NAME

       setxattr, lsetxattr, fsetxattr - set an extended attribute value

LIBRARY

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <sys/xattr.h>

       int setxattr(const char *path, const char *name,
                     const void value[.size], size_t size, int flags);
       int lsetxattr(const char *path, const char *name,
                     const void value[.size], size_t size, int flags);
       int fsetxattr(int fd, const char *name,
                     const void value[.size], size_t size, int flags);

DESCRIPTION

       Extended  attributes  are  name:value  pairs  associated  with inodes (files, directories,
       symbolic links, 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 xattr(7).

       setxattr() sets the value of the extended attribute identified by name and associated with
       the  given  path  in  the  filesystem.  The size argument specifies the size (in bytes) of
       value; a zero-length value is permitted.

       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 referred to by fd (as returned by open(2)) in place of path.

       An extended attribute name is a 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.

       By  default  (i.e.,  flags is zero), the extended attribute will be created if it does not
       exist, or the value will be replaced if the attribute already  exists.   To  modify  these
       semantics, one of the following values can be specified in flags:

       XATTR_CREATE
              Perform a pure create, which fails if the named attribute exists already.

       XATTR_REPLACE
              Perform  a  pure  replace  operation,  which  fails if the named attribute does not
              already exist.

RETURN VALUE

       On success, zero is returned.  On failure, -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the
       error.

ERRORS

       EDQUOT Disk  quota  limits  meant  that there is insufficient space remaining to store the
              extended attribute.

       EEXIST XATTR_CREATE was specified, and the attribute exists already.

       ENODATA
              XATTR_REPLACE was specified, and the attribute does not exist.

       ENOSPC There is insufficient space remaining to store the extended attribute.

       ENOTSUP
              The namespace prefix of name is not valid.

       ENOTSUP
              Extended attributes are not supported by the filesystem, or are disabled,

       EPERM  The file is marked immutable or append-only.  (See ioctl_iflags(2).)

       In addition, the errors documented in stat(2) can also occur.

       ERANGE The size of name or value exceeds a filesystem-specific limit.

STANDARDS

       Linux.

HISTORY

       Linux 2.4, glibc 2.3.

SEE ALSO

       getfattr(1), setfattr(1), getxattr(2),  listxattr(2),  open(2),  removexattr(2),  stat(2),
       symlink(7), xattr(7)