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MQ_OVERVIEW(7) Linux Programmer's Manual MQ_OVERVIEW(7)
NAME
mq_overview - Overview of POSIX message queues
DESCRIPTION
POSIX message queues allow processes to exchange data in the form of messages. This API
is distinct from that provided by System V message queues (msgget(2), msgsnd(2),
msgrcv(2), etc.), but provides similar functionality.
Message queues are created and opened using mq_open(3); this function returns a message
queue descriptor (mqd_t), which is used to refer to the open message queue in later calls.
Each message queue is identified by a name of the form /somename. Two processes can oper-
ate on the same queue by passing the same name to mq_open(3).
Messages are transferred to and from a queue using mq_send(3) and mq_receive(3). When a
process has finished using the queue, it closes it using mq_close(3), and when the queue
is no longer required, it can be deleted using mq_unlink(3). Queue attributes can be
retrieved and (in some cases) modified using mq_getattr(3) and mq_setattr(3). A process
can request asynchronous notification of the arrival of a message on a previously empty
queue using mq_notify(3).
A message queue descriptor is a reference to an open message queue description (cf.
open(2)). After a fork(2), a child inherits copies of its parent's message queue descrip-
tors, and these descriptors refer to the same open message queue descriptions as the cor-
responding descriptors in the parent. Corresponding descriptors in the two processes
share the flags (mq_flags) that are associated with the open message queue description.
Each message has an associated priority, and messages are always delivered to the receiv-
ing process highest priority first. Message priorities range from 0 (low) to
sysconf(_SC_MQ_PRIO_MAX) - 1 (high). On Linux, sysconf(_SC_MQ_PRIO_MAX) returns 32768,
but POSIX.1-2001 only requires an implementation to support priorities in the range 0 to
31; some implementations only provide this range.
The remainder of this section describes some specific details of the Linux implementation
of POSIX message queues.
Library interfaces and system calls
In most cases the mq_*() library interfaces listed above are implemented on top of under-
lying system calls of the same name. Deviations from this scheme are indicated in the
following table:
Library interface System call
mq_close(3) close(2)
mq_getattr(3) mq_getsetattr(2)
mq_open(3) mq_open(2)
mq_receive(3) mq_timedreceive(2)
mq_send(3) mq_timedsend(2)
mq_setattr(3) mq_getsetattr(2)
mq_timedreceive(3) mq_timedreceive(2)
mq_timedsend(3) mq_timedsend(2)
mq_unlink(3) mq_unlink(2)
Versions
POSIX message queues have been supported on Linux since kernel 2.6.6. Glibc support has
been provided since version 2.3.4.
Kernel configuration
Support for POSIX message queues is configurable via the CONFIG_POSIX_MQUEUE kernel con-
figuration option. This option is enabled by default.
Persistence
POSIX message queues have kernel persistence: if not removed by mq_unlink(3), a message
queue will exist until the system is shut down.
Linking
Programs using the POSIX message queue API must be compiled with cc -lrt to link against
the real-time library, librt.
/proc interfaces
The following interfaces can be used to limit the amount of kernel memory consumed by
POSIX message queues:
/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msg_max
This file can be used to view and change the ceiling value for the maximum number
of messages in a queue. This value acts as a ceiling on the attr->mq_maxmsg argu-
ment given to mq_open(3). The default and minimum value for msg_max is 10; the
upper limit is HARD_MAX: (131072 / sizeof(void *)) (32768 on Linux/86). This limit
is ignored for privileged processes (CAP_SYS_RESOURCE), but the HARD_MAX ceiling is
nevertheless imposed.
/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/msgsize_max
This file can be used to view and change the ceiling on the maximum message size.
This value acts as a ceiling on the attr->mq_msgsize argument given to mq_open(3).
The default and minimum value for msgsize_max is 8192 bytes; the upper limit is
INT_MAX (2147483647 on Linux/86). This limit is ignored for privileged processes
(CAP_SYS_RESOURCE).
/proc/sys/fs/mqueue/queues_max
This file can be used to view and change the system-wide limit on the number of
message queues that can be created. Only privileged processes (CAP_SYS_RESOURCE)
can create new message queues once this limit has been reached. The default value
for queues_max is 256; it can be changed to any value in the range 0 to INT_MAX.
Resource limit
The RLIMIT_MSGQUEUE resource limit, which places a limit on the amount of space that can
be consumed by all of the message queues belonging to a process's real user ID, is
described in getrlimit(2).
Mounting the message queue file system
On Linux, message queues are created in a virtual file system. (Other implementations may
also provide such a feature, but the details are likely to differ.) This file system can
be mounted using the following commands:
$ mkdir /dev/mqueue
$ mount -t mqueue none /dev/mqueue
The sticky bit is automatically enabled on the mount directory.
After the file system has been mounted, the message queues on the system can be viewed and
manipulated using the commands usually used for files (e.g., ls(1) and rm(1)).
The contents of each file in the directory consist of a single line containing information
about the queue:
$ ls /dev/mqueue/mymq
QSIZE:129 NOTIFY:2 SIGNO:0 NOTIFY_PID:8260
$ mount -t mqueue none /dev/mqueue
These fields are as follows:
QSIZE Number of bytes of data in all messages in the queue.
NOTIFY_PID
If this is non-zero, then the process with this PID has used mq_notify(3) to regis-
ter for asynchronous message notification, and the remaining fields describe how
notification occurs.
NOTIFY Notification method: 0 is SIGEV_SIGNAL; 1 is SIGEV_NONE; and 2 is SIGEV_THREAD.
SIGNO Signal number to be used for SIGEV_SIGNAL.
Polling message queue descriptors
On Linux, a message queue descriptor is actually a file descriptor, and can be monitored
using select(2), poll(2), or epoll(7). This is not portable.
CONFORMING TO
POSIX.1-2001.
NOTES
System V message queues (msgget(2), msgsnd(2), msgrcv(2), etc.) are an older API for
exchanging messages between processes. POSIX message queues provide a better designed
interface than System V message queues; on the other hand POSIX message queues are less
widely available (especially on older systems) than System V message queues.
Linux does not currently (2.6.26) support the use of access control lists (ACLs) for POSIX
message queues.
EXAMPLE
An example of the use of various message queue functions is shown in mq_notify(3).
SEE ALSO
getrlimit(2), mq_getsetattr(2), poll(2), select(2), mq_close(3), mq_getattr(3),
mq_notify(3), mq_open(3), mq_receive(3), mq_send(3), mq_unlink(3), epoll(7)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.05 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the
project, and information about reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.ker-
nel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux 2008-06-15 MQ_OVERVIEW(7)
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