<?xml version="1.0" encoding="latin1" ?>
<!DOCTYPE appref SYSTEM "appref.dtd">

<appref>
  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>1996</year><year>2009</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
      Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
      compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
      Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
      retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.
    
      Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
      basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
      the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
      under the License.
    
    </legalnotice>

    <title>kernel</title>
    <prepared></prepared>
    <docno></docno>
    <date></date>
    <rev></rev>
  </header>
  <app>kernel</app>
  <appsummary>The Kernel Application</appsummary>
  <description>
    <p>The Kernel application is the first application started. It is
      mandatory in the sense that the minimal system based on
      Erlang/OTP consists of Kernel and STDLIB. The Kernel application
      contains the following services:</p>
    <list type="bulleted">
      <item>application controller, see <c>application(3)</c></item>
      <item><c>code</c></item>
      <item><c>disk_log</c></item>
      <item><c>dist_ac</c>, distributed application controller</item>
      <item><c>erl_boot_server</c></item>
      <item><c>erl_ddll</c></item>
      <item><c>error_logger</c></item>
      <item><c>file</c></item>
      <item><c>global</c></item>
      <item><c>global_group</c></item>
      <item><c>heart</c></item>
      <item><c>inet</c></item>
      <item><c>net_kernel</c></item>
      <item><c>os</c></item>
      <item><c>pg2</c></item>
      <item><c>rpc</c></item>
      <item><c>seq_trace</c></item>
      <item><c>user</c></item>
    </list>
  </description>

  <section>
    <title>Error Logger Event Handlers</title>
    <p>Two standard error logger event handlers are defined in
      the Kernel application. These are described in
      <seealso marker="error_logger">error_logger(3)</seealso>.</p>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>Configuration</title>
    <p>The following configuration parameters are defined for the Kernel
      application. See <c>app(3)</c> for more information about
      configuration parameters.</p>
    <taglist>
      <tag><c>browser_cmd = string() | {M,F,A}</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>When pressing the Help button in a tool such as Debugger or
          TV, the help text (an HTML file <c>File</c>) is by default
          displayed in a Netscape browser which is required to be up and
          running. This parameter can be used to change the command for
          how to display the help text if another browser than Netscape
          is preferred, or another platform than Unix or Windows is
          used.</p>
        <p>If set to a string <c>Command</c>, the command
          <c>"Command File"</c> will be evaluated using <c>os:cmd/1</c>.</p>
        <p>If set to a module-function-args tuple <c>{M,F,A}</c>,
          the call <c>apply(M,F,[File|A])</c> will be evaluated.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>distributed = [Distrib]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies which applications are distributed and on which
          nodes they may execute. In this parameter:</p>
        <list type="bulleted">
          <item><c>Distrib = {App,Nodes} | {App,Time,Nodes}</c></item>
          <item><c>App = atom()</c></item>
          <item><c>Time = integer()>0</c></item>
          <item><c>Nodes = [node() | {node(),...,node()}]</c></item>
        </list>
        <p>The parameter is described in <c>application(3)</c>, function
          <c>load/2</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>dist_auto_connect = Value</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies when nodes will be automatically connected. If
          this parameter is not specified, a node is always
          automatically connected, e.g when a message is to be sent to
          that node. <c>Value</c> is one of:</p>
        <taglist>
          <tag><c>never</c></tag>
          <item>Connections are never automatically connected, they
           must be explicitly connected. See <c>net_kernel(3)</c>.</item>
          <tag><c>once</c></tag>
          <item>Connections will be established automatically, but only
           once per node. If a node goes down, it must thereafter be
           explicitly connected. See <c>net_kernel(3)</c>.</item>
        </taglist>
      </item>
      <tag><c>permissions = [Perm]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies the default permission for applications when they
          are started. In this parameter:</p>
        <list type="bulleted">
          <item><c>Perm = {ApplName,Bool}</c></item>
          <item><c>ApplName = atom()</c></item>
          <item><c>Bool = boolean()</c></item>
        </list>
        <p>Permissions are described in <c>application(3)</c>, function
          <c>permit/2</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>error_logger = Value</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p><c>Value</c> is one of:</p>
        <taglist>
          <tag><c>tty</c></tag>
          <item>Installs the standard event handler which prints error
           reports to <c>stdio</c>. This is the default option.</item>
          <tag><c>{file, FileName}</c></tag>
          <item>Installs the standard event handler which prints error
           reports to the file <c>FileName</c>, where <c>FileName</c>
           is a string.</item>
          <tag><c>false</c></tag>
          <item>
            <p>No standard event handler is installed, but
              the initial, primitive event handler is kept, printing
              raw event messages to tty.</p>
          </item>
          <tag><c>silent</c></tag>
          <item>
            <p>Error logging is turned off.</p>
          </item>
        </taglist>
      </item>
      <tag><c>global_groups = [GroupTuple]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Defines global groups, see <c>global_group(3)</c>.</p>
        <list type="bulleted">
          <item><c>GroupTuple = {GroupName, [Node]} | {GroupName, PublishType, [Node]}</c></item>
          <item><c>GroupName = atom()</c></item>
          <item><c>PublishType = normal | hidden</c></item>
          <item><c>Node = node()</c></item>
        </list>
      </item>
      <tag><c>inet_default_connect_options = [{Opt, Val}]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies default options for <c>connect</c> sockets,
          see <c>inet(3)</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>inet_default_listen_options = [{Opt, Val}]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies default options for <c>listen</c> (and
          <c>accept</c>) sockets, see <c>inet(3)</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>{inet_dist_use_interface, ip_address()}</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>If the host of an Erlang node has several network interfaces,
          this parameter specifies which one to listen on. See
          <c>inet(3)</c> for the type definition of <c>ip_address()</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>{inet_dist_listen_min, First}</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>See below.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>{inet_dist_listen_max, Last}</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Define the <c>First..Last</c> port range for the listener
          socket of a distributed Erlang node.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>inet_parse_error_log = silent</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>If this configuration parameter is set, no
          <c>error_logger</c> messages are generated when erroneous
          lines are found and skipped in the various Inet configuration
          files.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>inetrc = Filename</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>The name (string) of an Inet user configuration file. See
          ERTS User's Guide, Inet configuration.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>net_setuptime = SetupTime</c></tag>
      <item>
        <marker id="net_setuptime"></marker>
        <p><c>SetupTime</c> must be a positive integer or floating point
          number, and will be interpreted as the maximally allowed time
          for each network operation during connection setup to another
          Erlang node. The maximum allowed value is 120; if higher values
          are given, 120 will be used. The default value if the variable
          is not given, or if the value is incorrect (e.g. not a number),
          is 7 seconds.</p>
        <p>Note that this value does not limit the total connection
          setup time, but rather each individual network operation during
          the connection setup and handshake.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>net_ticktime = TickTime</c></tag>
      <item>
        <marker id="net_ticktime"></marker>
        <p>Specifies the <c>net_kernel</c> tick time. <c>TickTime</c>
          is given in seconds. Once every <c>TickTime/4</c> second, all
          connected nodes are ticked (if anything else has been written
          to a node) and if nothing has been received from another node
          within the last four (4) tick times that node is considered
          to be down. This ensures that nodes which are not responding,
          for reasons such as hardware errors, are considered to be
          down.</p>
        <p>The time <c>T</c>, in which a node that is not responding is
          detected, is calculated as: <c><![CDATA[MinT < T < MaxT]]></c> where:</p>
        <code type="none">
MinT = TickTime - TickTime / 4
MaxT = TickTime + TickTime / 4</code>
        <p><c>TickTime</c> is by default 60 (seconds). Thus,
          <c><![CDATA[45 < T < 75]]></c> seconds.</p>
        <p><em>Note:</em> All communicating nodes should have the same 
          <c>TickTime</c> value specified.</p>
        <p><em>Note:</em> Normally, a terminating node is detected
          immediately.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>sync_nodes_mandatory = [NodeName]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies which other nodes <em>must</em> be alive in order
          for this node to start properly. If some node in the list
          does not start within the specified time, this node will not
          start either. If this parameter is undefined, it defaults to
          [].</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>sync_nodes_optional = [NodeName]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies which other nodes <em>can</em> be alive in order
          for this node to start properly. If some node in this list
          does not start within the specified time, this node starts
          anyway. If this parameter is undefined, it defaults to
          the empty list.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>sync_nodes_timeout = integer() | infinity</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) this node
          will wait for the mandatory and optional nodes to start. If
          this parameter is undefined, no node synchronization is
          performed. This option also makes sure that <c>global</c> is
          synchronized.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>start_dist_ac = true | false</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Starts the <c>dist_ac</c> server if the parameter is
          <c>true</c>. This parameter should be set to <c>true</c> for
          systems that use distributed applications.</p>
        <p>The default value is <c>false</c>.  If this parameter is
          undefined, the server is started if the parameter
          <c>distributed</c> is set.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>start_boot_server = true | false</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Starts the <c>boot_server</c> if the parameter is <c>true</c>
          (see <c>erl_boot_server(3)</c>).  This parameter should be
          set to <c>true</c> in an embedded system which uses this
          service.</p>
        <p>The default value is <c>false</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>boot_server_slaves = [SlaveIP]</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>If the <c>start_boot_server</c> configuration parameter is
          <c>true</c>, this parameter can be used to initialize
          <c>boot_server</c> with a list of slave IP addresses.
          <c>SlaveIP = string() | atom | {integer(),integer(),integer(),integer()}</c></p>
        <p>where <c><![CDATA[0 <= integer() <=255]]></c>.</p>
        <p>Examples of <c>SlaveIP</c> in atom, string and tuple form
          are:          <br></br>
<c>'150.236.16.70', "150,236,16,70", {150,236,16,70}</c>.</p>
        <p>The default value is <c>[]</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>start_disk_log = true | false</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Starts the <c>disk_log_server</c> if the parameter is
          <c>true</c> (see <c>disk_log(3)</c>). This parameter should be
          set to true in an embedded system which uses this service.</p>
        <p>The default value is <c>false</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>start_pg2 = true | false</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Starts the <c>pg2</c> server (see <c>pg2(3)</c>) if
          the parameter is <c>true</c>. This parameter should be set to
          <c>true</c> in an embedded system which uses this service.</p>
        <p>The default value is <c>false</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>start_timer = true | false</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Starts the <c>timer_server</c> if the parameter is
          <c>true</c> (see <c>timer(3)</c>). This parameter should be
          set to <c>true</c> in an embedded system which uses this
          service.</p>
        <p>The default value is <c>false</c>.</p>
      </item>
      <tag><c>shutdown_func = {Mod, Func}</c></tag>
      <item>
        <p>Where:</p>
        <list type="bulleted">
          <item><c>Mod = atom()</c></item>
          <item><c>Func = atom()</c></item>
        </list>
        <p>Sets a function that <c>application_controller</c> calls
          when it starts to terminate. The function is called as:
          <c>Mod:Func(Reason)</c>, where <c>Reason</c> is the terminate
          reason for <c>application_controller</c>, and it must
          return as soon as possible for <c>application_controller</c>
          to terminate properly.</p>
      </item>
    </taglist>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title>See Also</title>
    <p><seealso marker="app">app(4)</seealso>,
      <seealso marker="application">application(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="code">code(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="disk_log">disk_log(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="erl_boot_server">erl_boot_server(3)</seealso>,
      <seealso marker="erl_ddll">erl_ddll(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="error_logger">error_logger(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="file">file(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="global">global(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="global_group">global_group(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="heart">heart(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="inet">inet(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="net_kernel">net_kernel(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="os">os(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="pg2">pg2(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="rpc">rpc(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="seq_trace">seq_trace(3)</seealso>, 
      <seealso marker="user">user(3)</seealso></p>
  </section>
</appref>

