file_modified(9)

✨ file_modified(9) ✨

okay so bestie, we're in the Kernel API Manual today and the star of the show is file_modified. buckle up 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

file_modified — the one that handles the mandated vfs changes when you modify a file, no cap 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int file_modified (struct file *file );

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• file — literally just the file that was modified. that's it. that's the whole vibe 🫶

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⭐ DESCRIPTION ⭐

so when file has been modified, this is the little icon that makes sure the special file privileges get removed and the time settings get updated. queen behavior, honestly 👑

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💜 CONTEXT 💜

real talk: the caller must hold the file's inode lock. not optional, not "eh maybe later" — hold it. periodt 🔒

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🌈 RETURN 🌈

• 0 on success ✨
• negative errno on failure 😭

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

the whole friend group, in order, exactly as they appear in Kernel file ./fs/inode.c:

inode_init_always_gfp(9), alloc_inode(9), drop_nlink(9), clear_nlink(9), set_nlink(9), inc_nlink(9), inode_sb_list_add(9), __insert_inode_hash(9), __remove_inode_hash(9), evict_inodes(9), new_inode(9), unlock_new_inode(9), lock_two_nondirectories(9), unlock_two_nondirectories(9), inode_insert5(9), iget5_locked(9), iget5_locked_rcu(9), iget_locked(9), iunique(9), ihold(9), ilookup5_nowait(9), ilookup5(9), ilookup(9), find_inode_nowait(9), find_inode_rcu(9), find_inode_by_ino_rcu(9), iput(9), iput_not_last(9), bmap(9), inode_update_time(9), generic_update_time(9), atime_needs_update(9), file_remove_privs(9), current_time(9), file_update_time(9), file_modified_flags(9), kiocb_modified(9), inode_init_owner(9), inode_owner_or_capable(9), inode_dio_wait(9), timestamp_truncate(9), inode_set_ctime_current(9), inode_set_ctime_deleg(9), in_group_or_capable(9), mode_strip_sgid(9), dump_inode(9)

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💖 ok that's the page! sourced from ./fs, dated October 2026, and yeah — same file_modified(9) you came in with. bye bestie, go hold that inode lock 🧚‍♀️🌟