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posix-fadv-dontneed · shipping · also FADV_DONTNEED

POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED

POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED is a file-access advice value requesting release of cached data that the application does not expect to access soon.

Related Observatory article: POSIX_FADV_DONTNEED on hesela.com

Unwritten dirty pages are not freed, and partial pages are generally retained. The v6.14 generic implementation additionally permits the final partial page when the advised inclusive end is the last file byte; filesystem-specific implementations may differ. [1] [2] A successful call does not prove eviction or durable completion; posix_fadvise returns an error number directly on failure. [1]

Relations

related
buffered-io, page-cache, posix-fadv-noreuse, rwf-dontcache, fsync

Advantages

Limitations

Citations

  1. Linux man-pages 6.19: posix_fadvise(2), advice semantics and return values. (accessed 2026-10-15)
  2. Linux v6.14 mm/fadvise.c: generic_fadvise, including the end-of-file partial-page exception. (accessed 2026-10-15)

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