'\" t
.\" This man page was written by Jeremy Phelps <jphelps@notreached.net>.
.\"
.\" %%%LICENSE_START(FREELY_REDISTRIBUTABLE)
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.TH getpt 3 2024-05-02 "Linux man-pages 6.8"
.SH NAME
getpt \- open a new pseudoterminal master
.SH LIBRARY
Standard C library
.RI ( libc ", " \-lc )
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
.BR "#define _GNU_SOURCE" "             /* See feature_test_macros(7) */"
.B #include <stdlib.h>
.P
.B "int getpt(void);"
.fi
.SH DESCRIPTION
.BR getpt ()
opens a new pseudoterminal device and returns a file descriptor
that refers to that device.
It is equivalent to opening the pseudoterminal multiplexor device
.P
.in +4n
.EX
open("/dev/ptmx", O_RDWR);
.EE
.in
.P
on Linux systems, though the pseudoterminal multiplexor device is located
elsewhere on some systems that use the GNU C library.
.SH RETURN VALUE
.BR getpt ()
returns an open file descriptor upon successful completion.
Otherwise, it
returns \-1 and sets
.I errno
to indicate the error.
.SH ERRORS
.BR getpt ()
can fail with various errors described in
.BR open (2).
.SH ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
.BR attributes (7).
.TS
allbox;
lbx lb lb
l l l.
Interface	Attribute	Value
T{
.na
.nh
.BR getpt ()
T}	Thread safety	MT-Safe
.TE
.SH VERSIONS
Use
.BR posix_openpt (3)
instead.
.SH STANDARDS
GNU.
.SH HISTORY
glibc 2.1.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR grantpt (3),
.BR posix_openpt (3),
.BR ptsname (3),
.BR unlockpt (3),
.BR ptmx (4),
.BR pty (7)