CHFLAGS(1)		  BSD General Commands Manual		    CHFLAGS(1)

NAME
     chflags — change file flags

SYNOPSIS
     chflags [-fhv] [-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
	     failures.

     -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 uninten‐
	     tionally 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 nota‐
	     tion.

     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 key‐
     word 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
     always succeeds and has no effect.  The -H, -L and -P options are ignored
     unless the -R option is specified.  In addition, these options override
     each other and the command's actions are determined by the last one spec‐
     ified.

     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.

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

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)
     utility.

BSD				April 20, 2015				   BSD