NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     acct - enable or disable process accounting

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     #include <unistd.h>

     int
     acct(const char *file);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The acct() call enables or disables the collection of system
accounting
     records.   If file is NULL, accounting is disabled.  If file
is an existing,
 null-terminated pathname, record collection is  enabled
and for every
     process  initiated  which terminates under normal conditions
an accounting
     record is appended to file.  Abnormal conditions of termination are reboots
 or other fatal system problems.  Records for processes
which never
     terminate can not be produced by acct().

     For more information on the record structure used by acct(),
see
     /usr/include/sys/acct.h and acct(5).

     This call is permitted only to the superuser.

NOTES    [Toc]    [Back]

     Accounting  is  automatically  disabled when the file system
the accounting
     file resides on runs out of space; it is enabled when  space
once again
     becomes available.

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     On  error  -1 is returned.  The file must exist and the call
may be exercised
 only by the superuser.

ERRORS    [Toc]    [Back]

     acct() will fail if one of the following is true:

     [EPERM]       The caller is not the superuser.

     [ENOTDIR]     A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

     [ENAMETOOLONG]
                   A  component of a pathname exceeded {NAME_MAX}
characters,
                   or an entire  path  name  exceeded  {PATH_MAX}
characters.

     [ENOENT]      The named file does not exist.

     [EACCES]      Search permission is denied for a component of
the path
                   prefix, or the path  name  is  not  a  regular
file.

     [ELOOP]        Too  many  symbolic links were encountered in
translating the
                   pathname.

     [EROFS]       The named file resides  on  a  read-only  file
system.

     [EFAULT]       file  points  outside the process's allocated
address space.

     [EIO]         An I/O error occurred while  reading  from  or
writing to the
                   file system.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     acct(5), accton(8), sa(8)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     An acct() function call appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX.

OpenBSD      3.6                           June      4,      1993