---
name: "lutimes"
section: "3"
platform: "macos"
package: "Libc"
version: "1752.120.2"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lutimes/3"
---

# lutimes(3)

set file access and modification times of symlink

## NAME

**lutimes** – set file access and modification times of symlink

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<sys/time.h\>**

*int*\

**lutimes**(*const char \*path*, *struct timeval times\[2\]*);

## DESCRIPTION

The access and modification times of the file named by *path* are changed as specified by the argument *times*, even if *path* specifies a symbolic link (for [utimes(2)](/utimes/2.md) the times of the file referenced by the symbolic link are changed).

If *times* is NULL, the access and modification times are set to the current time. The caller must be the owner of the file, have permission to write the file, or be the super-user.

If *times* is non-NULL, it is assumed to point to an array of two timeval structures. The access time is set to the value of the first element, and the modification time is set to the value of the second element. The caller must be the owner of the file or be the super-user.

In either case, the inode-change-time of the file is set to the current time.

## NOTE

Instead of being a system call, **lutimes**() is emulated using [setattrlist(2)](/setattrlist/2.md). Not all file systems support [setattrlist(2)](/setattrlist/2.md).

## RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned. Otherwise, -1 is returned and the global variable *errno* is set to indicate the error.

## ERRORS

The **lutimes**() call may return the same errors as [utimes(2)](/utimes/2.md) and [setattrlist(2)](/setattrlist/2.md).

## SEE ALSO

[utimes(2)](/utimes/2.md), [setattrlist(2)](/setattrlist/2.md)