1UMOUNT(2) Linux Programmer's Manual UMOUNT(2)
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6 umount, umount2 - unmount file system
7
9 #include <sys/mount.h>
10 int umount(const char *target);
12 int umount2(const char *target, int flags);
14
16 umount() and umount2() remove the attachment of the (topmost) file sys‐
17 tem mounted on target.
18 Appropriate privilege (Linux: the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability) is required
20 to unmount file systems.
21 Linux 2.1.116 added the umount2() system call, which, like umount(),
23 unmounts a target, but allows additional flags controlling the behavior
24 of the operation:
25 MNT_FORCE (since Linux 2.1.116)
27 Force unmount even if busy. This can cause data loss. (Only
28 for NFS mounts.)
29 MNT_DETACH (since Linux 2.4.11)
31 Perform a lazy unmount: make the mount point unavailable for new
32 accesses, and actually perform the unmount when the mount point
33 ceases to be busy.
34 MNT_EXPIRE (since Linux 2.6.8)
36 Mark the mount point as expired. If a mount point is not cur‐
37 rently in use, then an initial call to umount2() with this flag
38 fails with the error EAGAIN, but marks the mount point as
39 expired. The mount point remains expired as long as it isn't
40 accessed by any process. A second umount2() call specifying
41 MNT_EXPIRE unmounts an expired mount point. This flag cannot be
42 specified with either MNT_FORCE or MNT_DETACH.
43 UMOUNT_NOFOLLOW (since Linux 2.6.34)
45 Don't dereference target if it is a symbolic link. This flag
46 allows security problems to be avoided in set-user-ID-root pro‐
47 grams that allow unprivileged users to unmount file systems.
48
50 On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned, and errno is
51 set appropriately.
52
54 The error values given below result from file-system type independent
55 errors. Each file system type may have its own special errors and its
56 own special behavior. See the Linux kernel source code for details.
57 EAGAIN A call to umount2() specifying MNT_EXPIRE successfully marked an
59 unbusy file system as expired.
60 EBUSY target could not be unmounted because it is busy.
62 EFAULT target points outside the user address space.
64 EINVAL target is not a mount point. Or, umount2() was called with
66 MNT_EXPIRE and either MNT_DETACH or MNT_FORCE.
67 ENAMETOOLONG
69 A pathname was longer than MAXPATHLEN.
70 ENOENT A pathname was empty or had a nonexistent component.
72 ENOMEM The kernel could not allocate a free page to copy filenames or
74 data into.
75 EPERM The caller does not have the required privileges.
77
79 MNT_DETACH and MNT_EXPIRE are available in glibc since version 2.11.
80
82 These functions are Linux-specific and should not be used in programs
83 intended to be portable.
84
86 The original umount() function was called as umount(device) and would
87 return ENOTBLK when called with something other than a block device.
88 In Linux 0.98p4 a call umount(dir) was added, in order to support
89 anonymous devices. In Linux 2.3.99-pre7 the call umount(device) was
90 removed, leaving only umount(dir) (since now devices can be mounted in
91 more than one place, so specifying the device does not suffice).
92
94 mount(2), path_resolution(7), mount(8), umount(8)
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97 This page is part of release 3.53 of the Linux man-pages project. A
98 description of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can
99 be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
100Linux 2010-06-19 UMOUNT(2)