gfs2_create_inode(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 NAME 💖

gfs2_create_inode — bestie, this is the one that literally creates a brand-new inode ✨

It's a kernel API thing (so it lives in the gfs2_create_inode(9) manual, iykyk), and it's giving "main character energy" of the whole create-a-file pipeline 🌸

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int gfs2_create_inode (struct inode *dir , struct dentry *dentry ,
struct file *file , umode_t mode , dev_t dev , const char *symname ,
unsigned int size , int excl );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

Okay so here's the whole cast of characters, no skips, we're not doing that 🙈

  • dir — the parent directory 🫶 the one that's gonna host the new inode, like the group chat it gets added to
  • dentry — the new dentry 🦋 freshly minted, never been seen before
  • file — if it's non-NULL, this is the file that's being opened 👑 (if it's NULL, it just isn't, periodt)
  • mode — the permissions on the new inode 🔐
  • dev — for device nodes, this is the device number 💀 (yes, only for device nodes, don't come for me)
  • symname — for symlinks, this is the link destination 🌈
  • size — the initial size of the inode ⭐ and heads up: it's ignored for directories, so don't even try it
  • excl — force fail if the inode exists 🚫 like a bouncer at the club, absolutely no duplicates allowed

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

Okay, so the source itself literally has a FIXME in here, and honestly? Iconic of it to be that honest 😭 Here's what it says:

Change to allocate the disk blocks and write them out in the same transaction. That way, we can no longer end up in a situation in which an inode is allocated, the node crashes, and the block looks like a valid inode. (With atomic creates in place, we will also no longer need to zero the link count and dirty the inode here on failure.)

So basically the plan is: allocate the disk blocks and write them out in the same transaction — because right now the lowkey cursed scenario is that an inode gets allocated, the node crashes, and then the block is just out here looking like a valid inode 🧚 and once atomic creates are in place, we also won't need to zero the link count and dirty the inode here on failure anymore either. Slay, future improvement 🔥

🌟 RETURN 🌟

0 on success, or an error code 💖 (that's it, that's the whole vibe check)

🔍 SEE ALSO 🔍

Kernel file ./fs/gfs2/inode.c, plus the whole friend group 🫶:

And that's the page, bestie!! 🎀 This masterpiece comes to you from ./fs/gfs2, dated October 2026, and it's filed under gfs2_create_inode(9) — mwah, go create some inodes responsibly 💜✨

📦 where this page comes from