REVOKE(2) | System Calls Manual | REVOKE(2)

# NAME

`revoke` —
revoke file access

# LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

# SYNOPSIS

`#include <unistd.h>`

int
`revoke`(const char *path);

# DESCRIPTION

The `revoke`() function invalidates all current open file descriptors in the system for the file named by path. Subsequent operations on any such descriptors fail, with the exceptions that a read(2) from a character device file which has been revoked returns a count of zero (end of file), and a close(2) call will succeed. If the file is a special file for a device which is open, the device close function is called as if all open references to the file had been closed.

Access to a file may be revoked only by its owner or the super user.

The `revoke`() function is normally used to prepare a terminal device for a new login session, preventing any access by a previous user of the terminal.

# RETURN VALUES

A 0 value indicates that the call succeeded. A -1 return value indicates an error occurred and errno is set to indicate the reason.

# ERRORS

Access to the named file is revoked unless one of the following:

[`EACCES`]
  Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
[`EFAULT`]
  path points outside the process's allocated address space.
[`ELOOP`]
  Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
[`ENAMETOOLONG`]
  A component of a pathname exceeded {`NAME_MAX`} characters, or an entire path name exceeded {`PATH_MAX`} characters.
[`ENOENT`]
  The named file or a component of the path name does not exist.
[`ENOTDIR`]
  A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
[`EPERM`]
  The caller is neither the owner of the file nor the super user.

# SEE ALSO

close(2), dup(2), fcntl(2), flock(2), fstat(2), read(2), write(2)

# HISTORY

The `revoke`() function was introduced in 4.3BSD-Reno.

July 3, 2011 | NetBSD 9.3