pyprctl

0.1.3 verified Mon Apr 27 auth: no python

A pure-Python interface to Linux's prctl() syscall and related functionality (e.g., capabilities, process names, securebits) using ctypes. Version 0.1.3, released 2023-06-18. Low release cadence.

pip install pyprctl

Common errors

error AttributeError: module 'pyprctl' has no attribute 'prctl' ↓

cause Did import pyprctl instead of from pyprctl import prctl

fix

Use: from pyprctl import prctl

error AttributeError: module 'pyprctl' has no attribute 'Cap' ↓

cause Cap class is in pyprctl.caps, not directly in pyprctl

fix

Use: from pyprctl.caps import Cap

Warnings

gotcha On Python <3.8, os.fsencode() may behave differently for process names; always pass str to prctl_set_name() ↓

fix Ensure argument is a str, not bytes.

breaking v0.1.2 removed follow_symlinks parameter from FileCaps methods; code using it will break. ↓

fix Remove follow_symlinks argument from FileCaps.get() / FileCaps.set() calls.

Imports

prctl
wrong
```
import pyprctl.prctl
```
correct
```
from pyprctl import prctl
```
pyprctl.prctl is a module, not the function; use from-import

Quickstart

Demonstrates basic usage: querying capability sets and checking support.

from pyprctl import prctl
from pyprctl.caps import Cap

# Get current capability sets
permitted = prctl.cap_get_pc()
effective = prctl.cap_get_ec()
print(permitted, effective)

# Check if a capability is supported
if Cap.CAP_NET_RAW.is_supported():
    print("CAP_NET_RAW is supported")