<!-- Copyright (c) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. --> <html> <head> <title>forkbomb</title> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <h2 align=center>forkbomb</h2> <h4 align=center>OS/161 Reference Manual</h4> <h3>Name</h3> <p> forkbomb - create hundreds of processes </p> <h3>Synopsis</h3> <p> <tt>/testbin/forkbomb</tt> </p> <h3>Description</h3> <p> <tt>forkbomb</tt> does <pre> while (1) fork(); </pre> doing a bit of additional checking similar to that done by <A HREF=forktest.html>forktest</A>. </p> </p> <strong> DO NOT RUN THIS ON A REAL SYSTEM - IT WILL GRIND TO A HALT AND PEOPLE WILL COME AFTER YOU WIELDING BASEBALL BATS AND/OR THE AD BOARD<sup><font size=-1>*</font></sup>. WE WARNED YOU. </strong> </p> <p> <font size=-1><i><sup>*</sup> The Administrative Board of Harvard College handles formal disciplinary action.</i></font> </p> <h3>Requirements</h3> <p> <tt>forkbomb</tt> uses the following system calls: <ul> <li> <A HREF=../syscall/fork.html>fork</A> <li> <A HREF=../syscall/getpid.html>getpid</A> <li> <A HREF=../syscall/write.html>write</A> <li> <A HREF=../syscall/_exit.html>_exit</A> </ul> </p> <p> We don't expect your system to withstand this without grinding to a halt, but once your basic system calls are complete it shouldn't crash. Likewise for after your virtual memory system is complete. </p> <p> Note that this may turn out to be hard to achieve in practice. Don't spend much time fixing problems <tt>forkbomb</tt> triggers that won't arise under more normal operation. (If in doubt, consult your course staff.) </p> </body> </html>