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CHFLAGS(1)		     General Commands Manual		      CHFLAGS(1)

NAME
     chflags -- change file flags

SYNOPSIS
     chflags [-fhvx] [-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:

     -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 and hence unaffected by the command.	(Symbolic  links
	     encountered during 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 of the file hierarchies rooted in the files,
	     instead of just the files themselves.   Beware  of  unintentionally
	     matching  the  ".."  hard	link  to the parent directory when using
	     wildcards like ".*".

     -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.

     -x      Do not cross mount points.

     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)

	   nodump  set the nodump flag (owner or super-user only)

	   opaque  set the opaque 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)

	   snapshot
		   set the snapshot flag (filesystems do not allow changing this
		   flag)

	   sunlnk, sunlink
		   set the system undeletable flag (super-user only)

	   uappnd, uappend
		   set the user append-only flag (owner or super-user only)

	   uarch, uarchive
		   set the archive flag (owner or super-user only)

	   uchg, uchange, uimmutable
		   set the user immutable flag (owner or super-user only)

	   uhidden, hidden
		   set the hidden file attribute (owner or super-user only)

	   uoffline, offline
		   set the offline file attribute (owner or super-user only)

	   urdonly, rdonly, readonly
		   set	the DOS, Windows and CIFS readonly flag (owner or super-
		   user only)

	   usparse, sparse
		   set the sparse file attribute (owner or super-user only)

	   usystem, system
		   set the DOS, Windows and CIFS system flag  (owner  or  super-
		   user only)

	   ureparse, reparse
		   set the Windows reparse point file attribute (owner or super-
		   user only)

	   uunlnk, uunlink
		   set the user undeletable flag (owner or super-user only)

     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)

     A few of the octal values include:

	   0   Clear all file flags.

	   1   Translates to the nodump keyword.

	   2   Translates to the uchg keyword.

	   3   Translates to the uchg, nodump keywords.

	   4   Translates to the uappnd keyword.

	   10  Translates to the opaque keyword.

	   20  translates to the uunlnk keyword.

     Other  combinations of keywords may be placed by using the octets assigned;
     however, these are the most notable.

     Unless the -H, -L, or -h options are given, chflags on a symbolic link  al-
     ways succeeds and has no effect.  The -H, -L and -P options are ignored un-
     less  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.

     Note that the ability to change certain flags is dependent on  the  current
     kernel  securelevel  setting.  See security(7) for more information on this
     setting.

     If chflags receives a SIGINFO signal (see the status argument for stty(1)),
     then the current filename as well as the old and new flags are displayed.

EXIT STATUS
     The chflags utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES
     Recursively clear all flags on files and directories contained  within  the
     foobar directory hierarchy:
	   chflags -R 0 foobar

SEE ALSO
     ls(1), chflags(2), stat(2), fts(3), security(7), 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) util-
     ity.

FreeBSD ports 15.1		  June 12, 2018 		      CHFLAGS(1)

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