kernfs_unlink_sibling(9)

✨ kernfs_unlink_sibling(9) ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual — this one's about kernfs_unlink_sibling(9) and it's honestly a whole little vibe. buckle up 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

kernfs_unlink_sibling — unlink a kernfs_node from the sibling rbtree. that's it, that's the job 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

bool kernfs_unlink_sibling (struct kernfs_node *kn );

literally one function, one arg, returning a bool. clean. minimal. main character energy ✨

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🍓 ARGUMENTS 🍓

• kn — the kernfs_node of interest 👀 like, this is the node we're talking about, the one we're trying to unlink.

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so the whole point: this function tries to unlink kn from its sibling rbtree — and that rbtree starts from kn->parent->dir.children. yep, that exact path, no cap. 🌈

Locking: the kernfs_rwsem must be held exclusive. fr fr, don't skip this, it's not a suggestion 😭

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👑 RETURN 👑

• returns true if kn was actually removed — slay, it worked 💖
• returns false if kn wasn't on the rbtree — no harm done, it just wasn't there 🙈

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

kernel file ./fs/kernfs/dir.c — and here's the whole friend group, all of them, every single one 🫶

• kernfs_path_from_node_locked(9)
• kernfs_name(9)
• kernfs_path_from_node(9)
• pr_cont_kernfs_name(9)
• pr_cont_kernfs_path(9)
• kernfs_get_parent(9)
• kernfs_name_hash(9)
• kernfs_link_sibling(9)
• kernfs_get_active(9)
• kernfs_put_active(9)
• kernfs_drain(9)
• kernfs_get(9)
• kernfs_put(9)
• kernfs_node_from_dentry(9)
• kernfs_add_one(9)
• kernfs_find_ns(9)
• kernfs_find_and_get_ns(9)
• kernfs_walk_and_get_ns(9)
• kernfs_create_root(9)
• kernfs_destroy_root(9)
• kernfs_root_to_node(9)
• kernfs_create_dir_ns(9)
• kernfs_create_empty_dir(9)
• kernfs_next_descendant_post(9)
• kernfs_activate(9)
• kernfs_show(9)
• kernfs_remove(9)
• kernfs_break_active_protection(9)
• kernfs_unbreak_active_protection(9)
• kernfs_remove_self(9)
• kernfs_remove_by_name_ns(9)
• kernfs_rename_ns(9)

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bestie reminder: hold that kernfs_rwsem exclusive or the vibe check will not pass 💀

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and that's the whole page!! sourced from ./fs/kernfs, dated October 2026, filed under kernfs_unlink_sibling(9) — mwah, love u, go unlink responsibly 💅💖