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CHATTR(1)                                                            CHATTR(1)



 

NAME


       chattr - change file attributes on a Linux second extended file system

 

SYNOPSIS


       chattr [ -RVf ] [ -v version ] [ mode ] files...

 

DESCRIPTION






       chattr changes the file attributes on a Linux second extended file sys-
       tem.

       The format of a symbolic mode is +-=[ASacDdIijsTtu].

       The operator `+' causes the selected attributes  to  be  added  to  the
       existing  attributes  of  the files; `-' causes them to be removed; and
       `=' causes them to be the only attributes that the files have.

       The letters `acdijsuADST' select the  new  attributes  for  the  files:
       append only (a), compressed (c), no dump (d), immutable (i), data jour-
       nalling (j), secure deletion (s), no tail-merging (t), undeletable (u),
       no  atime  updates  (A), synchronous directory updates (D), synchronous
       updates (S), and top of directory hierarchy (T).

 

OPTIONS


       -R     Recursively change attributes of directories and their contents.

       -V     Be verbose with chattr's output and print the program version.

       -f     Suppress most error messages.

       -v version
              Set the file's version/generation number.

 

ATTRIBUTES


       When a file with the 'A' attribute set is accessed, its atime record is
       not modified.  This avoids a certain amount of disk I/O for laptop sys-
       tems.

       A  file  with the `a' attribute set can only be open in append mode for
       writing.   Only   the   superuser   or   a   process   possessing   the
       CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE capability can set or clear this attribute.

       A  file  with  the `c' attribute set is automatically compressed on the
       disk by the kernel.  A read from this file returns  uncompressed  data.
       A  write  to this file compresses data before storing them on the disk.
       Note: please make sure to read the bugs and limitations section at  the
       end of this document.

       When  a  directory  with the `D' attribute set is modified, the changes
       are written synchronously on  the  disk;  this  is  equivalent  to  the
       `dirsync' mount option applied to a subset of the files.

       A  file with the `d' attribute set is not candidate for backup when the
       dump(8) program is run.

       The 'E' attribute is used by the experimental  compression  patches  to
       indicate that a compressed file has a compression error.  It may not be
       set  or  reset  using  chattr(1),  although  it  can  be  displayed  by
       lsattr(1).

       The  'e' attribute indicates that the file is using extents for mapping
       the blocks on disk.  It may  not  be  set  or  reset  using  chattr(1),
       although it can be displayed by lsattr(1).

       The  'I'  attribute is used by the htree code to indicate that a direc-
       tory is being indexed using hashed trees.  It may not be set  or  reset
       using chattr(1), although it can be displayed by lsattr(1).

       The  'H' attribute indicates the file is storing its blocks in units of
       the filesystem blocksize instead of in units of sectors, and means that
       the file is (or at one time was) larger than 2TB.  It may not be set or
       reset using chattr(1), although it can be displayed by lsattr(1).

       A file with the `i' attribute cannot be modified: it cannot be  deleted
       or  renamed,  no  link  can  be created to this file and no data can be
       written to the file.  Only the superuser or a  process  possessing  the
       CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE capability can set or clear this attribute.

       A  file  with the `j' attribute has all of its data written to the ext3
       journal before being written to the file itself, if the  filesystem  is
       mounted  with the "data=ordered" or "data=writeback" options.  When the
       filesystem is mounted with the "data=journal" option all file  data  is
       already  journalled  and  this attribute has no effect.  Only the supe-
       ruser or a process possessing the CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability  can  set
       or clear this attribute.

       When  a  file  with  the  `s'  attribute set is deleted, its blocks are
       zeroed and written back to the disk.  Note: please make  sure  to  read
       the bugs and limitations section at the end of this document.

       When  a  file  with  the `S' attribute set is modified, the changes are
       written synchronously on the disk; this is  equivalent  to  the  `sync'
       mount option applied to a subset of the files.

       A  directory  with  the  'T'  attribute will be deemed to be the top of
       directory hierarchies for the purposes of  the  Orlov  block  allocator
       (which is used in on systems with Linux 2.5.46 or later).

       A file with the 't' attribute will not have a partial block fragment at
       the end of the file merged with  other  files  (for  those  filesystems
       which  support  tail-merging).  This is necessary for applications such
       as LILO which read the filesystem directly, and which don't  understand
       tail-merged files.  Note: As of this writing, the ext2 or ext3 filesys-
       tems do not (yet, except in very experimental  patches)  support  tail-
       merging.

       When  a  file  with  the `u' attribute set is deleted, its contents are
       saved.  This allows the user to ask for its undeletion.   Note:  please
       make  sure  to read the bugs and limitations section at the end of this
       document.

       The 'X' attribute is used by the experimental  compression  patches  to
       indicate  that  a  raw  contents  of  a compressed file can be accessed
       directly.  It currently may  not  be  set  or  reset  using  chattr(1),
       although it can be displayed by lsattr(1).

       The  'Z'  attribute  is used by the experimental compression patches to
       indicate a compressed file is dirty.  It may not be set or reset  using
       chattr(1), although it can be displayed by lsattr(1).


 

AUTHOR


       chattr was written by Remy Card .  It is currently
       being maintained by Theodore Ts'o .

 

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS


       The `c', 's',  and `u' attributes are not honored by the ext2 and  ext3
       filesystems  as  implemented  in  the  current  mainline Linux kernels.
       These attributes may be implemented in future versions of the ext2  and
       ext3 filesystems.

       The `j' option is only useful if the filesystem is mounted as ext3.

       The `D' option is only useful on Linux kernel 2.5.19 and later.

 

AVAILABILITY


       chattr  is  part  of  the  e2fsprogs  package  and  is  available  from
       http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net.

 

SEE ALSO


       lsattr(1)



E2fsprogs version 1.41.3         October 2008                        CHATTR(1)