NAME¶

sync - commit buffer cache to disk

SYNOPSIS¶

#include <unistd.h>

void sync(void);

Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

sync(): _BSD_SOURCE || _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500

DESCRIPTION¶

sync() first commits inodes to buffers, and then buffers to disk.

ERRORS¶

This function is always successful.

CONFORMING TO¶

SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.

NOTES¶

Since glibc 2.2.2 the Linux prototype is as listed above, following the various standards. In libc4, libc5, and glibc up to 2.2.1 it was "int sync(void)", and sync() always returned 0.

BUGS¶

According to the standard specification (e.g., POSIX.1-2001), sync() schedules the writes, but may return before the actual writing is done. However, since version 1.3.20 Linux does actually wait. (This still does not guarantee data integrity: modern disks have large caches.)

SEE ALSO¶

bdflush(2), fdatasync(2), fsync(2), sync(8), update(8)

COLOPHON¶

This page is part of release 3.22 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.