filp_open(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ filp_open — or, the kernel API manual's little blessing 🎀

okay so bestie, real talk: this one lives in the Kernel API Manual, and its whole personality is "open file and return file pointer." that's the NAME section, that's the whole thesis. slay, honestly 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

like, here's the signature, copy it exactly or the compiler will simply end you:

struct file * filp_open (const char *filename , int flags , umode_t mode
);

not me formatting it across two lines the way the original does — keeping it fr fr 💀

💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

three of them, bestie, and they're all iconic in their own way:

  • filename — the path to open. that's it, that's the whole thing. the path. to open. 🫶
  • flags — the open flags, exactly as per the second argument of open(2). yes, like that open(2). iykyk ✨
  • mode — this is the mode for the new file, but ONLY if O_CREAT is set. if O_CREAT isn't set? it's literally just ignored. mode said "not my era" 🙈

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so here's the tea: this is the helper you use to open a file from kernelspace — but only if you really have to. like, genuinely. absolutely no other option. the vibe check has been failed by every alternative approach. 😭

and in general you should not do this. lowercase bestie, please move along. nothing to see here..

yes, the original has two dots at the end. i'm not touching it. it's giving authorial intent. 🎀

honestly this whole DESCRIPTION is a "no ❤️" and i respect it so much

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go look at the kernel file ./fs/open.c, and then go say hi to all these other icons:

🌈 the sign-off 🌈

and that's the page, bestie! it comes to you from ./fs and it's dated October 2026 — so mark your calendar, set a reminder, tell your group chat. literally the most unbothered manpage in the kernel. 💜🦋💖

periodt. go open a file. or don't — you know what the DESCRIPTION said. 💅

📦 where this page comes from