Ubuntu Manpage: chattr - change file attributes on a Linux file system

Provided by: e2fsprogs_1.44.1-1ubuntu1.4_amd64

NAME

       chattr - change file attributes on a Linux file system

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

       chattr changes the file attributes on a Linux file system.

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

       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 'aAcCdDeijPsStTu' select the new attributes for the files: append only (a), no atime  updates
       (A),  compressed (c), no copy on write (C), no dump (d), synchronous directory updates (D), extent format
       (e), immutable (i), data journalling (j), project hierarchy (P), secure deletion (s), synchronous updates
       (S), no tail-merging (t), top of directory hierarchy (T), and undeletable (u).

       The following attributes are read-only, and may be listed  by  lsattr(1)  but  not  modified  by  chattr:
       encrypted (E), indexed directory (I), and inline data (N).

       Not  all  flags are supported or utilized by all filesystems; refer to filesystem-specific man pages such
       as btrfs(5), ext4(5), and xfs(5) for more filesystem-specific details.

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.

       -p project
              Set the file's project number.

ATTRIBUTES

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.

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 systems.

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.

A file with the 'C' attribute set will not be subject to copy-on-write updates. This flag is only
supported on file systems which perform copy-on-write. (Note: For btrfs, the 'C' flag should be set on
new or empty files. If it is set on a file which already has data blocks, it is undefined when the
blocks assigned to the file will be fully stable. If the 'C' flag is set on a directory, it will have no
effect on the directory, but new files created in that directory will have the No_COW attribute set.)

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

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.

The 'e' attribute indicates that the file is using extents for mapping the blocks on disk. It may not be
removed using chattr(1).

The 'E' attribute is used by the experimental encryption patches to indicate that the file has been
encrypted. 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, most of the file's metadata can not be modified, 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.

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

A file with the 'j' attribute has all of its data written to the ext3 or ext4 journal before being
written to the file itself, if the file system is mounted with the "data=ordered" or "data=writeback"
options and the file system has a journal. When the filesystem is mounted with the "data=journal" option
all file data is already journalled and this attribute has no effect. Only the superuser or a process
possessing the CAP_SYS_RESOURCE capability can set or clear this attribute.

A file with the 'N' attribute set indicates that the file has data stored inline, within the inode
itself. It may not be set or reset using chattr(1), although it can be displayed by lsattr(1).

A directory with the 'P' attribute set will enforce a hierarchical structure for project id's. This
means that files and directory created in the directory will inherit the project id of the directory,
rename operations are constrained so when a file or directory is moved into another directory, that the
project id's much match. In addition, a hard link to file can only be created when the project id for
the file and the destination directory match.

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 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 filesystems do not (yet, except in very experimental patches) support
tail-merging.

A directory with the 'T' attribute will be deemed to be the top of directory hierarchies for the purposes
of the Orlov block allocator. This is a hint to the block allocator used by ext3 and ext4 that the
subdirectories under this directory are not related, and thus should be spread apart for allocation
purposes. For example it is a very good idea to set the 'T' attribute on the /home directory, so that
/home/john and /home/mary are placed into separate block groups. For directories where this attribute is
not set, the Orlov block allocator will try to group subdirectories closer together where possible.

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.

AUTHOR

       chattr was written by Remy Card <Remy.Card@linux.org>.  It is currently being maintained by Theodore Ts'o
       <tytso@alum.mit.edu>.

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

       The  'c', 's',  and 'u' attributes are not honored by the ext2, ext3, and ext4 filesystems as implemented
       in the current mainline Linux kernels.

       The 'j' option is only useful for ext3 and ext4 file systems.

       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.