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


connect(2) System Calls Manual connect(2)

NAME top

   connect - initiate a connection on a socket

LIBRARY top

   Standard C library (_libc_, _-lc_)

SYNOPSIS top

   **#include <sys/socket.h>**

   **int connect(int** _sockfd_**, const struct sockaddr ***_addr_**,**
               **socklen_t** _addrlen_**);**

DESCRIPTION top

   The **connect**() system call connects the socket referred to by the
   file descriptor _sockfd_ to the address specified by _addr_.  The
   _addrlen_ argument specifies the size of _addr_.  The format of the
   address in _addr_ is determined by the address space of the socket
   _sockfd_; see [socket(2)](../man2/socket.2.html) for further details.

   If the socket _sockfd_ is of type **SOCK_DGRAM**, then _addr_ is the
   address to which datagrams are sent by default, and the only
   address from which datagrams are received.  If the socket is of
   type **SOCK_STREAM** or **SOCK_SEQPACKET**, this call attempts to make a
   connection to the socket that is bound to the address specified by
   _addr_.

   Some protocol sockets (e.g., UNIX domain stream sockets) may
   successfully **connect**() only once.

   Some protocol sockets (e.g., datagram sockets in the UNIX and
   Internet domains) may use **connect**() multiple times to change their
   association.

   Some protocol sockets (e.g., TCP sockets as well as datagram
   sockets in the UNIX and Internet domains) may dissolve the
   association by connecting to an address with the _safamily_ member
   of _sockaddr_ set to **AF_UNSPEC**; thereafter, the socket can be
   connected to another address.  (**AF_UNSPEC** is supported since Linux
   2.2.)

RETURN VALUE top

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

ERRORS top

   The following are general socket errors only.  There may be other
   domain-specific error codes.

   **EACCES** For UNIX domain sockets, which are identified by pathname:
          Write permission is denied on the socket file, or search
          permission is denied for one of the directories in the path
          prefix.  (See also [path_resolution(7)](../man7/path%5Fresolution.7.html).)

   **EACCES**
   **EPERM** The user tried to connect to a broadcast address without
          having the socket broadcast flag enabled or the connection
          request failed because of a local firewall rule.

   **EACCES** It can also be returned if an SELinux policy denied a
          connection (for example, if there is a policy saying that
          an HTTP proxy can only connect to ports associated with
          HTTP servers, and the proxy tries to connect to a different
          port).

   **EADDRINUSE**
          Local address is already in use.

   **EADDRNOTAVAIL**
          (Internet domain sockets) The socket referred to by _sockfd_
          had not previously been bound to an address and, upon
          attempting to bind it to an ephemeral port, it was
          determined that all port numbers in the ephemeral port
          range are currently in use.  See the discussion of
          _/proc/sys/net/ipv4/iplocalportrange_ in [ip(7)](../man7/ip.7.html).

   **EAFNOSUPPORT**
          The passed address didn't have the correct address family
          in its _safamily_ field.

   **EAGAIN** For nonblocking UNIX domain sockets, the socket is
          nonblocking, and the connection cannot be completed
          immediately.  For other socket families, there are
          insufficient entries in the routing cache.

   **EALREADY**
          The socket is nonblocking and a previous connection attempt
          has not yet been completed.

   **EBADF** _sockfd_ is not a valid open file descriptor.

   **ECONNREFUSED**
          A **connect**() on a stream socket found no one listening on
          the remote address.

   **EFAULT** The socket structure address is outside the user's address
          space.

   **EINPROGRESS**
          The socket is nonblocking and the connection cannot be
          completed immediately.  (UNIX domain sockets failed with
          **EAGAIN** instead.)  It is possible to [select(2)](../man2/select.2.html) or [poll(2)](../man2/poll.2.html)
          for completion by selecting the socket for writing.  After
          [select(2)](../man2/select.2.html) indicates writability, use [getsockopt(2)](../man2/getsockopt.2.html) to read
          the **SO_ERROR** option at level **SOL_SOCKET** to determine
          whether **connect**() completed successfully (**SO_ERROR** is zero)
          or unsuccessfully (**SO_ERROR** is one of the usual error codes
          listed here, explaining the reason for the failure).

   **EINTR** The system call was interrupted by a signal that was
          caught; see [signal(7)](../man7/signal.7.html).

   **EISCONN**
          The socket is already connected.

   **ENETUNREACH**
          Network is unreachable.

   **ENOTSOCK**
          The file descriptor _sockfd_ does not refer to a socket.

   **EPROTOTYPE**
          The socket type does not support the requested
          communications protocol.  This error can occur, for
          example, on an attempt to connect a UNIX domain datagram
          socket to a stream socket.

   **ETIMEDOUT**
          Timeout while attempting connection.  The server may be too
          busy to accept new connections.  Note that for IP sockets
          the timeout may be very long when syncookies are enabled on
          the server.

STANDARDS top

   POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY top

   POSIX.1-2001, SVr4, 4.4BSD, (**connect**() first appeared in 4.2BSD).

NOTES top

   If **connect**() fails, consider the state of the socket as
   unspecified.  Portable applications should close the socket and
   create a new one for reconnecting.

EXAMPLES top

   An example of the use of **connect**() is shown in [getaddrinfo(3)](../man3/getaddrinfo.3.html).

SEE ALSO top

   [accept(2)](../man2/accept.2.html), [bind(2)](../man2/bind.2.html), [getsockname(2)](../man2/getsockname.2.html), [listen(2)](../man2/listen.2.html), [socket(2)](../man2/socket.2.html),
   [path_resolution(7)](../man7/path%5Fresolution.7.html), [selinux(8)](../man8/selinux.8.html)

COLOPHON top

   This page is part of the _man-pages_ (Linux kernel and C library
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   This page was obtained from the tarball man-pages-6.10.tar.gz
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   2025-02-02.  If you discover any rendering problems in this HTML
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   man-pages@man7.org

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


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