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NAME

       chattr - change file attributes on a Linux file system

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

       chattr changes the file attributes on a Linux file system.

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

       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  `acdeijstuADST'  select the new attributes for the files:
       append only (a), compressed  (c),  no  dump  (d),  extent  format  (e),
       immutable  (i),  data  journalling  (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).

       The following attributes are read-only, and may be listed by  lsattr(1)
       but  not  modified  by  chattr:  huge  file (h), compression error (E),
       indexed directory (I), compression raw access (X), and compressed dirty
       file (Z).

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
       systems.

       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 removed using chattr(1).

       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).

       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
       superuser 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.
       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.

       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.

       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 <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 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)