SETXATTR(2) Linux Programmer's Manual SETXATTR(2)NAME
setxattr, lsetxattr, fsetxattr - set an extended attribute value
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/xattr.h>
int setxattr(const char *path, const char *name,
const void *value, size_t size, int flags);
int lsetxattr(const char *path, const char *name,
const void *value, size_t size, int flags);
int fsetxattr(int fd, const char *name,
const void *value, size_t size, int flags);
DESCRIPTION
Extended attributes are name:value pairs associated with inodes (files,
directories, symbolic links, etc.). They are extensions to the normal
attributes which are associated with all inodes in the system (i.e.,
the stat(2) data). A complete overview of extended attributes concepts
can be found in attr(5).
setxattr() sets the value of the extended attribute identified by name
and associated with the given path in the filesystem. The size of the
value must be specified.
lsetxattr() is identical to setxattr(), except in the case of a sym‐
bolic link, where the extended attribute is set on the link itself, not
the file that it refers to.
fsetxattr() is identical to setxattr(), only the extended attribute is
set on the open file referred to by fd (as returned by open(2)) in
place of path.
An extended attribute name is a simple null-terminated string. The
name includes a namespace prefix; there may be several, disjoint names‐
paces associated with an individual inode. The value of an extended
attribute is a chunk of arbitrary textual or binary data of specified
length.
The flags argument can be used to refine the semantics of the opera‐
tion. XATTR_CREATE specifies a pure create, which fails if the named
attribute exists already. XATTR_REPLACE specifies a pure replace oper‐
ation, which fails if the named attribute does not already exist. By
default (no flags), the extended attribute will be created if need be,
or will simply replace the value if the attribute exists.
RETURN VALUE
On success, zero is returned. On failure, -1 is returned and errno is
set appropriately.
ERRORS
EDQUOT Disk quota limits meant that there is insufficient space remain‐
ing to store the extended attribute.
EEXIST XATTR_CREATE was specified, and the attribute exists already.
ENOATTR
XATTR_REPLACE was specified, and the attribute does not exist.
(ENOATTR is defined to be a synonym for ENODATA in
<attr/xattr.h>.)
ENOSPC There is insufficient space remaining to store the extended
attribute.
ENOTSUP
Extended attributes are not supported by the filesystem, or are
disabled, errno is set to ENOTSUP.
In addition, the errors documented in stat(2) can also occur.
VERSIONS
These system calls have been available on Linux since kernel 2.4; glibc
support is provided since version 2.3.
CONFORMING TO
These system calls are Linux-specific.
SEE ALSOgetfattr(1), setfattr(1), getxattr(2), listxattr(2), open(2), removex‐
attr(2), stat(2), attr(5), symlink(7)COLOPHON
This page is part of release 3.63 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can
be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux 2014-02-06 SETXATTR(2)