Ubuntu Linux install development / system library functions man pages (manual)

I am little surprised to find that Ubuntu Linux skips development man pages by default on cloud-based images. A quick search using apt-cache pointed out that I need to install the manpages-dev package on a Ubuntu Linux. It includes manual pages about using GNU/Linux for development. The manpages-posix-dev package includes manual pages about using a POSIX system for development. The man-db package is the on-line manual page i.e. actual man command to view man pages on a Ubuntu or Debian Linux.

Install development man pages on Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Type the following apt-get command to install various packages to view man pages for C standard library functions in Ubuntu or Debian system:
$ sudo apt-get install manpages-dev man-db manpages-posix-dev
Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Installing man pages on a Ubuntu or Debian Linux system

How do I view man pages?

To view library calls (functions within program libraries), enter:
$ man 3 function-name $ man 3 putc $ man 3 strlen $ man 3 printf $ man 3 scanf $ man 2 execve $ man 2 fork
The number 3 or 2 indicates the section numbers of the manual as follows:

2 : System calls (functions provided by the kernel)
3 : Library calls (functions within program libraries)

See man page sections for more info:
$ man man

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin, DevOps engineer, and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. Get the latest tutorials on SysAdmin, Linux/Unix and open source topics via RSS/XML feed or weekly email newsletter.

8 comment

hey thanks for this help

masheekasalam says:
June 19, 2011 at 3:29 pm
they r asking what is ur sudo password

Gutsy Gibbon:

root@zuul:~# apt-get install manpages-dev
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Package manpages-dev is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package manpages-dev has no installation candidate

🙁

This linux not windows. No man pages? Completely unacceptable.

SteveC,

I just installed the same, w/o problem.

The same problen I’m facing which Gutsy wrote.

However, the manpage-dev are not compete either:

$ man sigwait
No manual entry for sigwait

I have tries to find out where these manpages are, but have not found them yet.

Found: man sigwait is in:

sudo apt-get install manpages-posix-dev

exactly the tip that I needed. thanks!

Pankaj says:
August 10, 2007 at 10:06 am
hey thanks for this help
1. masheekasalam says:
  June 19, 2011 at 3:29 pm
  they r asking what is ur sudo password
SteveC says:
October 20, 2007 at 3:09 am
Gutsy Gibbon:
root@zuul:~# apt-get install manpages-dev
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Package manpages-dev is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package manpages-dev has no installation candidate
🙁
This linux not windows. No man pages? Completely unacceptable.
nixCraft says:
October 20, 2007 at 5:30 am
SteveC,
I just installed the same, w/o problem.
Peter says:
January 17, 2009 at 7:54 am
The same problen I’m facing which Gutsy wrote.
Angelo Borsotti says:
September 18, 2009 at 2:03 pm
However, the manpage-dev are not compete either:
$ man sigwait
No manual entry for sigwait
I have tries to find out where these manpages are, but have not found them yet.
Angelo Borsotti says:
September 18, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Found: man sigwait is in:
sudo apt-get install manpages-posix-dev
Frank says:
April 2, 2010 at 8:19 pm
exactly the tip that I needed. thanks!

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