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28 .\" @(#)rename.2 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
29 .\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/sys/rename.2,v 1.8.2.7 2001/12/14 18:34:01 ru Exp $
37 .Nd change the name of a file
43 .Fn rename "const char *from" "const char *to"
45 .Fn renameat "int fromfd" "const char *from" "int tofd" "const char *to"
54 exists, it is first removed.
59 must be of the same type (that is, both directories or both
60 non-directories), and must reside on the same file system.
65 already exists, an instance of
67 will always exist, even if the system should crash in
68 the middle of the operation.
70 If the final component of
73 the symbolic link is renamed,
74 not the file or directory to which it points.
78 system call is equivalent to
80 except in the case where either
84 specifies a relative path.
87 is a relative path, the file to be renamed is located
88 relative to the directory associated with the file descriptor
90 instead of the current working directory.
93 is a relative path, the same happens only relative to the directory associated
98 is passed the special value
104 parameter, the current working directory is used in the determination
105 of the file for the respective path parameter.
107 .\"The system can deadlock if a loop in the file system graph is present.
108 .\"This loop takes the form of an entry in directory
112 .\"being a hard link to directory
122 .\"When such a loop exists and two separate processes attempt to
124 .\".Ql rename a/foo b/bar
126 .\".Ql rename b/bar a/foo ,
128 .\"the system may deadlock attempting to lock
129 .\"both directories for modification.
130 .\"Hard links to directories should be
131 .\"replaced by symbolic links by the system administrator.
133 .Rv -std rename renameat
136 will fail and neither of the argument files will be
139 .It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
140 A component of either pathname exceeded 255 characters,
141 or the entire length of either path name exceeded 1023 characters.
150 A component of either path prefix denies search permission.
152 The requested link requires writing in a directory with a mode
153 that denies write permission.
155 The directory containing
158 and neither the containing directory nor
160 are owned by the effective user ID.
165 the directory containing
168 and neither the containing directory nor
170 are owned by the effective user ID.
172 Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating either pathname.
174 A component of either path prefix is not a directory.
188 and the file named by
190 are on different logical devices (file systems). Note that this error
191 code will not be returned if the implementation permits cross-device
194 The directory in which the entry for the new name is being placed
195 cannot be extended because there is no space left on the file
196 system containing the directory.
198 The directory in which the entry for the new name
199 is being placed cannot be extended because the
200 user's quota of disk blocks on the file system
201 containing the directory has been exhausted.
203 An I/O error occurred while making or updating a directory entry.
205 The requested link requires writing in a directory on a read-only file
209 points outside the process's allocated address space.
212 is a parent directory of
214 or an attempt is made to rename
220 is a directory and is not empty.
223 In addition to the errors returned by the
232 argument does not specify an absolute path and the
236 nor a valid file descriptor open for searching, or the
238 argument does not specify an absolute path and the
242 nor a valid file descriptor open for searching.
246 argument is not an absolute path and
250 nor a file descriptor associated with a directory, or the
252 argument is not an absolute path and
256 nor a file descriptor associated with a directory.
264 system call is expected to conform to
268 system call follows The Open Group Extended API Set 2 specification.
272 system call appeared in