DESCRIPTION

     system() executes a command specified in string  by  calling
     /bin/sh  -c  string,  and returns after the command has been
     completed.  During execution of the command, SIGCHLD will be
     blocked, and SIGINT and SIGQUIT will be ignored.

RETURN VALUE

     The value returned is 127 if the execve() call  for  /bin/sh
     fails,  -1 if there was another error and the return code of
     the command otherwise.

     If the value of string is NULL, system() returns nonzero  if
     the shell is available, and zero if not.

     system() does not affect the wait status of any other  chil-
     dren.

CONFORMING TO

     ANSI C, POSIX.2, BSD 4.3

BUGS

     It is extremely unfortunate that the libc  version  of  sys-
     tem()  ignores interrupts.  This makes programs that call it
     from a loop uninterruptable.  This means that for such  pur-
     poses one should not use system() but a private version like
     (warning: untested code!)

     int my_system (const char *command) {
         int pid, status;

         if (command == 0)
             return 1;
         pid = fork();
         if (pid == -1)
             return -1;
         if (pid == 0) {
             char *argv[4];
             argv[0] = "sh";
             argv[1] = "-c";
             argv[2] = command;
             argv[3] = 0;
             execve("/bin/sh", argv, environ);
             exit(127);
         }
         do {
             if (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) == -1) {
                 if (errno != EINTR)
                     return -1;
             } else
                 return status;
         } while(1);
     }

     Do not use  system()  from  a  program  with  suid  or  sgid
     privileges,  because  strange  values  for  some environment
     variables might be used to subvert  system  integrity.   Use
     the  exec(3)  family of functions instead, but not execlp(3)
     or execvp(3).  system() will not,  in  fact,  work  properly
     from  programs  with  suid  or sgid privileges on systems on
     which  /bin/sh  is  bash  version  2,  since  bash  2  drops
     privileges  on  startup.  (Debian uses a modified bash which
     does not do this when invoked as sh.)

     The check for the availability of /bin/sh  is  not  actually
     performed;  it  is  always  assumed  to be available.  ISO C
     specifies the check, but POSIX.2 specifies that  the  return
     shall  always  be non-zero, since a system without the shell
     is not conforming, and it is this that is implemented.

     It is possible for the shell command to return 127, so  that
     code is not a sure indication that the execve() call failed;
     check errno to make sure.

SEE ALSO

     sh(1), signal(2), exec(3)