GETBOOTFILE(3)

🎀 GETBOOTFILE(3) 🎀

okay so this is a Library Functions Manual page, bestie — it's giving “where did my kernel even come from?” energy, and the answer is a whole function. no cap. 💖

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🌸 NAME 🌸

getbootfile — get kernel boot file name

📚 LIBRARY 📚

Standard C Library (libc, -lc) — the classic libc girlies, periodt. 🫶

🧚 SYNOPSIS 🧚

#include <paths.h>

const char *
getbootfile(void);

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so getbootfile() literally retrieves the full pathname of the file from which the current kernel was loaded, and returns a static pointer to the name. main character behavior tbh. 👑

and a read/write interface to this information is available via the sysctl(3) MIB variable “kern.bootfile”. iykyk. 🦋

💅 RETURN VALUES 💅

If the call succeeds, a string giving the pathname is returned. slay. ✨

If it fails, a null pointer is returned and an error code is placed in the global location errno. not the vibe, but good to know. 😭

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• sysctl(3) — go read that one too, bestie.

🌈 HISTORY 🌈

The getbootfile() function appeared in FreeBSD 2.0. iconic lineage fr fr. 👑

💀 BUGS 💀

If the boot blocks have not been modified to pass this information into the kernel at boot time, the static string /boot/kernel/kernel is returned instead of the real boot file.

so yeah — if the boot blocks aren't doing their little job, you get that static string instead of the real boot file. noted. 🙈

source/version: Debian · September 23, 1994 — byeee bestie, go check your boot file 💅✨