utime(2) - Linux manual page (original) (raw)
utime(2) System Calls Manual utime(2)
NAME top
utime, utimes - change file last access and modification timesLIBRARY top
Standard C library (_libc_, _-lc_)SYNOPSIS top
**#include <utime.h>**
**int utime(const char ***_filename_**,**
**const struct utimbuf *_Nullable** _times_**);**
**#include <sys/time.h>**
**int utimes(const char ***_filename_**,**
**const struct timeval** _times_**[_Nullable 2]);**DESCRIPTION top
**Note:** modern applications may prefer to use the interfaces
described in [utimensat(2)](../man2/utimensat.2.html).
The **utime**() system call changes the access and modification times
of the inode specified by _filename_ to the _actime_ and _modtime_
fields of _times_ respectively. The status change time (ctime) will
be set to the current time, even if the other time stamps don't
actually change.
If _times_ is NULL, then the access and modification times of the
file are set to the current time.
Changing timestamps is permitted when: either the process has
appropriate privileges, or the effective user ID equals the user
ID of the file, or _times_ is NULL and the process has write
permission for the file.
The _utimbuf_ structure is:
struct utimbuf {
time_t actime; /* access time */
time_t modtime; /* modification time */
};
The **utime**() system call allows specification of timestamps with a
resolution of 1 second.
The **utimes**() system call is similar, but the _times_ argument refers
to an array rather than a structure. The elements of this array
are _timeval_ structures, which allow a precision of 1 microsecond
for specifying timestamps. The _timeval_ structure is:
struct timeval {
long tv_sec; /* seconds */
long tv_usec; /* microseconds */
};
_times[0]_ specifies the new access time, and _times[1]_ specifies the
new modification time. If _times_ is NULL, then analogously to
**utime**(), the access and modification times of the file are set to
the current time.RETURN VALUE top
On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned, and _[errno](../man3/errno.3.html)_
is set to indicate the error.ERRORS top
**EACCES** Search permission is denied for one of the directories in
the path prefix of _path_ (see also [path_resolution(7)](../man7/path%5Fresolution.7.html)).
**EACCES** _times_ is NULL, the caller's effective user ID does not
match the owner of the file, the caller does not have write
access to the file, and the caller is not privileged
(Linux: does not have either the **CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE** or the
**CAP_FOWNER** capability).
**EFAULT** _filename_ points to an invalid address.
**ENOENT** _filename_ does not exist.
**EPERM** _times_ is not NULL, the caller's effective UID does not
match the owner of the file, and the caller is not
privileged (Linux: does not have the **CAP_FOWNER**
capability).
**EROFS** _path_ resides on a read-only filesystem.STANDARDS top
POSIX.1-2008.HISTORY top
**utime**()
SVr4, POSIX.1-2001. POSIX.1-2008 marks it as obsolete.
**utimes**()
4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.NOTES top
Linux does not allow changing the timestamps on an immutable file,
or setting the timestamps to something other than the current time
on an append-only file.SEE ALSO top
[chattr(1)](../man1/chattr.1.html), [touch(1)](../man1/touch.1.html), [futimesat(2)](../man2/futimesat.2.html), [stat(2)](../man2/stat.2.html), [utimensat(2)](../man2/utimensat.2.html),
[futimens(3)](../man3/futimens.3.html), [futimes(3)](../man3/futimes.3.html), [inode(7)](../man7/inode.7.html)COLOPHON top
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man-pages@man7.orgLinux man-pages 6.10 2024-07-23 utime(2)
Pages that refer to this page:indent(1), fcntl(2), futimesat(2), stat(2), statx(2), syscalls(2), utimensat(2), ctime(3), futimes(3), timeval(3type), capabilities(7), inode(7), landlock(7), signal-safety(7), time(7), mount(8)