chflags(1) [mojave man page]
CHFLAGS(1) BSD General Commands Manual CHFLAGS(1) NAME
chflags -- change file flags SYNOPSIS
chflags [-fhv] [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file ... DESCRIPTION
The chflags utility modifies the file flags of the listed files as specified by the flags operand. The options are as follows: -f Do not display a diagnostic message if chflags could not modify the flags for file, nor modify the exit status to reflect such fail- ures. -H If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed. (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.) -h If the file is a symbolic link, change the file flags of the link itself rather than the file to which it points. -L If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed. -P If the -R option is specified, no symbolic links are followed. This is the default. -R Change the file flags for the file hierarchies rooted in the files instead of just the files themselves. -v Cause chflags to be verbose, showing filenames as the flags are modified. If the -v option is specified more than once, the old and new flags of the file will also be printed, in octal notation. The flags are specified as an octal number or a comma separated list of keywords. The following keywords are currently defined: arch, archived set the archived flag (super-user only) opaque set the opaque flag (owner or super-user only). [Directory is opaque when viewed through a union mount] nodump set the nodump flag (owner or super-user only) sappnd, sappend set the system append-only flag (super-user only) schg, schange, simmutable set the system immutable flag (super-user only) uappnd, uappend set the user append-only flag (owner or super-user only) uchg, uchange, uimmutable set the user immutable flag (owner or super-user only) hidden set the hidden flag [Hide item from GUI] As discussed in chflags(2), the sappnd and schg flags may only be unset when the system is in single-user mode. Putting the letters ``no'' before or removing the letters ``no'' from a keyword causes the flag to be cleared. For example: nouchg clear the user immutable flag (owner or super-user only) dump clear the nodump flag (owner or super-user only) Unless the -H or -L options are given, chflags on a symbolic link always succeeds and has no effect. The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified. In addition, these options override each other and the command's actions are determined by the last one specified. You can use "ls -lO" to see the flags of existing files. EXIT STATUS
The chflags utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs. SEE ALSO
ls(1), chflags(2), stat(2), fts(3), symlink(7) HISTORY
The chflags command first appeared in 4.4BSD. BUGS
Only a limited number of utilities are chflags aware. Some of these tools include ls(1), cp(1), find(1), install(1), dump(8), and restore(8). In particular a tool which is not currently chflags aware is the pax(1) utility. BSD
March 3, 2006 BSD
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CHFLAGS(2) BSD System Calls Manual CHFLAGS(2) NAME
chflags, lchflags, fchflags -- set file flags LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc) SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/stat.h> #include <unistd.h> int chflags(const char *path, u_long flags); int lchflags(const char *path, int flags); int fchflags(int fd, u_long flags); DESCRIPTION
The file whose name is given by path or referenced by the descriptor fd has its flags changed to flags. The lchflags() system call is like chflags() except in the case where the named file is a symbolic link, in which case lchflags() will change the flags of the link itself, rather than the file it points to. The flags specified are formed by or'ing the following values UF_NODUMP Do not dump the file. UF_IMMUTABLE The file may not be changed. UF_APPEND The file may only be appended to. UF_NOUNLINK The file may not be renamed or deleted. UF_OPAQUE The directory is opaque when viewed through a union stack. SF_ARCHIVED The file may be archived. SF_IMMUTABLE The file may not be changed. SF_APPEND The file may only be appended to. SF_NOUNLINK The file may not be renamed or deleted. SF_SNAPSHOT The file is a snapshot file. If one of SF_IMMUTABLE, SF_APPEND, or SF_NOUNLINK is set a non-super-user cannot change any flags and even the super-user can change flags only if securelevel is greater than 0. (See init(8) for details.) The UF_IMMUTABLE, UF_APPEND, UF_NOUNLINK, UF_NODUMP, and UF_OPAQUE flags may be set or unset by either the owner of a file or the super-user. The SF_IMMUTABLE, SF_APPEND, SF_NOUNLINK, and SF_ARCHIVED flags may only be set or unset by the super-user. Attempts to set these flags by non-super-users are rejected, attempts by non-superusers to clear flags that are already unset are silently ignored. These flags may be set at any time, but normally may only be unset when the system is in single-user mode. (See init(8) for details.) The SF_SNAPSHOT flag is maintained by the system and cannot be changed by any user. RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, the value 0 is returned; otherwise the value -1 is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS
The chflags() system call will fail if: [ENOTDIR] A component of the path prefix is not a directory. [ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters, or an entire path name exceeded 1023 characters. [ENOENT] The named file does not exist. [EACCES] Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix. [ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname. [EPERM] The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and the effective user ID is not the super-user. [EPERM] One of SF_IMMUTABLE, SF_APPEND, or SF_NOUNLINK is set and the user is either not the super-user or securelevel is greater than 0. [EPERM] A non-super-user tries to set one of SF_IMMUTABLE, SF_APPEND, or SF_NOUNLINK. [EPERM] User tries to set or remove the SF_SNAPSHOT flag. [EROFS] The named file resides on a read-only file system. [EFAULT] The path argument points outside the process's allocated address space. [EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system. [EOPNOTSUPP] The underlying file system does not support file flags. The fchflags() system call will fail if: [EBADF] The descriptor is not valid. [EINVAL] The fd argument refers to a socket, not to a file. [EPERM] The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and the effective user ID is not the super-user. [EPERM] One of SF_IMMUTABLE, SF_APPEND, or SF_NOUNLINK is set and the user is either not the super-user or securelevel is greater than 0. [EPERM] A non-super-user tries to set one of SF_IMMUTABLE, SF_APPEND, or SF_NOUNLINK. [EROFS] The file resides on a read-only file system. [EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system. [EOPNOTSUPP] The underlying file system does not support file flags. SEE ALSO
chflags(1), fflagstostr(3), strtofflags(3), init(8), mount_unionfs(8) HISTORY
The chflags() and fchflags() system calls first appeared in 4.4BSD. BSD
May 16, 2006 BSD