ima_post_ke...te_or_update(9)

✨ ima_post_key_create_or_update — the Kernel API Manual, bestie edition 💅

okay so like… quick vibe check on the name first: this page is ima_post_key_create_or_update(9), from the Kernel API Manual, and honestly the title alone is giving "I have a very specific job and I do it well." 🎀

It lives in the kernel's .9 section (that's the kernel API girlies, iykyk), and it is literally about measuring asymmetric keys. Not appraising them. Measuring. There's a difference and she will not let you forget it. 👑

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🌸 NAME 🌸

ima_post_key_create_or_update — measure asymmetric keys. that's it, that's the whole personality. ✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

void ima_post_key_create_or_update (struct key *keyring , struct key
*key , const void *payload , size_t payload_len , unsigned long flags ,
bool create );

no cap, that's the exact signature — copy it character for character or the compiler will simply not hear you out. 😭

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💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

six little besties walk into a function call, and here's who they are:

• keyring — the keyring that the key is linked to. she's the group chat the key got added to 🫶
• key — the created or updated key itself. main character energy fr fr 👑
• payload — the data used to instantiate or update the key. this is the actual content, the lore, the substance 🌈
• payload_len — the length of payload. yes we're counting. yes it matters 🍓
• flags — key flags. the little metadata sprinkles ⭐
• create — a flag indicating whether the key was created or updated. was she born or was she reborn? the flag knows 💀

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

so here's the tea ☕:

keys can only be measured, not appraised. that's the rule, that's the boundary, we respect it.

the payload data used to instantiate or update the key is what gets measured. so like, whatever payload you hand over — whether it's a fresh new key or a glow-up of an existing one — that's the thing on the measurement agenda. ✨

ngl that's the entire behaviour. don't go looking for hidden options, there are none, she is exactly what she says she is 💅

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• Kernel file ./security/integrity/ima/ima_asymmetric_keys.c — go read the source, bestie, that's where the real gossip lives 🌸

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and that's the whole page! hope this was helpful and that you feel iconic and informed 🦋💜

sign-off moment: this little gem is sourced from ./security/integrity/ima and it's dated October 2026 — so mark your calendars, screenshot the version, and go measure some keys responsibly 😌🫶🍓