.\"	$OpenBSD: chflags.1,v 1.5 2004/09/28 22:11:40 jmc Exp $
.\"	$NetBSD: chflags.1,v 1.4 1995/08/31 22:50:22 jtc Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\"    without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
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.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
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.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"	@(#)chflags.1	8.4 (Berkeley) 5/2/95
.\"
.Dd May 2, 1995
.Dt CHFLAGS 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm chflags
.Nd change file flags
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm chflags
.Oo
.Fl R
.Op Fl H | L | P
.Oc
.Ar flags
.Ar file Op Ar ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility modifies the file flags of the listed files
as specified by the
.Ar flags
operand.
The
.Ar flags
of a file dictate special restrictions beyond those enforced by its
mode/permissions.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl R
Recursively descend through any specified directory arguments.
Change the flags of the file hierarchies rooted
in the files instead of just the files themselves.
.It Fl H
If the
.Fl R
option is also specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
.It Fl L
If the
.Fl R
option is also specified, all symbolic links are followed.
.It Fl P
If the
.Fl R
option is also specified, no symbolic links are followed.
.El
.Pp
Flags are a comma separated list of keywords.
The following keywords are currently defined:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
arch	set the archived flag
opaque	set the opaque flag (owner or superuser only)
nodump	set the nodump flag (owner or superuser only)
sappnd	set the system append-only flag (superuser only)
schg	set the system immutable flag (superuser only)
uappnd	set the user append-only flag (owner or superuser only)
uchg	set the user immutable flag (owner or superuser only)
.Ed
.Pp
An immutable file may not be changed, moved, or deleted.
An append-only file is immutable except that data may be appended to it.
.Pp
Putting the letters
.Dq no
before a flag name causes the flag to be turned off.
For example:
.Pp
.Dl nouchg	the immutable bit should be cleared
.Pp
The
superuser-settable
.Dq sappnd
and
.Dq schg
flags can be set at any time, but may only be cleared when the system is
running at security level 0 or \-1
(insecure or permanently insecure mode, respectively).
For more information on setting the system security level,
see
.Xr securelevel 7 .
.Pp
Symbolic links do not have flags, so unless the
.Fl H
or
.Fl L
option is set,
.Nm
on a symbolic link always succeeds and has no effect.
The
.Fl H ,
.Fl L ,
and
.Fl P
options are ignored unless the
.Fl R
option is specified.
In addition, these options override each other and the
command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
.Pp
Only the superuser can change the user flags on block and
character devices.
.Pp
You can use
.Ic ls -lo
to see the flags of existing files.
.Pp
The
.Nm
utility exits 0 on success or >0 if an error occurred.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr ls 1 ,
.Xr chflags 2 ,
.Xr stat 2 ,
.Xr fts 3 ,
.Xr securelevel 7 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
command first appeared in
.Bx 4.4 .