errno

System error number lookup utility

TLDR

Look up error by number

$ errno [22]

Look up error by name

$ errno [EINVAL]

List all errors

$ errno -l

Search error descriptions

$ errno -s [permission]

errno looks up errno values and their descriptions. It translates between error numbers and symbolic names (like EINVAL, ENOENT) used in system calls.The tool is valuable for debugging, helping understand system call failures. Error numbers from strace output or program errors can be quickly translated to meaningful descriptions.errno also provides searching and listing capabilities to explore the full set of defined errors.

PARAMETERS

ERROR

Error number or name to look up.

-l, --list

List all errors.

-s, --search TEXT

Search descriptions for matching words (case-insensitive).

-S, --search-all-locales TEXT

Search descriptions across all available locales.

--help

Display help information.

INSTALL

sudo apt install moreutils

sudo dnf install moreutils

sudo pacman -S moreutils

sudo apk add moreutils

sudo zypper install moreutils

brew install moreutils

nix profile install nixpkgs#moreutils

CAVEATS

Error numbers may vary between architectures. Some errors are system-specific. Descriptions may be terse. Not all errno values have standard meanings.

HISTORY

errno is part of the moreutils package. The errno system dates back to early Unix, providing a standardized way for system calls to report errors.