inode - Wikipedia

inode

An inode (index node) is a data structure in a Unix-style file system that describes a file-system object such as a file or a directory. Each inode stores the attributes and disk block locations of the object’s data.1 File-system object attributes may include metadata (times of last change,2 access, modification), as well as owner and permission data.3

A directory is a list of inodes with their assigned names. The list includes an entry for itself, its parent, and each of its children.

Printed 2026-07-08.

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Footnotes

  1. Tanenbaum, Andrew S. Modern Operating Systems (3rd ed.). p. 279.

  2. JVSANTEN. “Difference between mtime, ctime and atime - Linux Howtos and FAQs”. Linux Howtos and FAQs. Archived from the original on 2016-11-20.

  3. “Anatomy of the Linux virtual file system switch”. ibm.com.