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Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/library/os.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/library/os.rst | 372 |
1 files changed, 312 insertions, 60 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/os.rst b/Doc/library/os.rst index 5a67f93..3260cdc 100644 --- a/Doc/library/os.rst +++ b/Doc/library/os.rst @@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Notes on the availability of these functions: The name of the operating system dependent module imported. The following names have currently been registered: ``'posix'``, ``'nt'``, - ``'ce'``, ``'java'``. + ``'java'``. .. seealso:: :attr:`sys.platform` has a finer granularity. :func:`os.uname` gives @@ -171,23 +171,60 @@ process and user. .. function:: fsencode(filename) - Encode *filename* to the filesystem encoding with ``'surrogateescape'`` - error handler, or ``'strict'`` on Windows; return :class:`bytes` unchanged. + Encode :term:`path-like <path-like object>` *filename* to the filesystem + encoding with ``'surrogateescape'`` error handler, or ``'strict'`` on + Windows; return :class:`bytes` unchanged. :func:`fsdecode` is the reverse function. .. versionadded:: 3.2 + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Support added to accept objects implementing the :class:`os.PathLike` + interface. + .. function:: fsdecode(filename) - Decode *filename* from the filesystem encoding with ``'surrogateescape'`` - error handler, or ``'strict'`` on Windows; return :class:`str` unchanged. + Decode the :term:`path-like <path-like object>` *filename* from the + filesystem encoding with ``'surrogateescape'`` error handler, or ``'strict'`` + on Windows; return :class:`str` unchanged. :func:`fsencode` is the reverse function. .. versionadded:: 3.2 + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Support added to accept objects implementing the :class:`os.PathLike` + interface. + + +.. function:: fspath(path) + + Return the file system representation of the path. + + If :class:`str` or :class:`bytes` is passed in, it is returned unchanged. + Otherwise :meth:`~os.PathLike.__fspath__` is called and its value is + returned as long as it is a :class:`str` or :class:`bytes` object. + In all other cases, :exc:`TypeError` is raised. + + .. versionadded:: 3.6 + + +.. class:: PathLike + + An :term:`abstract base class` for objects representing a file system path, + e.g. :class:`pathlib.PurePath`. + + .. versionadded:: 3.6 + + .. abstractmethod:: __fspath__() + + Return the file system path representation of the object. + + The method should only return a :class:`str` or :class:`bytes` object, + with the preference being for :class:`str`. + .. function:: getenv(key, default=None) @@ -896,6 +933,9 @@ as internal buffering of data. exception, the function now retries the system call instead of raising an :exc:`InterruptedError` exception (see :pep:`475` for the rationale). + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + The following constants are options for the *flags* parameter to the :func:`~os.open` function. They can be combined using the bitwise OR operator ``|``. Some of them are not available on all platforms. For descriptions of @@ -1392,6 +1432,9 @@ features: .. versionchanged:: 3.3 Added the *dir_fd*, *effective_ids*, and *follow_symlinks* parameters. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. data:: F_OK R_OK @@ -1416,6 +1459,9 @@ features: Added support for specifying *path* as a file descriptor on some platforms. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: chflags(path, flags, *, follow_symlinks=True) @@ -1442,6 +1488,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *follow_symlinks* argument. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: chmod(path, mode, *, dir_fd=None, follow_symlinks=True) @@ -1483,6 +1532,9 @@ features: Added support for specifying *path* as an open file descriptor, and the *dir_fd* and *follow_symlinks* arguments. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: chown(path, uid, gid, *, dir_fd=None, follow_symlinks=True) @@ -1502,6 +1554,9 @@ features: Added support for specifying an open file descriptor for *path*, and the *dir_fd* and *follow_symlinks* arguments. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Supports a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: chroot(path) @@ -1509,6 +1564,9 @@ features: Availability: Unix. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: fchdir(fd) @@ -1537,6 +1595,9 @@ features: Availability: Unix. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: lchmod(path, mode) @@ -1547,6 +1608,8 @@ features: Availability: Unix. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. .. function:: lchown(path, uid, gid) @@ -1556,6 +1619,9 @@ features: Availability: Unix. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: link(src, dst, *, src_dir_fd=None, dst_dir_fd=None, follow_symlinks=True) @@ -1573,6 +1639,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 Added the *src_dir_fd*, *dst_dir_fd*, and *follow_symlinks* arguments. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *src* and *dst*. + .. function:: listdir(path='.') @@ -1580,8 +1649,9 @@ features: *path*. The list is in arbitrary order, and does not include the special entries ``'.'`` and ``'..'`` even if they are present in the directory. - *path* may be either of type ``str`` or of type ``bytes``. If *path* - is of type ``bytes``, the filenames returned will also be of type ``bytes``; + *path* may be a :term:`path-like object`. If *path* is of type ``bytes`` + (directly or indirectly through the :class:`PathLike` interface), + the filenames returned will also be of type ``bytes``; in all other circumstances, they will be of type ``str``. This function can also support :ref:`specifying a file descriptor @@ -1602,6 +1672,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 Added support for specifying an open file descriptor for *path*. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: lstat(path, \*, dir_fd=None) @@ -1628,6 +1701,9 @@ features: .. versionchanged:: 3.3 Added the *dir_fd* parameter. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *src* and *dst*. + .. function:: mkdir(path, mode=0o777, *, dir_fd=None) @@ -1652,6 +1728,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* argument. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: makedirs(name, mode=0o777, exist_ok=False) @@ -1685,6 +1764,9 @@ features: mode of the existing directory. Since this behavior was impossible to implement safely, it was removed in Python 3.4.1. See :issue:`21082`. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: mkfifo(path, mode=0o666, *, dir_fd=None) @@ -1705,6 +1787,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* argument. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: mknod(path, mode=0o600, device=0, *, dir_fd=None) @@ -1724,6 +1809,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* argument. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: major(device) @@ -1762,6 +1850,9 @@ features: Availability: Unix. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. data:: pathconf_names @@ -1779,9 +1870,10 @@ features: may be converted to an absolute pathname using ``os.path.join(os.path.dirname(path), result)``. - If the *path* is a string object, the result will also be a string object, + If the *path* is a string object (directly or indirectly through a + :class:`PathLike` interface), the result will also be a string object, and the call may raise a UnicodeDecodeError. If the *path* is a bytes - object, the result will be a bytes object. + object (direct or indirectly), the result will be a bytes object. This function can also support :ref:`paths relative to directory descriptors <dir_fd>`. @@ -1794,6 +1886,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* argument. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: remove(path, *, dir_fd=None) @@ -1812,6 +1907,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* argument. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: removedirs(name) @@ -1826,6 +1924,9 @@ features: they are empty. Raises :exc:`OSError` if the leaf directory could not be successfully removed. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: rename(src, dst, *, src_dir_fd=None, dst_dir_fd=None) @@ -1845,6 +1946,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *src_dir_fd* and *dst_dir_fd* arguments. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *src* and *dst*. + .. function:: renames(old, new) @@ -1858,6 +1962,9 @@ features: This function can fail with the new directory structure made if you lack permissions needed to remove the leaf directory or file. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *old* and *new*. + .. function:: replace(src, dst, *, src_dir_fd=None, dst_dir_fd=None) @@ -1872,6 +1979,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *src* and *dst*. + .. function:: rmdir(path, *, dir_fd=None) @@ -1885,38 +1995,58 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* parameter. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: scandir(path='.') - Return an iterator of :class:`DirEntry` objects corresponding to the entries - in the directory given by *path*. The entries are yielded in arbitrary - order, and the special entries ``'.'`` and ``'..'`` are not included. + Return an iterator of :class:`os.DirEntry` objects corresponding to the + entries in the directory given by *path*. The entries are yielded in + arbitrary order, and the special entries ``'.'`` and ``'..'`` are not + included. Using :func:`scandir` instead of :func:`listdir` can significantly increase the performance of code that also needs file type or file - attribute information, because :class:`DirEntry` objects expose this + attribute information, because :class:`os.DirEntry` objects expose this information if the operating system provides it when scanning a directory. - All :class:`DirEntry` methods may perform a system call, but - :func:`~DirEntry.is_dir` and :func:`~DirEntry.is_file` usually only - require a system call for symbolic links; :func:`DirEntry.stat` + All :class:`os.DirEntry` methods may perform a system call, but + :func:`~os.DirEntry.is_dir` and :func:`~os.DirEntry.is_file` usually only + require a system call for symbolic links; :func:`os.DirEntry.stat` always requires a system call on Unix but only requires one for symbolic links on Windows. - On Unix, *path* can be of type :class:`str` or :class:`bytes` (use + On Unix, *path* can be of type :class:`str` or :class:`bytes` (either + directly or indirectly through the :class:`PathLike` interface; use :func:`~os.fsencode` and :func:`~os.fsdecode` to encode and decode :class:`bytes` paths). On Windows, *path* must be of type :class:`str`. - On both systems, the type of the :attr:`~DirEntry.name` and - :attr:`~DirEntry.path` attributes of each :class:`DirEntry` will be of + On both systems, the type of the :attr:`~os.DirEntry.name` and + :attr:`~os.DirEntry.path` attributes of each :class:`os.DirEntry` will be of the same type as *path*. + The :func:`scandir` iterator supports the :term:`context manager` protocol + and has the following method: + + .. method:: scandir.close() + + Close the iterator and free acquired resources. + + This is called automatically when the iterator is exhausted or garbage + collected, or when an error happens during iterating. However it + is advisable to call it explicitly or use the :keyword:`with` + statement. + + .. versionadded:: 3.6 + The following example shows a simple use of :func:`scandir` to display all the files (excluding directories) in the given *path* that don't start with ``'.'``. The ``entry.is_file()`` call will generally not make an additional system call:: - for entry in os.scandir(path): - if not entry.name.startswith('.') and entry.is_file(): - print(entry.name) + with os.scandir(path) as it: + for entry in it: + if not entry.name.startswith('.') and entry.is_file(): + print(entry.name) .. note:: @@ -1932,6 +2062,14 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.5 + .. versionadded:: 3.6 + Added support for the :term:`context manager` protocol and the + :func:`~scandir.close()` method. If a :func:`scandir` iterator is neither + exhausted nor explicitly closed a :exc:`ResourceWarning` will be emitted + in its destructor. + + The function accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. class:: DirEntry @@ -1940,19 +2078,22 @@ features: :func:`scandir` will provide as much of this information as possible without making additional system calls. When a ``stat()`` or ``lstat()`` system call - is made, the ``DirEntry`` object will cache the result. + is made, the ``os.DirEntry`` object will cache the result. - ``DirEntry`` instances are not intended to be stored in long-lived data + ``os.DirEntry`` instances are not intended to be stored in long-lived data structures; if you know the file metadata has changed or if a long time has elapsed since calling :func:`scandir`, call ``os.stat(entry.path)`` to fetch up-to-date information. - Because the ``DirEntry`` methods can make operating system calls, they may + Because the ``os.DirEntry`` methods can make operating system calls, they may also raise :exc:`OSError`. If you need very fine-grained control over errors, you can catch :exc:`OSError` when calling one of the - ``DirEntry`` methods and handle as appropriate. + ``os.DirEntry`` methods and handle as appropriate. - Attributes and methods on a ``DirEntry`` instance are as follows: + To be directly usable as a :term:`path-like object`, ``os.DirEntry`` + implements the :class:`PathLike` interface. + + Attributes and methods on a ``os.DirEntry`` instance are as follows: .. attribute:: name @@ -1978,8 +2119,9 @@ features: Return the inode number of the entry. - The result is cached on the ``DirEntry`` object. Use ``os.stat(entry.path, - follow_symlinks=False).st_ino`` to fetch up-to-date information. + The result is cached on the ``os.DirEntry`` object. Use + ``os.stat(entry.path, follow_symlinks=False).st_ino`` to fetch up-to-date + information. On the first, uncached call, a system call is required on Windows but not on Unix. @@ -1994,7 +2136,7 @@ features: is a directory (without following symlinks); return ``False`` if the entry is any other kind of file or if it doesn't exist anymore. - The result is cached on the ``DirEntry`` object, with a separate cache + The result is cached on the ``os.DirEntry`` object, with a separate cache for *follow_symlinks* ``True`` and ``False``. Call :func:`os.stat` along with :func:`stat.S_ISDIR` to fetch up-to-date information. @@ -2018,8 +2160,8 @@ features: is a file (without following symlinks); return ``False`` if the entry is a directory or other non-file entry, or if it doesn't exist anymore. - The result is cached on the ``DirEntry`` object. Caching, system calls - made, and exceptions raised are as per :func:`~DirEntry.is_dir`. + The result is cached on the ``os.DirEntry`` object. Caching, system calls + made, and exceptions raised are as per :func:`~os.DirEntry.is_dir`. .. method:: is_symlink() @@ -2027,7 +2169,7 @@ features: return ``False`` if the entry points to a directory or any kind of file, or if it doesn't exist anymore. - The result is cached on the ``DirEntry`` object. Call + The result is cached on the ``os.DirEntry`` object. Call :func:`os.path.islink` to fetch up-to-date information. On the first, uncached call, no system call is required in most cases. @@ -2052,23 +2194,28 @@ features: :class:`stat_result` are always set to zero. Call :func:`os.stat` to get these attributes. - The result is cached on the ``DirEntry`` object, with a separate cache + The result is cached on the ``os.DirEntry`` object, with a separate cache for *follow_symlinks* ``True`` and ``False``. Call :func:`os.stat` to fetch up-to-date information. Note that there is a nice correspondence between several attributes - and methods of ``DirEntry`` and of :class:`pathlib.Path`. In - particular, the ``name`` attribute has the same meaning, as do the - ``is_dir()``, ``is_file()``, ``is_symlink()`` and ``stat()`` methods. + and methods of ``os.DirEntry`` and of :class:`pathlib.Path`. In + particular, the ``name`` attribute has the same + meaning, as do the ``is_dir()``, ``is_file()``, ``is_symlink()`` + and ``stat()`` methods. .. versionadded:: 3.5 + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Added support for the :class:`~os.PathLike` interface. + .. function:: stat(path, \*, dir_fd=None, follow_symlinks=True) Get the status of a file or a file descriptor. Perform the equivalent of a :c:func:`stat` system call on the given path. *path* may be specified as - either a string or as an open file descriptor. Return a :class:`stat_result` + either a string -- directly or indirectly through the :class:`PathLike` + interface -- or as an open file descriptor. Return a :class:`stat_result` object. This function normally follows symlinks; to stat a symlink add the argument @@ -2098,6 +2245,9 @@ features: Added the *dir_fd* and *follow_symlinks* arguments, specifying a file descriptor instead of a path. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. class:: stat_result @@ -2319,19 +2469,22 @@ features: This function can support :ref:`specifying a file descriptor <path_fd>`. + Availability: Unix. + .. versionchanged:: 3.2 The :const:`ST_RDONLY` and :const:`ST_NOSUID` constants were added. + .. versionadded:: 3.3 + Added support for specifying an open file descriptor for *path*. + .. versionchanged:: 3.4 The :const:`ST_NODEV`, :const:`ST_NOEXEC`, :const:`ST_SYNCHRONOUS`, :const:`ST_MANDLOCK`, :const:`ST_WRITE`, :const:`ST_APPEND`, :const:`ST_IMMUTABLE`, :const:`ST_NOATIME`, :const:`ST_NODIRATIME`, and :const:`ST_RELATIME` constants were added. - Availability: Unix. - - .. versionadded:: 3.3 - Added support for specifying an open file descriptor for *path*. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. .. data:: supports_dir_fd @@ -2452,6 +2605,9 @@ features: Added the *dir_fd* argument, and now allow *target_is_directory* on non-Windows platforms. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *src* and *dst*. + .. function:: sync() @@ -2476,6 +2632,10 @@ features: .. versionchanged:: 3.5 Added support for Windows + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + + .. function:: unlink(path, *, dir_fd=None) Remove (delete) the file *path*. This function is semantically @@ -2486,6 +2646,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 The *dir_fd* parameter. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: utime(path, times=None, *[, ns], dir_fd=None, follow_symlinks=True) @@ -2523,6 +2686,9 @@ features: Added support for specifying an open file descriptor for *path*, and the *dir_fd*, *follow_symlinks*, and *ns* parameters. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: walk(top, topdown=True, onerror=None, followlinks=False) @@ -2613,6 +2779,9 @@ features: This function now calls :func:`os.scandir` instead of :func:`os.listdir`, making it faster by reducing the number of calls to :func:`os.stat`. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: fwalk(top='.', topdown=True, onerror=None, *, follow_symlinks=False, dir_fd=None) @@ -2669,6 +2838,9 @@ features: .. versionadded:: 3.3 + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + Linux extended attributes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @@ -2680,12 +2852,16 @@ These functions are all available on Linux only. .. function:: getxattr(path, attribute, *, follow_symlinks=True) Return the value of the extended filesystem attribute *attribute* for - *path*. *attribute* can be bytes or str. If it is str, it is encoded - with the filesystem encoding. + *path*. *attribute* can be bytes or str (directly or indirectly through the + :class:`PathLike` interface). If it is str, it is encoded with the filesystem + encoding. This function can support :ref:`specifying a file descriptor <path_fd>` and :ref:`not following symlinks <follow_symlinks>`. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` fpr *path* and *attribute*. + .. function:: listxattr(path=None, *, follow_symlinks=True) @@ -2697,21 +2873,29 @@ These functions are all available on Linux only. This function can support :ref:`specifying a file descriptor <path_fd>` and :ref:`not following symlinks <follow_symlinks>`. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: removexattr(path, attribute, *, follow_symlinks=True) Removes the extended filesystem attribute *attribute* from *path*. - *attribute* should be bytes or str. If it is a string, it is encoded + *attribute* should be bytes or str (directly or indirectly through the + :class:`PathLike` interface). If it is a string, it is encoded with the filesystem encoding. This function can support :ref:`specifying a file descriptor <path_fd>` and :ref:`not following symlinks <follow_symlinks>`. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *path* and *attribute*. + .. function:: setxattr(path, attribute, value, flags=0, *, follow_symlinks=True) Set the extended filesystem attribute *attribute* on *path* to *value*. - *attribute* must be a bytes or str with no embedded NULs. If it is a str, + *attribute* must be a bytes or str with no embedded NULs (directly or + indirectly through the :class:`PathLike` interface). If it is a str, it is encoded with the filesystem encoding. *flags* may be :data:`XATTR_REPLACE` or :data:`XATTR_CREATE`. If :data:`XATTR_REPLACE` is given and the attribute does not exist, ``EEXISTS`` will be raised. @@ -2726,6 +2910,9 @@ These functions are all available on Linux only. A bug in Linux kernel versions less than 2.6.39 caused the flags argument to be ignored on some filesystems. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object` for *path* and *attribute*. + .. data:: XATTR_SIZE_MAX @@ -2827,6 +3014,9 @@ to be ignored. Added support for specifying an open file descriptor for *path* for :func:`execve`. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. function:: _exit(n) Exit the process with status *n*, without calling cleanup handlers, flushing @@ -3137,6 +3327,9 @@ written in Python, such as a mail server's external command delivery program. :func:`spawnve` are not thread-safe on Windows; we advise you to use the :mod:`subprocess` module instead. + .. versionchanged:: 3.6 + Accepts a :term:`path-like object`. + .. data:: P_NOWAIT P_NOWAITO @@ -3623,6 +3816,11 @@ Miscellaneous System Information Return the number of CPUs in the system. Returns ``None`` if undetermined. + This number is not equivalent to the number of CPUs the current process can + use. The number of usable CPUs can be obtained with + ``len(os.sched_getaffinity(0))`` + + .. versionadded:: 3.4 @@ -3738,35 +3936,89 @@ Higher-level operations on pathnames are defined in the :mod:`os.path` module. .. versionadded:: 3.3 -.. _os-miscfunc: -Miscellaneous Functions ------------------------ +Random numbers +-------------- + + +.. function:: getrandom(size, flags=0) + + Get up to *size* random bytes. The function can return less bytes than + requested. + + These bytes can be used to seed user-space random number generators or for + cryptographic purposes. + + ``getrandom()`` relies on entropy gathered from device drivers and other + sources of environmental noise. Unnecessarily reading large quantities of + data will have a negative impact on other users of the ``/dev/random`` and + ``/dev/urandom`` devices. + + The flags argument is a bit mask that can contain zero or more of the + following values ORed together: :py:data:`os.GRND_RANDOM` and + :py:data:`GRND_NONBLOCK`. + + See also the `Linux getrandom() manual page + <http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/getrandom.2.html>`_. + + Availability: Linux 3.17 and newer. + .. versionadded:: 3.6 -.. function:: urandom(n) +.. function:: urandom(size) - Return a string of *n* random bytes suitable for cryptographic use. + Return a string of *size* random bytes suitable for cryptographic use. This function returns random bytes from an OS-specific randomness source. The returned data should be unpredictable enough for cryptographic applications, though its exact quality depends on the OS implementation. - On Linux, ``getrandom()`` syscall is used if available and the urandom - entropy pool is initialized (``getrandom()`` does not block). - On a Unix-like system this will query ``/dev/urandom``. On Windows, it - will use ``CryptGenRandom()``. If a randomness source is not found, - :exc:`NotImplementedError` will be raised. + On Linux, if the ``getrandom()`` syscall is available, it is used in + blocking mode: block until the system urandom entropy pool is initialized + (128 bits of entropy are collected by the kernel). See the :pep:`524` for + the rationale. On Linux, the :func:`getrandom` function can be used to get + random bytes in non-blocking mode (using the :data:`GRND_NONBLOCK` flag) or + to poll until the system urandom entropy pool is initialized. - For an easy-to-use interface to the random number generator - provided by your platform, please see :class:`random.SystemRandom`. + On a Unix-like system, random bytes are read from the ``/dev/urandom`` + device. If the ``/dev/urandom`` device is not available or not readable, the + :exc:`NotImplementedError` exception is raised. + + On Windows, it will use ``CryptGenRandom()``. + + .. seealso:: + The :mod:`secrets` module provides higher level functions. For an + easy-to-use interface to the random number generator provided by your + platform, please see :class:`random.SystemRandom`. + + .. versionchanged:: 3.6.0 + On Linux, ``getrandom()`` is now used in blocking mode to increase the + security. .. versionchanged:: 3.5.2 - On Linux, if ``getrandom()`` blocks (the urandom entropy pool is not - initialized yet), fall back on reading ``/dev/urandom``. + On Linux, if the ``getrandom()`` syscall blocks (the urandom entropy pool + is not initialized yet), fall back on reading ``/dev/urandom``. .. versionchanged:: 3.5 On Linux 3.17 and newer, the ``getrandom()`` syscall is now used when available. On OpenBSD 5.6 and newer, the C ``getentropy()`` function is now used. These functions avoid the usage of an internal file descriptor. + +.. data:: GRND_NONBLOCK + + By default, when reading from ``/dev/random``, :func:`getrandom` blocks if + no random bytes are available, and when reading from ``/dev/urandom``, it blocks + if the entropy pool has not yet been initialized. + + If the :py:data:`GRND_NONBLOCK` flag is set, then :func:`getrandom` does not + block in these cases, but instead immediately raises :exc:`BlockingIOError`. + + .. versionadded:: 3.6 + +.. data:: GRND_RANDOM + + If this bit is set, then random bytes are drawn from the + ``/dev/random`` pool instead of the ``/dev/urandom`` pool. + + .. versionadded:: 3.6 |