ACL\_DELETE\_DEF\_FILE(3) Library Functions Manual ACL\_DELETE\_DEF\_FILE(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

`acl_delete_def_file`, `acl_delete_def_file_at` — delete a default ACL by filename

# [LIBRARY](#LIBRARY)

Linux Access Control Lists library (libacl, -lacl).

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

`#include <sys/types.h>`  
`#include <sys/acl.h>`

`int`  
`acl_delete_def_file`(`const char *path_p`);

`int`  
`acl_delete_def_file_at`(`int dirfd`, `const char *path_p`, `int at_flags`);

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

The [`acl_delete_def_file`](#acl_delete_def_file)() function deletes a default ACL from the directory whose pathname is given in `path_p`. If `path_p` is a symbolic link, `acl_delete_def_file`() operates on the directory the link refers to.

The effective user ID of the process must match the owner of the file or directory or the process must have the CAP\_FOWNER capability for the request to succeed.

If the argument `path_p` is not a directory, then the function fails. It is no error if the directory whose pathname is pointed to by the argument `path_p` does not have a default ACL.

## [`acl_delete_def_file_at`](#acl_delete_def_file_at)()

The `acl_delete_def_file_at`() function operates in exactly the same way as `acl_delete_def_file`(), except for the differences described here.

If the pathname given in `path_p` is relative, then it is interpreted relative to the directory referred to by the file descriptor `dirfd` (rather than relative to the current working directory of the calling process, as is done by [`acl_delete_def_file`](#acl_delete_def_file~2)()).

If `path_p` is relative and `dirfd` is the special value `AT_FDCWD`, then `path_p` is interpreted relative to the current working directory of the calling process (like [`acl_delete_def_file`](#acl_delete_def_file~3)()).

If `path_p` is absolute, then `dirfd` is ignored.

The `at_flags` argument can either be 0, or include one or more of the following flags ORed:

[`AT_EMPTY_PATH`](#AT_EMPTY_PATH)

If `path_p` is an empty string, operate on the file referred to by `dirfd` (which may have been obtained using the [open(2)](/man/os/acl/open.2) `O_PATH` flag). In this case, `dirfd` can refer to any type of file, not just a directory.

[`AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW`](#AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW)

If `path_p` refers to a symbolic link, do not dereference it: instead, fail the operation and set the global variable `errno` to `ENOTSUP`. This indicates that the symbolic link cannot have ACLs.

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

The `acl_delete_def_file`() and `acl_delete_def_file_at`() functions return the value 0 if successful; otherwise the value -1 is returned and the global variable `errno` is set to indicate the error.

# [ERRORS](#ERRORS)

If any of the following conditions occur, the `acl_delete_def_file`() and `acl_delete_def_file_at`() functions return the value `-1` and set `errno` to the corresponding value:

\[[`EBADF`](#EBADF)]

The argument `path_p` is relative but the argument `dirfd` is neither `AT_FDCWD` nor a valid file descriptor.

\[[`EINVAL`](#EINVAL)]

The file referred to by `path_p` is not a directory.

An invalid flag was specified in the `at_flags` argument.

\[[`ENOTDIR`](#ENOTDIR)]

A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

The argument `path_p` is relative and the argument `dirfd` is a file descriptor referring to a file other than a directory.

\[[`ENOTSUP`](#ENOTSUP)]

The argument `at_flags` includes the flag `AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW` and `path_p` is a symbolic link.

The file system on which the file identified by `path_p` is located does not support ACLs, or ACLs are disabled.

\[[`EPERM`](#EPERM)]

The process does not have appropriate privilege to perform the operation to delete the default ACL.

\[[`EROFS`](#EROFS)]

This function requires modification of a file system which is currently read-only.

# [STANDARDS](#STANDARDS)

IEEE Std 1003.1e draft 17 (“POSIX.1e”, abandoned)

Function `acl_delete_def_file_at`() is a Linux specific extension.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[acl\_get\_file(3)](/man/os/acl/acl_get_file.3), [acl\_set\_file(3)](/man/os/acl/acl_set_file.3), [acl(5)](/man/os/acl/acl.5)

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Derived from the FreeBSD manual pages written by Robert N M Watson ⟨rwatson@FreeBSD.org⟩, and adapted for Linux by Andreas Gruenbacher ⟨andreas.gruenbacher@gmail.com⟩.

June 5, 2026 Linux ACL

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Document: acl_delete_def_file_at(3) from acl 2.4.0-r5 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/git/acl.git