[TUHS] inodes, inumbers, and versions

[Tom Lyon via TUHS]

Sounds like more of a problem with NFS file handles - the server doesn't
keep track of what's open.

On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 8:02 AM ron minnich via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:

> At some point there was an issue around inumbers being recycled, such that
> a file might be opened, have an inumber that had been used, and confusion
> followed.
>
> IIRC, there was a version field that was added to the inode (?), so protect
> against this.
>
> I'm sure I've got lots of this wrong. It was a long time ago and the
> neurons are dead.
>
> My question: in our modern era :-), I assume all inumbers are 64 bits, and,
> for a given file system, never reused? Is that a safe assumption?
>
> This has come up as part of a question involving user-mode 9p servers.
>
> thanks
>