getcontext(3) Library Functions Manual getcontext(3)
NAME
getcontext, setcontext - get or set the user context
LIBRARY
Standard C library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS#include <ucontext.h>int getcontext(ucontext_t *ucp);int setcontext(const ucontext_t *ucp);DESCRIPTION
In a System V-like environment, one has the two types mcontext_t and
ucontext_t defined in <ucontext.h> and the four functions getcontext(),
setcontext(), makecontext(3), and swapcontext(3) that allow user-level
context switching between multiple threads of control within a process.
The mcontext_t type is machine-dependent and opaque. The ucontext_t type
is a structure that has at least the following fields:
typedef struct ucontext_t {
struct ucontext_t *uc_link;
sigset_t uc_sigmask;
stack_t uc_stack;
mcontext_t uc_mcontext;
...
} ucontext_t;
with sigset_t and stack_t defined in <signal.h>. Here uc_link points to
the context that will be resumed when the current context terminates (in
case the current context was created using makecontext(3)), uc_sigmask is
the set of signals blocked in this context (see sigprocmask(2)), uc_stack
is the stack used by this context (see sigaltstack(2)), and uc_mcontext
is the machine-specific representation of the saved context, that
includes the calling thread's machine registers.
The function getcontext() initializes the structure pointed to by ucp to
the currently active context.
The function setcontext() restores the user context pointed to by ucp. A
successful call does not return. The context should have been obtained
by a call of getcontext(), or makecontext(3), or received as the third
argument to a signal handler (see the discussion of the SA_SIGINFO flag
in sigaction(2)).
If the context was obtained by a call of getcontext(), program execution
continues as if this call just returned.
If the context was obtained by a call of makecontext(3), program
execution continues by a call to the function func specified as the
second argument of that call to makecontext(3). When the function func
returns, we continue with the uc_link member of the structure ucp
specified as the first argument of that call to makecontext(3). When
this member is NULL, the thread exits.
If the context was obtained by a call to a signal handler, then old
standard text says that "program execution continues with the program
instruction following the instruction interrupted by the signal".
However, this sentence was removed in SUSv2, and the present verdict is
"the result is unspecified".
RETURN VALUE
When successful, getcontext() returns 0 and setcontext() does not return.
On error, both return -1 and set errno to indicate the error.
ERRORS
None defined.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).
┌────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬──────────────────┐
│ Interface │ Attribute │ Value │
├────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼──────────────────┤
│ getcontext(), setcontext() │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe race:ucp │
└────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴──────────────────┘
STANDARDS
None.
HISTORY
SUSv2, POSIX.1-2001.
POSIX.1-2008 removes these functions, citing portability issues, and
recommending that applications be rewritten to use POSIX threads instead.
NOTES
The earliest incarnation of this mechanism was the setjmp(3)/longjmp(3)
mechanism. Since that does not define the handling of the signal
context, the next stage was the sigsetjmp(3)/siglongjmp(3) pair. The
present mechanism gives much more control. On the other hand, there is
no easy way to detect whether a return from getcontext() is from the
first call, or via a setcontext() call. The user has to invent their own
bookkeeping device, and a register variable won't do since registers are
restored.
When a signal occurs, the current user context is saved and a new context
is created by the kernel for the signal handler. Do not leave the
handler using longjmp(3): it is undefined what would happen with
contexts. Use siglongjmp(3) or setcontext() instead.
SEE ALSOsigaction(2), sigaltstack(2), sigprocmask(2), longjmp(3), makecontext(3),
sigsetjmp(3), signal(7)
Linux man-pages 6.17 2026-02-08 getcontext(3)