NAME

       setxattr, lsetxattr, fsetxattr - set an extended attribute value

SYNOPSIS

       #include <sys/types.h>
       #include <attr/xattr.h>

       int setxattr (const char *path, const char *name,
                       const void *value, size_t size, int flags);
       int lsetxattr (const char *path, const char *name,
                       const void *value, size_t size, int flags);
       int fsetxattr (int filedes, const char *name,
                       const void *value, size_t size, int flags);

DESCRIPTION

       Extended  attributes  are  name:value  pairs  associated with inodes (files, directories, symlinks, etc).
       They are extensions to the normal attributes which are associated with all inodes in the system (i.e. the
       stat(2) data).  A complete overview of extended attributes concepts can be found in attr(5).

       setxattr sets the value of the extended attribute identified by name and associated with the  given  path
       in the filesystem.  The size of the value must be specified.

       lsetxattr  is  identical to setxattr, except in the case of a symbolic link, where the extended attribute
       is set on the link itself, not the file that it refers to.

       fsetxattr is identical to setxattr, only the extended attribute is set on the open  file  pointed  to  by
       filedes (as returned by open(2)) in place of path.

       An  extended  attribute  name is a simple NULL-terminated string.  The name includes a namespace prefix -
       there may be several, disjoint namespaces associated with an individual inode.  The value of an  extended
       attribute is a chunk of arbitrary textual or binary data of specified length.

       The  flags parameter can be used to refine the semantics of the operation.  XATTR_CREATE specifies a pure
       create, which fails if the named attribute  exists  already.   XATTR_REPLACE  specifies  a  pure  replace
       operation,  which  fails  if  the  named  attribute  does  not already exist.  By default (no flags), the
       extended attribute will be created if need be, or will simply replace the value if the attribute exists.

RETURN VALUE

       On success, zero is returned.  On failure, -1 is returned and errno is set appropriately.

       If XATTR_CREATE is specified, and the attribute exists already, errno is set to EEXIST.  If XATTR_REPLACE
       is specified, and the attribute does not exist, errno is set to ENOATTR.

       If there is insufficient space remaining to store the extended attribute, errno is set to either  ENOSPC,
       or EDQUOT if quota enforcement was the cause.

       If extended attributes are not supported by the filesystem, or are disabled, errno is set to ENOTSUP.

       The errors documented for the stat(2) system call are also applicable here.

AUTHORS

       Andreas   Gruenbacher,   <a.gruenbacher@bestbits.at>   and   the   SGI   XFS  development  team,  <linux-
       xfs@oss.sgi.com>.  Please send any bug reports or comments to these addresses.

SEE ALSO

       getfattr(1), setfattr(1), open(2), stat(2), getxattr(2), listxattr(2), removexattr(2), and attr(5).

Dec 2001                                       Extended Attributes                                   SETXATTR(2)