CHFLAGS(1) BSD General Commands Manual CHFLAGS(1)NAME
chflags — change file flags
SYNOPSIS
chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file ...
DESCRIPTION
The chflags utility modifies the file flags of the listed files as speci‐
fied by the flags operand.
The options are as follows:
-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.)
-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.
The flags are specified as an octal number or a comma separated list of
keywords. The following keywords are currently defined:
arch set the archived flag (super-user only)
opaque set the opaque flag (owner or super-user only)
nodump set the nodump flag (owner or super-user only)
sappnd set the system append-only flag (super-user only)
schg set the system immutable flag (super-user only)
sunlnk set the system undeletable flag (super-user only)
uappnd set the user append-only flag (owner or super-user only)
uchg set the user immutable flag (owner or super-user only)
uunlnk set the user undeletable flag (owner or super-user only)
archived, sappend, schange, simmutable, uappend, uchange,
uimmutable, sunlink, uunlink
aliases for the above
Putting the letters “no” before an option causes the flag to be turned
off. For example:
nouchg the immutable bit should be cleared
Symbolic links do not have flags, so unless the -H or -L option is set,
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 addi‐
tion, 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.
DIAGNOSTICS
The chflags utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
SEE ALSOls(1), chflags(2), stat(2), fts(3), symlink(7)HISTORY
The chflags command first appeared in 4.4BSD.
BSD May 2, 1995 BSD