handle_t(9)

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, this is handle_t(9) from the Kernel API Manual — and the star of the page is typedef handle_t. The handle_t type represents a single atomic update being performed by some process. periodt. 💅

🌸 Description 🌸

So like, all filesystem modifications made by the process go through this handle. Recursive operations (such as quota operations) are gathered into a single update — one cute little bundled update, iconic. 🎀

The buffer credits field is used to account for journaled buffers being modified by the running process. Why? Because we need to ensure there's enough log space for all outstanding operations, so we have to limit the number of outstanding buffers possible at any time. When the operation completes, any buffer credits not used are credited back to the transaction — so that at all times we know how many buffers the outstanding updates on a transaction might possibly touch. fr fr. ✨

This is an opaque datatype, bestie — do not go poking at its internals. 🙈

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• Kernel file ./include/linux/jbd2.h
• journal_t(9)
• struct jbd2_inode(9)
• struct jbd2_journal_handle(9)
• struct journal_s(9)

and that's the whole page, bestie 🫶 it's from ./include/linux, dated October 2026, and it's the handle_t(9) manual — source/version/date combo, no cap, mwah 💋