Package ‘unix’

October 4, 2024
Title POSIX System Utilities
Version 1.5.9
Description Bindings to system utilities found in most Unix systems such as
POSIX functions which are not part of the Standard C Library.
License MIT + file LICENSE

URL https://jeroen.r-universe.dev/unix

BugReports https://github.com/jeroen/unix/issues
OS_type unix
SystemRequirements POSIX.1-2001, AppArmor (optional)
RoxygenNote 7.3.1
Suggests testthat
Language en-US
Encoding UTF-8
NeedsCompilation yes
Author Jeroen Ooms [aut, cre] (<https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4035-0289>)
Maintainer Jeroen Ooms <[email protected]>
Repository CRAN
Date/Publication 2024-10-04 09:10:05 UTC

Contents
chroot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
eval_safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
getuid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
rlimit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
sys_config . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
userinfo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Index 9

1
2 eval_safe

chroot Change Root Dir

Description
Changes the root directory of the calling process to that specified in path. This directory will be
used for pathnames beginning with /. Only a privileged process (i.e. sudo) may call chroot().

Usage
chroot(path = getwd())

Arguments
path directory of the new root

Details
This call changes an ingredient in the pathname resolution process and does nothing else. In partic-
ular, it is not intended to be used for any kind of security purpose, neither to fully sandbox a process
nor to restrict filesystem system calls.

References
CHROOT(2)

eval_safe Safe Evaluation

Description
Evaluates an expression in a temporary fork and returns the value without any side effects on the
main R session. For eval_safe() the expression is wrapped in additional R code to handle errors
and graphics.

Usage
eval_safe(
expr,
tmp = tempfile("fork"),
std_out = stdout(),
std_err = stderr(),
timeout = 0,
priority = NULL,
uid = NULL,
gid = NULL,
eval_safe 3

rlimits = NULL,
profile = NULL,
device = pdf
)

eval_fork(
expr,
tmp = tempfile("fork"),
std_out = stdout(),
std_err = stderr(),
timeout = 0
)

Arguments
expr expression to evaluate
tmp the value of tempdir() inside the forked process
std_out if and where to direct child process STDOUT. Must be one of TRUE, FALSE, file-
name, connection object or callback function. See section on Output Streams
below for details.
std_err if and where to direct child process STDERR. Must be one of TRUE, FALSE, file-
name, connection object or callback function. See section on Output Streams
below for details. Non root user may only raise this value (decrease priority)
timeout maximum time in seconds to allow for call to return
priority (integer) priority of the child process. High value is low priority.
uid evaluate as given user (uid or name). See setuid(), only for root.
gid evaluate as given group (gid or name). See setgid() only for root.
rlimits named vector/list with rlimit values, for example: c(cpu = 60, fsize = 1e6).
profile AppArmor profile, see RAppArmor::aa_change_profile(). Requires the RAppArmor
package (Debian/Ubuntu only)
device graphics device to use in the fork, see dev.new()

Details
Some programs such as Java are not fork-safe and cannot be called from within a forked process if
they have already been loaded in the main process. On MacOS any software calling CoreFoundation
functionality might crash within the fork. This includes libcurl which has been built on OSX
against native SecureTransport rather than OpenSSL for https connections. The same limitations
hold for e.g. parallel::mcparallel().

Examples
# works like regular eval:
eval_safe(rnorm(5))

# Exceptions get propagated

4 getuid

test <- function() { doesnotexit() }

tryCatch(eval_safe(test()), error = function(e){
cat("oh no!", e$message, "\n")
})

# Honor interrupt and timeout, even inside C evaluations

try(eval_safe(svd(matrix(rnorm(1e8), 1e4)), timeout = 2))

# Capture output
outcon <- rawConnection(raw(0), "r+")
eval_safe(print(sessionInfo()), std_out = outcon)
cat(rawToChar(rawConnectionValue(outcon)))
close(outcon)

getuid Process Info

Description
Get or set attributes of the current process.

Usage
getuid()

getgid()

geteuid()

getegid()

getpid()

getppid()

getpgid()

getpriority()

setuid(uid)

seteuid(uid)

setgid(gid)

setegid(gid)

setpgid(pgid = 0)
getuid 5

setpriority(prio)

kill(pid, signal = SIGTERM)

Arguments
uid User ID from /etc/passwd.
gid Group ID from /etc/group.
pgid Process Group ID. Default 0 sets pgid to the current pid.
prio Priority level
pid process ID (integer)
signal a signal number (integer), defaults to tools::SIGTERM.

Details
Acronyms stand for:

• pid Process ID
• ppid Parent-Process ID
• pgid Process-Group ID
• uid User ID
• euid Effective User ID
• gid Group ID
• egid Effective Group ID
• prio Priority level

An unprivileged (non-root) process cannot change it’s uid and only lower process priority (higher
value).

References
GETUID(2) GETPID(2) GETPGID(2) GETPRIORITY(2)

Examples
# Current User:
getuid()
# Current UserGroup:
getgid()
# Current UserGroup:
geteuid()
# Current UserGroup:
getegid()
# Process ID
getpid()
# parent PID:
6 rlimit

getppid()
# Process group id:
getpgid()

# Detach process group

setpgid(0)
getpgid()
# Process priority:
getpriority()
# Decrease priority
setpriority(getpriority() + 1)

rlimit Resource Limits

Description
Get and set process resource limits. Each function returns the current limits, and can optionally
update the limit by passing argument values. The rlimit_all() function is a convenience wrapper
which prints all current hard and soft limits.

Usage
rlimit_all()

rlimit_as(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_core(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_cpu(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_data(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_fsize(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_memlock(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_nofile(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_nproc(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

rlimit_stack(cur = NULL, max = NULL)

Arguments
cur set the current (soft) limit for this resource. See details.
max set the max (hard) limit for this resource. See details.
rlimit 7

Details
Each resource has an associated soft and hard limit. The soft limit is the value that the kernel
enforces for the corresponding resource. The hard limit acts as a ceiling for the soft limit: an
unprivileged process may set only its soft limit to a value in the range from 0 up to the hard limit,
and (irreversibly) lower its hard limit.
Definitons from the Linux manual page are as follows:

• RLIMIT_AS : the maximum size of the process’s virtual memory (address space) in bytes.
• RLIMIT_CORE : the maximum size of a core file that the process may dump.
• RLIMIT_CPU : a limit in seconds on the amount of CPU time (not elapsed time) that the process
may consume. When the process reaches the soft limit, it is sent a SIGXCPU signal.
• RLIMIT_DATA : the maximum size of the process’s data segment (initialized data, uninitialized
data, and heap).
• RLIMIT_FSIZE : the maximum size of files that the process may create. Attempts to extend a
file beyond this limit result in delivery of a SIGXFSZ signal.
• RLIMIT_MEMLOCK : the maximum number of bytes of memory that may be locked into RAM.
• RLIMIT_NOFILE : a value one greater than the maximum file descriptor number that can be
opened by this process.
• RLIMIT_NPROC : the maximum number of processes that can be created for the real user ID
of the calling process. Upon encountering this limit, fork fails with the error EAGAIN. Not
enforced for root user.
• RLIMIT_STACK : the maximum size of the process stack, in bytes.

Note that the support for enforcing limits very widely by system. In particular RLIMIT_AS has a
different meaning depending on how memory allocation is managed by the operating system (and
doesn’t work at all on MacOS).

References
GETRLIMIT(2)

Examples
# Print all limits
rlimit_all()

# Get one limit

rlimit_as()

## Not run:
# Set a soft limit
lim <- rlimit_as(1e9)
print(lim)

# Reset the limit to max

rlimit_as(cur = lim$max)
8 userinfo

# Set a hard limit (irreversible)

rlimit_as(max = 1e10)

## End(Not run)

sys_config Package config

Description
Shows which features are enabled in the package configuration.

Usage
sys_config()

aa_config()

Examples
sys_config()

userinfo User / Group Info

Description
Lookup a user or group info via user uid/name or group gid/name.

Usage
user_info(uid = getuid())

group_info(gid = getgid())

Arguments
uid user ID (integer) or name (string)
gid group ID (integer) or name (string)

References
GETPWNAM(3) GETGRNAM(3)

Examples
# Get info current user
user_info()
group_info()
Index

aa_config (sys_config), 8 setuid(), 3

sys_config, 8
chroot, 2
tempdir(), 3
dev.new(), 3 tools::SIGTERM, 5

eval_fork (eval_safe), 2 user_info (userinfo), 8

eval_safe, 2 userinfo, 8
eval_safe(), 2

getegid (getuid), 4
geteuid (getuid), 4
getgid (getuid), 4
getpgid (getuid), 4
getpid (getuid), 4
getppid (getuid), 4
getpriority (getuid), 4
getuid, 4
group_info (userinfo), 8

kill (getuid), 4

rlimit, 6
rlimit_all (rlimit), 6
rlimit_as (rlimit), 6
rlimit_core (rlimit), 6
rlimit_cpu (rlimit), 6
rlimit_data (rlimit), 6
rlimit_fsize (rlimit), 6
rlimit_memlock (rlimit), 6
rlimit_nofile (rlimit), 6
rlimit_nproc (rlimit), 6
rlimit_stack (rlimit), 6

setegid (getuid), 4
seteuid (getuid), 4
setgid (getuid), 4
setgid(), 3
setpgid (getuid), 4
setpriority (getuid), 4
setuid (getuid), 4