UMOUNT.NILFS2(8)

💖 UMOUNT.NILFS2 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to umount.nilfs2 — it's a page from the System Manager's Manual, and it's literally the NILFS2 unmount helper. no cap, it's giving "graceful exit" energy. let's get into it 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

umount.nilfs2 — unmount NILFS2 file systems. yes, that's the whole vibe. it detaches, it says bye, it does it cleanly 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

umount [-t nilfs2] [-dfilnrv] device | dir [...]

umount.nilfs2 [-nrv] dir [...]

umount.nilfs2 [-V]

three whole ways to summon her, pick your fighter ✨

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so umount.nilfs2 detaches the NILFS2 file system(s) mentioned from the file hierarchy. that's the job, that's the assignment, and she ate 🔥

but here's the special sauce: this is the umount helper for NILFS2, and its whole extra thing is that it shuts down the garbage collector nilfs_cleanerd(8) before detaching the file system. like, she makes sure the cleanerd clocks out before she locks up. queen behaviour 👑

usually you shouldn't even call her directly — she should be invoked through umount(8). iykyk, let the main character make the intros.

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

okay so for the full full set of options, go read umount(8), she's the one with the whole wardrobe. but these are the ones that get the most play with NILFS2:

• -V — print version and exit. short, sweet, iconic.
• -i — don't call umount.nilfs2. valid for umount(8). (yes bestie, the "don't use me" flag is on me. chaotic? maybe. real? absolutely.)
• -n — unmount without writing in /etc/mtab. ⚠️ you must use this one carefully, fr fr — because mount.nilfs2 and umount.nilfs2 use that table to store the process ID of nilfs_cleanerd(8). so if you ghost the table, you're ghosting the pid too. be mindful, bestie 🫶
• -r — in case unmounting fails, try to remount read-only. it's the backup plan, the safety net, the "well at least we tried" 💜
• -v — verbose mode. she will tell you things. love that for her.

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🌀 THE LOOP DEVICE 🌀

so umount.nilfs2 will free the loop device (if any) associated with the mount — but only in case it finds the option loop=... in /etc/mtab. like, it has to see the receipts first 🔍

and lowkey important: the -d option, which also allows umount(8) to free the loop device without the loop=... option, is not supported. nope. not here. don't try it 🙈

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

umount.nilfs2 is written by Ryusuke Konishi <konishi.ryusuke@gmail.com> for NILFS2, based on the umount program included in the util-linux package. a legend, honestly. we stan 💖

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🌈 AVAILABILITY 🌈

umount.nilfs2 is part of the nilfs-utils package and is available from https://nilfs.sourceforge.io. go get her ✨

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🔗 SEE ALSO 🔗

• nilfs(8)
• umount(8)
• mount.nilfs2(8)
• nilfs_cleanerd(8)

the whole friend group, linked and ready to hang out 🫶

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and that's the page, bestie!! this whole thing ships as nilfs-utils version 2.3, dated Jan 2026, and it lives in the System Manager's Manual as UMOUNT.NILFS2(8). stay unmounted, stay unbothered 💅💖✨