mfseattr(1)

NAME
mfseattr - MooseFS extra attributes management tools

SYNOPSIS
mfsgeteattr [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] OBJECT...

mfsseteattr [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] -f ATTRNAME [-f ATTRNAME ...] OBJECT...

mfsdeleattr [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] -a | -f ATTRNAME [-f ATTRNAME ...] OBJECT...

mfscopyeattr [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] SOURCE_OBJECT OBJECT...

DESCRIPTION
These tools are used to get, set or delete some extra attributes (flags).

mfsgeteattr displays extra attributes of specified object. If -r option is used, the tool will display statistics for all attributes usage across the whole directory tree specified by OBJECT.

mfsseteattr sets attribute specified by -f. Option -f can be used more than once, so that several attributes can be set with one command. If -r option is used, specified attributes will be set recursively.

mfsdeleattr deletes (clears) attribute specified by -f. Option -f can be used more than once, so that several attributes can be deleted with one command. Alternatively, -a option can be used to delete all existing extra attributes. If -r option is used, specified attributes will be deleted recursively.

mfscopyeattr copies the current set of attributes of SOURCE_OBJECT to OBJECT. This is an exact copy, so any attributes that OBJECT has, but SOURCE_OBJECT doesn't, will be cleared. If -r option is used, attributes will be copied recursively.

OPTIONS

  ATTRIBUTES

noowner This flag means, that particular object belongs to current user (uid and gid are equal to uid and gid values of accessing process). Only root (uid=0) sees the real uid and gid.

noattrcache This flag means, that standard file attributes such as uid, gid, mode, length and so on won't be stored in kernel cache.

noentrycache This flag is similar to above. It prevents directory entries from being cached in kernel.

nodatacache This flag means, that data should never be kept in kernel cache (similar to O_DIRECT open flag).

snapshot This flag means that the object was created via a mfsmakesnapshot command

undeletable This flag prevents unlinking (admin only; not inherited)

appendonly Object with this flag can only be appended to, unlinking and other modifications are not allowed (admin only; not inherited)

immutable This flag prevents any change to given object (admin only; not inherited)

  GENERAL OPTIONS
Most MooseFS tools use -n, -h, -H, -k, -m and -g options to select format of printed numbers. -n causes to print exact numbers, -h uses binary prefixes (Ki, Mi, Gi as 2^10, 2^20 etc.) while -H uses SI prefixes (k, M, G as 10^3, 10^6 etc.). -k, -m and -g show plain numbers respectivaly in kibis (binary kilo - 1024), mebis (binary mega - 1024^2) and gibis (binary giga - 1024^3). The same can be achieved by setting MFSHRFORMAT environment variable to: 0 (exact numbers), 1 or h (binary prefixes), 2 or H (SI prefixes), 3 or h+ (exact numbers and binary prefixes), 4 or H+ (exact numbers and SI prefixes). The default is to print just exact numbers.

Option -? displays short usage message.

NOTES

  INHERITANCE
When a new object is created in MooseFS, extra attributes are inherited from the parent directory. A newly created object inherits always the current set of its parent's attributes. Changing a directory attribute does not affect its already created children. To change an attribute for a directory and all of its children use -r option.

REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to <bugs@moosefs.com>.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2026 Jakub Kruszona-Zawadzki, Saglabs SA This file is part of MooseFS. MooseFS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2 (only). MooseFS is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

SEE ALSO
mfsmount(8), mfstools(1), mfssnapshots(1)