fscrypt_prepare_link(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

okay so bestie, welcome to fscrypt_prepare_link(9) — the little helper that does the vibe check before you link an inode into a directory that might be encrypted. it's giving "let me check the key situation first" energy and honestly? iconic. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

fscrypt_prepare_link — prepare to link an inode into a possibly-encrypted directory. no cap, that's literally the whole job. 🦋

🫶 SYNOPSIS 🫶

int fscrypt_prepare_link (struct dentry *old_dentry , struct inode *dir
, struct dentry *dentry );

🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

  • old_dentry — an existing dentry for the inode being linked. it's the one getting a new home, main character energy fr. 👑
  • dir — the target directory. this is where the link is tryna land.
  • dentry — negative dentry for the target filename. yeah, "negative" like it doesn't have an inode yet — don't worry about it, it's fine. 🙈

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the tea: a new link can only be added to an encrypted directory if the directory's encryption key is available — because otherwise we'd have no way to encrypt the filename. like, no key, no name, periodt. 😭

we also verify that the link will not violate the constraint that all files in an encrypted directory tree use the same encryption policy. consistency is slay, bestie — everyone in that tree has to match. 💅

🔥 RETURN 🔥

  • 0 on success — we ate. ✅
  • -ENOKEY if the directory's encryption key is missing 🔑💀
  • -EXDEV if the link would result in an inconsistent encryption policy 🚫
  • or another -errno code. surprises happen. 🍓

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

and that's the whole page, bestie — certified fresh from ./include/linux, straight outta the Kernel API Manual, dated October 2026. go link responsibly 💜✨🧚

📦 where this page comes from