IPCS(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System IPCS(1)
NAME
ipcs - report inter-process communication facilities status
SYNOPSIS
ipcs [ options ]
DESCRIPTION
ipcs prints certain information about active inter-process
communication facilities. Without options, information is
printed in short format for message queues, shared memory,
and semaphores that are currently active in the system.
Otherwise, the information that is displayed is controlled
by the following options:
-q Print information about active message queues.
-m Print information about active shared memory seg-
ments.
-s Print information about active semaphores.
If any of the options -q, -m, or -s are specified, informa-
tion about only those indicated will be printed. If none of
these three are specified, information about all three will
be printed subject to these options:
-a Use all print options. (This is a shorthand notation
for -b, -c, -o, -p, and -t.)
-b Print biggest allowable size information. (Maximum
number of bytes in messages on queue for message
queues, size of segments for shared memory, and
number of semaphores in each set for semaphores.)
See below for meaning of columns in a listing.
-c Print creator's login name and group name. See
below.
-o Print information on outstanding usage. (Number of
messages on queue and total number of bytes in mes-
sages on queue for message queues and number of
processes attached to shared memory segments.)
-p Print process number information. (Process ID of
last process to send a message and process ID of
last process to receive a message on message queues
and process ID of creating process and process ID of
last process to attach or detach on shared memory
segments) See below.
-t Print time information. (Time of the last control
operation that changed the access permissions for
all facilities. Time of last msgsnd and last msgrcv
Rev. Interprocess Communication Utilities Page 1
IPCS(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System IPCS(1)
on message queues, last shmat and last shmdt on
shared memory, last semop(2) on semaphores.) See
below.
-C corefile
Use the file corefile in place of /dev/kmem.
-N namelist
The argument will be taken as the name of an alter-
nate namelist (/unix is the default).
-X Print information about XENIX interprocess communi-
cation, in addition to the standard interprocess
communication status. The XENIX process information
describes a second set of semaphores and shared
memory. Note that the -p option does not print pro-
cess number information for XENIX shared memory, and
the -t option does not print time information about
XENIX semaphores and shared memory.
The column headings and the meaning of the columns in an
ipcs listing are given below. The letters in parentheses
indicate the options that cause the corresponding heading to
appear; all means that the heading always appears. Note
that these options only determine what information is pro-
vided for each facility; they do not determine which facili-
ties will be listed.
T (all) Type of the facility:
q message queue
m shared memory segment
s semaphore.
ID (all) The identifier for the facility entry.
KEY (all) The key used as an argument to msgget,
semget, or shmget to create the facility
entry. (Note: The key of a shared memory
segment is changed to IPC_PRIVATE when the
segment has been removed until all processes
attached to the segment detach it.)
MODE (all) The facility access modes and flags: The
mode consists of 11 characters that are
interpreted as follows:
The first two characters are:
R if a process is waiting on a msgrcv.
S if a process is waiting on a msgsnd.
D if the associated shared memory seg-
ment has been removed. It will
disappear when the last process
attached to the segment detaches it.
C if the associated shared memory seg-
ment is to be cleared when the first
attach is executed.
- if the corresponding special flag is
Rev. Interprocess Communication Utilities Page 2
IPCS(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System IPCS(1)
not set.
The next 9 characters are interpreted as
three sets of three bits each. The first
set refers to the owner's permissions. The
next set refers to permissions of others in
the user-group of the facility entry. The
last set refers to all others. Within each
set, the first character indicates permis-
sion to read, the second character indicates
permission to write or alter the facility
entry, and the last character is currently
unused. Permissions are indicated as fol-
lows:
r if read permission is granted
w if write permission is granted
a if alter permission is granted
- if the indicated permission is not
granted.
OWNER (all) The login name of the owner of the facility
entry.
GROUP (all) The group name of the group of the owner of
the facility entry.
CREATOR(a,c) The login name of the creator of the facil-
ity entry.
CGROUP (a,c) The group name of the group of the creator
of the facility entry.
CBYTES (a,o) The number of bytes in messages currently
outstanding on the associated message queue.
QNUM (a,o) The number of messages currently outstanding
on the associated message queue.
QBYTES (a,b) The maximum number of bytes allowed in mes-
sages outstanding on the associated message
queue.
LSPID (a,p) The process ID of the last process to send a
message to the associated queue.
LRPID (a,p) The process ID of the last process to
receive a message from the associated queue.
STIME (a,t) The time the last message was sent to the
associated queue.
RTIME (a,t) The time the last message was received from
the associated queue.
CTIME (a,t) The time when the associated entry was
created or changed.
NATTCH (a,o) The number of processes attached to the
associated shared memory segment.
SEGSZ (a,b) The size of the associated shared memory
segment.
CPID (a,p) The process ID of the creator of the shared
memory entry.
LPID (a,p) The process ID of the last process to attach
or detach the shared memory segment.
ATIME (a,t) The time the last attach was completed to
Rev. Interprocess Communication Utilities Page 3
IPCS(1) INTERACTIVE UNIX System IPCS(1)
the associated shared memory segment.
DTIME (a,t) The time the last detach was completed on
the associated shared memory segment.
NSEMS (a,b) The number of semaphores in the set associ-
ated with the semaphore entry.
OTIME (a,t) The time the last semaphore operation was
completed on the set associated with the
semaphore entry.
FILES
/unix system namelist
/dev/kmem memory
/etc/passwd user names
/etc/group group names
SEE ALSO
msgop(2), semop(2), shmop(2) in the INTERACTIVE SDS Guide
and Programmer's Reference Manual.
WARNING
If the user specifies either the -C or -N flag, the real and
effective UID/GID will be set to the real UID/GID of the
user invoking ipcs.
BUGS
Things can change while ipcs is running; the picture it
gives is only a close approximation to reality.
Rev. Interprocess Communication Utilities Page 4