.\"
.\" @(#)tcp.4 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/5/93
.\"
-.Dd June 5, 1993
+.Dd February 28, 2007
.Dt TCP 4
.Os BSD 4.2
.Sh NAME
.Nm tcp
.Nd Internet Transmission Control Protocol
.Sh SYNOPSIS
-.Fd #include <sys/socket.h>
-.Fd #include <netinet/in.h>
+.In sys/types.h
+.In sys/socket.h
+.In netinet/in.h
.Ft int
.Fn socket AF_INET SOCK_STREAM 0
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Tn TCP
protocol provides reliable, flow-controlled, two-way
-transmission of data. It is a byte-stream protocol used to
+transmission of data.
+It is a byte-stream protocol used to
support the
.Dv SOCK_STREAM
-abstraction. TCP uses the standard
+abstraction.
+.Tn TCP
+uses the standard
Internet address format and, in addition, provides a per-host
collection of
-.Dq port addresses .
+.Dq "port addresses" .
Thus, each address is composed
-of an Internet address specifying the host and network, with
-a specific
+of an Internet address specifying the host and network,
+with a specific
.Tn TCP
port on the host identifying the peer entity.
.Pp
-Sockets utilizing the tcp protocol are either
+Sockets utilizing the
+.Tn TCP
+protocol are either
.Dq active
or
.Dq passive .
Active sockets initiate connections to passive
-sockets. By default
+sockets.
+By default,
.Tn TCP
sockets are created active; to create a
-passive socket the
+passive socket, the
.Xr listen 2
system call must be used
after binding the socket with the
.Xr bind 2
-system call. Only
-passive sockets may use the
+system call.
+Only passive sockets may use the
.Xr accept 2
-call to accept incoming connections. Only active sockets may
-use the
+call to accept incoming connections.
+Only active sockets may use the
.Xr connect 2
call to initiate connections.
.Pp
Passive sockets may
.Dq underspecify
their location to match
-incoming connection requests from multiple networks. This
-technique, termed
-.Dq wildcard addressing ,
+incoming connection requests from multiple networks.
+This technique, termed
+.Dq "wildcard addressing" ,
allows a single
server to provide service to clients on multiple networks.
To create a socket which listens on all networks, the Internet
address
.Dv INADDR_ANY
-must be bound. The
+must be bound.
+The
.Tn TCP
port may still be specified
-at this time; if the port is not specified the system will assign one.
-Once a connection has been established the socket's address is
-fixed by the peer entity's location. The address assigned the
+at this time; if the port is not specified, the system will assign one.
+Once a connection has been established, the socket's address is
+fixed by the peer entity's location.
+The address assigned to the
socket is the address associated with the network interface
-through which packets are being transmitted and received. Normally
-this address corresponds to the peer entity's network.
+through which packets are being transmitted and received.
+Normally, this address corresponds to the peer entity's network.
.Pp
.Tn TCP
-supports one socket option which is set with
+supports a number of socket options which can be set with
.Xr setsockopt 2
and tested with
-.Xr getsockopt 2 .
+.Xr getsockopt 2 :
+.Bl -tag -width ".Dv TCP_CONNECTIONTIMEOUT"
+.It Dv TCP_NODELAY
Under most circumstances,
.Tn TCP
sends data when it is presented;
For a small number of clients, such as window systems
that send a stream of mouse events which receive no replies,
this packetization may cause significant delays.
-Therefore,
-.Tn TCP
-provides a boolean option,
+The boolean option
.Dv TCP_NODELAY
-(from
-.Aq Pa netinet/tcp.h ,
-to defeat this algorithm.
+defeats this algorithm.
+.It Dv TCP_MAXSEG
+By default, a sender- and
+.No receiver- Ns Tn TCP
+will negotiate among themselves to determine the maximum segment size
+to be used for each connection.
+The
+.Dv TCP_MAXSEG
+option allows the user to determine the result of this negotiation,
+and to reduce it if desired.
+.It Dv TCP_NOOPT
+.Tn TCP
+usually sends a number of options in each packet, corresponding to
+various
+.Tn TCP
+extensions which are provided in this implementation.
+The boolean option
+.Dv TCP_NOOPT
+is provided to disable
+.Tn TCP
+option use on a per-connection basis.
+.It Dv TCP_NOPUSH
+By convention, the
+.No sender- Ns Tn TCP
+will set the
+.Dq push
+bit, and begin transmission immediately (if permitted) at the end of
+every user call to
+.Xr write 2
+or
+.Xr writev 2 .
+When this option is set to a non-zero value,
+.Tn TCP
+will delay sending any data at all until either the socket is closed,
+or the internal send buffer is filled.
+.It Dv TCP_KEEPALIVE
+.Tn The
+.Dv TCP_KEEPALIVE
+options enable to specify the amount of time, in seconds, that the
+connection must be idle before keepalive probes (if enabled) are sent.
+The default value is specified by the
+.Tn MIB
+variable
+.Va net.inet.tcp.keepidle .
+.It Dv TCP_CONNECTIONTIMEOUT
+.Tn The
+.Dv TCP_CONNECTIONTIMEOUT
+option allows to specify the timeout, in seconds, for new, non established
+.Tn TCP
+connections. This option can be useful for both active and passive
+.Tn TCP
+connections. The default value is specified by the
+.Tn MIB
+variable
+.Va net.inet.tcp.keepinit .
+.El
+.Pp
The option level for the
-.Xr setsockopt
+.Xr setsockopt 2
call is the protocol number for
.Tn TCP ,
available from
-.Xr getprotobyname 3 .
+.Xr getprotobyname 3 ,
+or
+.Dv IPPROTO_TCP .
+All options are declared in
+.In netinet/tcp.h .
.Pp
Options at the
.Tn IP
.Xr ip 4 .
Incoming connection requests that are source-routed are noted,
and the reverse source route is used in responding.
+.Ss "Non-blocking connect"
+.Pp
+When a
+.Tn TCP
+socket is set non-blocking, and the connection cannot be established immediatly,
+.Xr connect 2
+returns with the error
+.Dv EINPROGRESS ,
+and the connection is established asynchronously.
+.Pp
+When the asynchronous connection completes successfully,
+.Xr select 2
+or
+.Xr poll 2
+or
+.Xr kqueue 2
+will indicate the file descriptor is ready for writing.
+If the connection encounters an error, the file descriptor
+is marked ready for both reading and writing, and the pending error
+can be retrieved via the socket option
+.Dv SO_ERROR .
+.Pp
+Note that even if the socket is non-blocking, it is possible for the connection
+to be established immediatly. In that case
+.Xr connect 2
+does not return with
+.Dv EINPROGRESS .
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
A socket operation may fail with one of the following errors returned:
-.Bl -tag -width [EADDRNOTAVAIL]
+.Bl -tag -width Er
.It Bq Er EISCONN
when trying to establish a connection on a socket which
already has one;
is made to create a socket with a port which has already been
allocated;
.It Bq Er EADDRNOTAVAIL
-when an attempt is made to create a
+when an attempt is made to create a
socket with a network address for which no network interface
-exists.
+exists;
+.It Bq Er EAFNOSUPPORT
+when an attempt is made to bind or connect a socket to a multicast
+address;
+.It Bq Er EINPROGRESS
+returned by
+.Xr connect 2
+when the socket is set nonblocking, and the connection cannot be
+immediately established;
+.It Bq Er EALREADY
+returned by
+.Xr connect 2
+when connection request is already in progress for the specified socket.
+.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
+.Xr connect 2 ,
.Xr getsockopt 2 ,
+.Xr kqueue 2 ,
+.Xr poll 2 ,
+.Xr select 2 ,
.Xr socket 2 ,
+.Xr sysctl 3 ,
.Xr inet 4 ,
-.Xr intro 4 ,
-.Xr ip 4
+.Xr inet6 4 ,
+.Xr ip 4 ,
+.Xr ip6 4 ,
+.Xr netintro 4 ,
+.Xr setkey 8
.Sh HISTORY
The
-.Nm
-protocol stack appeared in
+.Tn TCP
+protocol appeared in
.Bx 4.2 .
+.Pp
+The socket option
+.Dv TCP_CONNECTIONTIMEOUT
+first appeared in Mac OS X 10.6.