---
name: "fgetxattr"
section: "2"
platform: "linux"
package: "man-pages"
version: "6.19-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/getxattr"
---

# fgetxattr(2)

retrieve an extended attribute value

Part of [getxattr(2)](/getxattr/2.md).

## NAME

getxattr, lgetxattr, fgetxattr - retrieve an extended attribute value

## LIBRARY

Standard C library (*libc*, *-lc*)

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <sys/xattr.h>
```

**ssize\_t getxattr(**size\_t size;                  **const char \****path***, const char \****name***,**                  **void** *value***\[***size***\], size\_t** *size***);** **ssize\_t lgetxattr(**size\_t size;                  **const char \****path***, const char \****name***,**                  **void** *value***\[***size***\], size\_t** *size***);** **ssize\_t fgetxattr(**size\_t size;                  **int** *fd***, const char \****name***,**                  **void** *value***\[***size***\], size\_t** *size***);**

## 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)](/stat/2.md) data). A complete overview of extended attributes concepts can be found in [**xattr**(7)](/xattr/7.md).

**getxattr**() retrieves the value of the extended attribute identified by *name* and associated with the given *path* in the filesystem. The attribute value is placed in the buffer pointed to by *value*; *size* specifies the size of that buffer. The return value of the call is the number of bytes placed in *value*.

**lgetxattr**() is identical to **getxattr**(), except in the case of a symbolic link, where the link itself is interrogated, not the file that it refers to.

**fgetxattr**() is identical to **getxattr**(), only the open file referred to by *fd* (as returned by [**open**(2)](/open/2.md)) is interrogated in place of *path*.

An extended attribute *name* is a null-terminated string. The name includes a namespace prefix; there may be several, disjoint namespaces associated with an individual inode. The value of an extended attribute is a chunk of arbitrary textual or binary data that was assigned using [**setxattr**(2)](/setxattr/2.md).

If *size* is specified as zero, these calls return the current size of the named extended attribute (and leave *value* unchanged). This can be used to determine the size of the buffer that should be supplied in a subsequent call. (But, bear in mind that there is a possibility that the attribute value may change between the two calls, so that it is still necessary to check the return status from the second call.)

## RETURN VALUE

On success, these calls return a nonnegative value which is the size (in bytes) of the extended attribute value. On failure, -1 is returned and *errno* is set to indicate the error.

## ERRORS

- **E2BIG**

  The size of the attribute value is larger than the maximum size allowed; the attribute cannot be retrieved. This can happen on filesystems that support very large attribute values such as NFSv4, for example.

- **ENODATA**

  The named attribute does not exist, or the process has no access to this attribute.

- **ENOTSUP**

  Extended attributes are not supported by the filesystem, or are disabled.

- **ERANGE**

  The *size* of the *value* buffer is too small to hold the result.

In addition, the errors documented in [**stat**(2)](/stat/2.md) can also occur.

## STANDARDS

Linux.

## HISTORY

Linux 2.4, glibc 2.3.

## EXAMPLES

See [**listxattr**(2)](/listxattr/2.md).

## SEE ALSO

[**getfattr**(1)](/getfattr/1.md), [**setfattr**(1)](/setfattr/1.md), [**listxattr**(2)](/listxattr/2.md), [**open**(2)](/open/2.md), [**removexattr**(2)](/removexattr/2.md), [**setxattr**(2)](/setxattr/2.md), [**stat**(2)](/stat/2.md), [**symlink**(7)](/symlink/7.md), [**xattr**(7)](/xattr/7.md)