENOENT** The directory specified in _path_ does not exist.

   **ENOMEM** Insufficient kernel memory was available.

   **ENOTDIR**
          A component of _path_ is not a directory.

   The general errors for **fchdir**() are listed below:

   **EACCES** Search permission was denied on the directory open on _fd_.

   **EBADF** _fd_ is not a valid file descriptor.

   **ENOTDIR**
          _fd_ does not refer to a directory.

STANDARDS top

   POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY top

   POSIX.1-2001, SVr4, 4.4BSD.

NOTES top

   The current working directory is the starting point for
   interpreting relative pathnames (those not starting with '/').

   A child process created via [fork(2)](../man2/fork.2.html) inherits its parent's current
   working directory.  The current working directory is left
   unchanged by [execve(2)](../man2/execve.2.html).

SEE ALSO top

   [chroot(2)](../man2/chroot.2.html), [getcwd(3)](../man3/getcwd.3.html), [path_resolution(7)](../man7/path%5Fresolution.7.html)

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Linux man-pages 6.10 2024-07-23 chdir(2)

Pages that refer to this page:chroot(2), clone(2), open(2), pivot_root(2), rmdir(2), syscalls(2), unshare(2), dirfd(3), fts(3), ftw(3), getcwd(3), cpuset(7), landlock(7), path_resolution(7), pthreads(7), signal-safety(7)