CHFLAGS(1) BSD Reference Manual CHFLAGS(1)NAMEchflags - change file flags
SYNOPSISchflags [-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.
-R Change the file flags for the file hierarchies rooted in the
files instead of just the files themselves.
Flags are a comma separated list of keywords. The following keywords are
currently defined:
opaque set the opaque flag (owner or super-user only)
nodump set the nodump flag (owner or super-user only)
notime set the notime flag (super-user only)
sappnd set the system append-only flag (super-user only)
schg set the system immutable 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)
Putting the letters ``no'' before an option causes the flag to be turned
off. For example:
nouchg the immutable bit should be cleared
The two ``append'' flags prevent truncation of the file. For instance,
log files might be set to append-only. The two ``immutable'' (``chg'')
flags prevent any changes to the file at all, except for changes to the
flags. If either or both of sappnd or schg is set, however, not even the
super-user can change the flags unless the system is in ``insecure'' mode
(typically, single user). The user flags can be set by the owner or the
super-user; the system flags can only be set by the super-user.
The only flags on by default are dump and time.
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 de-
termined by the last one specified.
The chflags utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
NOTES
The notime flag is an experimental feature. It only applies to charac-
ter, block, fifo and socket special files. It prevents updating the ac-
cess, modify, and inode-change time stamps of any inode (which would
cause an otherwise idle disk to spin up on a notebook). A typical notime
request might be:
# cd /dev ; chflags notime console null pcaux0 pty* tty*
SEE ALSOchflags(2), stat(2), fts(3), symlink(7)BSDI BSD/OS May 2, 1995 2
