Chattr

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chattr is a Linux command that allows a user to set certain attributes on a file. Mostly chattr is used to make files immutable so that password files and certain system files cannot be erased during software upgrades.^[1] It is analogous to the attrib command on DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems, and chflags on modern BSD systems (including Mac OS X). Other Unix systems have no analogous commands; Solaris supports extended file attributes, but there are no user level commands for setting or changing them, and the chatr command in HP-UX, and chattr in AIX have unrelated functions.

Syntax

The form of the chattr command is:

chattr [-RV] [-+=AacDdijsSu] [-v version] files

where

• -R is to recurse all subdirectories
• +i is to set the immutable bit to prevent even root from erasing or changing the contents a file.

Note: The superuser can't erase or write on the file, but he or she can set or unset the i attribute.

Attributes

Some attributes include:

See also

• lsattr – view file attributes
• chown – change file/directory ownership
• chmod – change file access control attributes
• cacls – Microsoft Windows NT file system ACL control utility

Notes

References

• chflags(1) – OpenBSD General Commands Manual
• chflags(1) – FreeBSD General Commands Manual