| .\" -*- nroff -*- |
| .TH CHATTR 1 "October 1995" "Version 1.01" |
| .SH NAME |
| chattr \- change file attributes on a Linux second extended file system |
| .SH SYNOPSIS |
| .B chattr |
| [ |
| .B \-RV |
| ] |
| [ |
| .B -v |
| version |
| ] |
| [ |
| mode |
| ] |
| .I files... |
| .SH DESCRIPTION |
| .B chattr |
| changes the files attributes on an second extended file system. |
| .PP |
| The format of a symbolic mode is +-=[Sacdisu]. |
| .PP |
| 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. |
| .PP |
| The letters `Sacdisu' select the new attributes for the files: synchronous |
| updates (S), append only (a), compressed (c), immutable (i), no dump (d), |
| secure deletion (s), and undeletable (u). |
| .SH OPTIONS |
| .TP |
| .I -R |
| Recursively change attributes of directories and their contents. |
| .TP |
| .I -V |
| Verbosely describe changed attributes. |
| .TP |
| .I -v version |
| Set the files version. |
| .SH ATTRIBUTES |
| A file with the `a' attribute set can only be open in append mode for writing. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| A file with the `d' attribute set is not candidate for backup when the |
| .BR dump (8) |
| program is run. |
| |
| 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 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. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| When a file with the `u' attribute set is deleted, its contents is saved. |
| This allows the user to ask for its undeletion. |
| .SH AUTHOR |
| .B chattr |
| has been written by Remy Card <card@masi.ibp.fr>, the developer and maintainer |
| of the ext2 fs. |
| .SH BUGS AND LIMITATIONS |
| As of ext2 fs 0.5a, the `c' and `u' attribute are not honoured by the kernel |
| code. |
| .PP |
| These attributes will be implemented in a future ext2 fs version. |
| .SH AVAILABILITY |
| .B chattr |
| is available for anonymous ftp from ftp.ibp.fr and tsx-11.mit.edu in |
| /pub/linux/packages/ext2fs. |
| .SH SEE ALSO |
| .BR lsattr (1) |