Release v1.6.0

This version of fsnotify needs Go 1.16 (this was already the case since
1.5.1, but not documented). It also increases the minimum Linux version
to 2.6.32.

Additions

- all: add `Event.Has()` and `Op.Has()` ([#477])

  This makes checking events a lot easier; for example:

	    if event.Op&Write == Write && !(event.Op&Remove == Remove) {
	    }

	Becomes:

	    if event.Has(Write) && !event.Has(Remove) {
	    }

- all: add cmd/fsnotify ([#463])

  A command-line utility for testing and some examples.

Changes and fixes

- inotify: don't ignore events for files that don't exist ([#260], [#470])

  Previously the inotify watcher would call `os.Lstat()` to check if a file
  still exists before emitting events.

  This was inconsistent with other platforms and resulted in inconsistent event
  reporting (e.g. when a file is quickly removed and re-created), and generally
  a source of confusion. It was added in 2013 to fix a memory leak that no
  longer exists.

- all: return `ErrNonExistentWatch` when `Remove()` is called on a path that's
  not watched ([#460])

- inotify: replace epoll() with non-blocking inotify ([#434])

  Non-blocking inotify was not generally available at the time this library was
  written in 2014, but now it is. As a result, the minimum Linux version is
  bumped from 2.6.27 to 2.6.32. This hugely simplifies the code and is faster.

- kqueue: don't check for events every 100ms ([#480])

  The watcher would wake up every 100ms, even when there was nothing to do. Now
  it waits until there is something to do.

- macos: retry opening files on EINTR ([#475])

- kqueue: skip unreadable files ([#479])

  kqueue requires a file descriptor for every file in a directory; this would
  fail if a file was unreadable by the current user. Now these files are simply
  skipped.

- windows: fix renaming a watched directory if the parent is also watched ([#370])

- windows: increase buffer size from 4K to 64K ([#485])

- windows: close file handle on Remove() ([#288])

- kqueue: put pathname in the error if watching a file fails ([#471])

- inotify, windows: calling Close() more than once could race ([#465])

- kqueue: improve Close() performance ([#233])

- all: various documentation additions and clarifications.

[#233]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/233
[#260]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/260
[#288]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/288
[#370]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/370
[#434]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/434
[#460]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/460
[#463]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/463
[#465]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/465
[#470]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/470
[#471]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/471
[#475]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/475
[#477]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/477
[#479]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/479
[#480]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/480
[#485]: https://github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify/pull/485
Update ChangeLog
1 file changed
tree: 566d47ec45f239dd7674a3f0ad54d40fe76c482e
  1. .github/
  2. cmd/
  3. internal/
  4. .editorconfig
  5. .gitattributes
  6. .gitignore
  7. .mailmap
  8. backend_fen.go
  9. backend_inotify.go
  10. backend_inotify_test.go
  11. backend_kqueue.go
  12. backend_kqueue_test.go
  13. backend_other.go
  14. backend_windows.go
  15. backend_windows_test.go
  16. CHANGELOG.md
  17. CONTRIBUTING.md
  18. fsnotify.go
  19. fsnotify_test.go
  20. go.mod
  21. go.sum
  22. helpers_test.go
  23. LICENSE
  24. mkdoc.zsh
  25. README.md
  26. system_bsd.go
  27. system_darwin.go
  28. system_darwin_test.go
README.md

fsnotify is a Go library to provide cross-platform filesystem notifications on Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD systems.

Go 1.16 or newer is required; the full documentation is at https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify

It‘s best to read the documentation at pkg.go.dev, as it’s pinned to the last released version, whereas this README is for the last development version which may include additions/changes.


Platform support:

AdapterOSStatus
inotifyLinux 2.6.32+Supported
kqueueBSD, macOSSupported
ReadDirectoryChangesWWindowsSupported
FSEventsmacOSPlanned
FENSolaris 11In Progress
fanotifyLinux 5.9+Maybe
USN JournalsWindowsMaybe
PollingAllMaybe

Linux and macOS should include Android and iOS, but these are currently untested.

Usage

A basic example:

package main

import (
    "log"

    "github.com/fsnotify/fsnotify"
)

func main() {
    // Create new watcher.
    watcher, err := fsnotify.NewWatcher()
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    defer watcher.Close()

    // Start listening for events.
    go func() {
        for {
            select {
            case event, ok := <-watcher.Events:
                if !ok {
                    return
                }
                log.Println("event:", event)
                if event.Has(fsnotify.Write) {
                    log.Println("modified file:", event.Name)
                }
            case err, ok := <-watcher.Errors:
                if !ok {
                    return
                }
                log.Println("error:", err)
            }
        }
    }()

    // Add a path.
    err = watcher.Add("/tmp")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    // Block main goroutine forever.
    <-make(chan struct{})
}

Some more examples can be found in cmd/fsnotify, which can be run with:

% go run ./cmd/fsnotify

FAQ

Will a file still be watched when it's moved to another directory?

No, not unless you are watching the location it was moved to.

Are subdirectories watched too?

No, you must add watches for any directory you want to watch (a recursive watcher is on the roadmap: #18).

Do I have to watch the Error and Event channels in a goroutine?

As of now, yes (you can read both channels in the same goroutine using select, you don't need a separate goroutine for both channels; see the example).

Why don't notifications work with NFS, SMB, FUSE, /proc, or /sys?

fsnotify requires support from underlying OS to work. The current NFS and SMB protocols does not provide network level support for file notifications, and neither do the /proc and /sys virtual filesystems.

This could be fixed with a polling watcher (#9), but it's not yet implemented.

Platform-specific notes

Linux

When a file is removed a REMOVE event won't be emitted until all file descriptors are closed; it will emit a CHMOD instead:

fp := os.Open("file")
os.Remove("file")        // CHMOD
fp.Close()               // REMOVE

This is the event that inotify sends, so not much can be changed about this.

The fs.inotify.max_user_watches sysctl variable specifies the upper limit for the number of watches per user, and fs.inotify.max_user_instances specifies the maximum number of inotify instances per user. Every Watcher you create is an “instance”, and every path you add is a “watch”.

These are also exposed in /proc as /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches and /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_instances

To increase them you can use sysctl or write the value to proc file:

# The default values on Linux 5.18
sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=124983
sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=128

To make the changes persist on reboot edit /etc/sysctl.conf or /usr/lib/sysctl.d/50-default.conf (details differ per Linux distro; check your distro's documentation):

fs.inotify.max_user_watches=124983
fs.inotify.max_user_instances=128

Reaching the limit will result in a “no space left on device” or “too many open files” error.

kqueue (macOS, all BSD systems)

kqueue requires opening a file descriptor for every file that‘s being watched; so if you’re watching a directory with five files then that‘s six file descriptors. You will run in to your system’s “max open files” limit faster on these platforms.

The sysctl variables kern.maxfiles and kern.maxfilesperproc can be used to control the maximum number of open files.

macOS

Spotlight indexing on macOS can result in multiple events (see #15). A temporary workaround is to add your folder(s) to the Spotlight Privacy settings until we have a native FSEvents implementation (see #11).