bin/chflags/chflags.1

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.Dd September 12, 2026
.Dt CHFLAGS 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm chflags
.Nd change file flags
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl fhvx
.Op Fl -dereference-links-unsafely
.Oo
.Fl R
.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
.Oc
.Ar flags
.Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility modifies the file flags of the listed files
as specified by the
.Ar flags
operand.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Fl f
Do not display a diagnostic message if
.Nm
could not modify the flags for
.Va file ,
nor modify the exit status to reflect such failures.
.It Fl H
If the
.Fl 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.)
.It Fl h
If the
.Ar file
is a symbolic link,
change the file flags of the link itself
rather than the file to which it points.
.It Fl L
If the
.Fl R
option is specified, symbolic links are followed.
A symbolic link encountered during the traversal that points outside
the file hierarchy being traversed is not followed unless the
.Fl -dereference-links-unsafely
option is also given;
see the description of that option below.
A symbolic link named directly on the command line is followed unless
.Fl h
is specified.
.It Fl P
If the
.Fl R
option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
This is the default.
.It Fl R
Change the file flags of the file hierarchies rooted in the files,
instead of just the files themselves.
Beware of unintentionally matching the
.Dq Pa ".."
hard link to the parent directory when using wildcards like
.Dq Li ".*" .
.It Fl v
Cause
.Nm
to be verbose, showing filenames as the flags are modified.
If the
.Fl v
option is specified more than once, the old and new flags of the file
will also be printed, in octal notation.
.It Fl x
Do not cross mount points.
.It Fl -dereference-links-unsafely
By default,
.Nm
runs its traversal inside a
.Xr capsicum 4
sandbox, which prevents it from following a symbolic link whose
target lies outside the file hierarchy named on the command line.
This option disables the sandbox so that such symbolic links are
followed, restoring historical behavior.
It is only meaningful together with
.Fl L
or the default logical behavior, and should be used with caution,
as it allows a crafted symbolic link to redirect
.Nm
at files outside the intended hierarchy.
.El
.Pp
The flags are specified as an octal number or a comma separated list
of keywords.
The following keywords are currently defined:
.Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Cm opaque"
.It Cm arch , archived
set the archived flag (super-user only)
.It Cm nocache, noucache
set the nocache flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm nodump
set the nodump flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm opaque
set the opaque flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm sappnd , sappend
set the system append-only flag (super-user only)
.It Cm schg , schange , simmutable
set the system immutable flag (super-user only)
.It Cm snapshot
set the snapshot flag (filesystems do not allow changing this flag)
.It Cm sunlnk , sunlink
set the system undeletable flag (super-user only)
.It Cm uappnd , uappend
set the user append-only flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm uarch , uarchive
set the archive flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm uchg , uchange , uimmutable
set the user immutable flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm uhidden , hidden
set the hidden file attribute (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm uoffline , offline
set the offline file attribute (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm urdonly , rdonly , readonly
set the DOS, Windows and CIFS readonly flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm usparse , sparse
set the sparse file attribute (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm usystem , system
set the DOS, Windows and CIFS system flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm ureparse , reparse
set the Windows reparse point file attribute (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm uunlnk , uunlink
set the user undeletable flag (owner or super-user only)
.El
.Pp
Putting the letters
.Dq Ar no
before or removing the letters
.Dq Ar no
from a keyword causes the flag to be cleared.
For example:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -offset indent -width "nouchg" -compact
.It Cm nouchg
clear the user immutable flag (owner or super-user only)
.It Cm dump
clear the nodump flag (owner or super-user only)
.El
.Pp
A few of the octal values include:
.Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Li 10"
.It Li 0
Clear all file flags.
.It Li 1
Translates to the
.Cm nodump
keyword.
.It Li 2
Translates to the
.Cm uchg
keyword.
.It Li 3
Translates to the
.Cm uchg , nodump
keywords.
.It Li 4
Translates to the
.Cm uappnd
keyword.
.It Li 10
Translates to the
.Cm opaque
keyword.
.It Li 20
translates to the
.Cm uunlnk
keyword.
.El
.Pp
Other combinations of keywords may be placed by using
the octets assigned; however, these are the most notable.
.Pp
Unless the
.Fl H ,
.Fl L ,
or
.Fl h
options are given,
.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
You can use "ls -lo" to see the flags of existing files.
.Pp
Note that the ability to change certain flags is dependent
on the current kernel
.Va securelevel
setting.
See
.Xr security 7
for more information on this setting.
.Pp
If
.Nm
receives a
.Dv SIGINFO
signal (see the
.Cm status
argument for
.Xr stty 1 ) ,
then the current filename as well as the old and new flags are displayed.
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std
.Sh EXAMPLES
Recursively clear all flags on files and directories contained within the
.Fa foobar
directory hierarchy:
.Dl Nm Fl R Ar 0 Ar foobar
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr ls 1 ,
.Xr chflags 2 ,
.Xr stat 2 ,
.Xr fts 3 ,
.Xr security 7 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
command first appeared in
.Bx 4.4 .
.Sh BUGS
Only a limited number of utilities are
.Nm
aware.
Some of these tools include
.Xr ls 1 ,
.Xr cp 1 ,
.Xr find 1 ,
.Xr install 1 ,
.Xr dump 8 ,
and
.Xr restore 8 .
In particular a tool which is not currently
.Nm
aware is the
.Xr pax 1
utility.