d_instantiate(9)

💫 d_instantiate — the glow-up page 💫

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual entry for d_instantiate(9) — yes the (9) is the section number, it's giving kernel-internals realness ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

d_instantiate — fill in inode information for a dentry 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

void d_instantiate (struct dentry *entry , struct inode * inode );

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💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

• entry — the dentry you're completing, like the main character finally getting their full backstory 🫶
• inode — the inode to attach to this dentry, the other half of the ship 💜

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So like, this function fills in the inode information in the entry. Literally its whole job. 🎀

Every d_instantiate call turns a negative dentry into a productive full member of society — no cap, that's the actual wording and honestly? iconic. Negative dentries could never before this function showed up with a makeover montage moment 💅🔥

NOTE! This assumes that the inode count has been incremented (or otherwise set) by the caller to indicate that it is now in use by the dcache. So like, if you call this without bumping that count, that's on you bestie 😭 the function is trusting you fr fr. Sort out the reference count before you hand it over, periodt. 🙈

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

Kernel file ./fs/dcache.c — the whole squad lives here 🌈:

• d_drop(9)
• dentry_kill(9)
• __move_to_shrink_list(9)
• d_find_any_alias(9)
• d_find_alias(9)
• prune_dcache_sb(9)
• shrink_dcache_sb(9)
• enum d_walk_ret(9)
• d_walk(9)
• path_has_submounts(9)
• shrink_dcache_tree(9)
• d_invalidate(9)
• __d_alloc(9)
• d_alloc(9)
• d_alloc_pseudo(9)
• d_obtain_alias(9)
• d_obtain_root(9)
• d_add_ci(9)
• d_same_name(9)
• __d_lookup_rcu(9)
• d_lookup(9)
• __d_lookup(9)
• d_hash_and_lookup(9)
• d_delete(9)
• d_rehash(9)
• d_add(9)
• d_ancestor(9)
• d_splice_alias(9)
• is_subdir(9)

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okay that's the whole page, go be a productive full member of society bestie 🧚💫

— lots of love from ./fs, October 2026, brought to you by d_instantiate(9) 💖✨