On Unix-like operating systems, chdir is the system call for changing the current working directory.

This page covers the GNU/Linux version of chdir.

Description

chdir changes the current working directory of the calling process to the directory specified in path.

  • Description
  • Syntax
  • Return value
  • Errors
  • Notes
  • Related commands
  • Linux commands help

Syntax

#include <unistd.h> int chdir(const char *path);

Return value

On success, zero (0) is returned. On an error, -1 is returned, and errno is set appropriately.

Errors

Depending on the filesystem, other errors can be returned. The more general errors for chdir are listed below:

Notes

The current working directory is the starting point for interpreting relative pathnames (those not starting with ‘/’).

A child process created via fork inherits its parent’s current working directory. The current working directory is left unchanged by execve.

cd — Change the working directory.chroot — Run a command or shell from another directory, and treat that directory as root.ls — List the contents of a directory or directories.