---
name: "fgetxattr"
section: "2"
platform: "macos"
package: "xnu"
version: "12377.121.6"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/getxattr"
---

# fgetxattr(2)

get an extended attribute value

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

## NAME

**getxattr,** **fgetxattr** – get an extended attribute value

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<sys/xattr.h\>**

*ssize\_t*\

**getxattr**(*const char \*path*, *const char \*name*, *void \*value*, *size\_t size*, *u\_int32\_t position*, *int options*);

*ssize\_t*\

**fgetxattr**(*int fd*, *const char \*name*, *void \*value*, *size\_t size*, *u\_int32\_t position*, *int options*);

## DESCRIPTION

Extended attributes extend the basic attributes of files and directories in the file system.  They are stored as name:data pairs associated with file system objects (files, directories, symlinks, etc).

The **getxattr**() function retrieves up to *size* bytes of data from the extended attribute identified by *name* associated with *path* into the pre-allocated buffer pointed to by *value*. The function returns the number of bytes of data retrieved.

An extended attribute's *name* is a simple NULL-terminated UTF-8 string. *position* specifies an offset within the extended attribute.  In the current implementation, this argument is only used with the resource fork attribute. For all other extended attributes, this parameter is reserved and should be zero.

On success, *value* contains the data associated with *name*. When *value* is set to NULL, **getxattr**() returns current size of the named attribute.  This facility can be used to determine the size of a buffer sufficiently large to hold the data currently associated with the attribute.

*options* specify options for retrieving extended attributes:

- XATTR\_NOFOLLOW

  do not follow symbolic links. **getxattr**() normally returns information from the target of *path* if it is a symbolic link.  With this option, **getxattr**() will return extended attribute data from the symbolic link instead.

- XATTR\_NOFOLLOW\_ANY

  do not follow any symbolic links encountered during pathname resolution. An error is returned if a symlink is encountered before the last component of path.

- XATTR\_RESOLVE\_BENEATH

  If *path* does not reside in the hierarchy beneath the starting directory, an error is returned.

- XATTR\_SHOWCOMPRESSION

  **getxattr**() and  **fgetxattr**() will return HFS Plus Compression extended attribute *name* (if present) for the file referred to by *path* or *fd*.

**fgetxattr**() is identical to **getxattr**(), except that it retrieves extended attribute data from the open file referenced by the file descriptor *fd*.

## RETURN VALUES

On success, the size of the extended attribute data is returned.  On failure, -1 is returned and the global variable *errno* is set as follows.

## ERRORS

- \[ENOATTR\]

  The extended attribute does not exist.

- \[ENOTSUP\]

  The file system does not support extended attributes or has the feature disabled.

- \[ERANGE\]

  *value* (as indicated by *size*) is too small to hold the extended attribute data.

- \[EPERM\]

  The named attribute is not permitted for this type of object.

- \[EINVAL\]

  *name* is invalid or *options* has an unsupported bit set.

- \[EINVAL\]

  XATTR\_NOFOLLOW, XATTR\_NOFOLLOW\_ANY or XATTR\_RESOLVE\_BENEATH option was passed in **fgetxattr**().

- \[EISDIR\]

  *path* or *fd* do not refer to a regular file and the attribute in question is only applicable to files.  Similar to EPERM.

- \[ENOTDIR\]

  A component of *path*, *'s* prefix is not a directory.

- \[ENAMETOOLONG\]

  The length of *name* exceeds XATTR\_MAXNAMELEN UTF-8 bytes, or a component of *path* exceeds NAME\_MAX characters, or the entire *path* exceeds PATH\_MAX characters.

- \[EACCES\]

  Search permission is denied for a component of *path* or the attribute is not allowed to be read (e.g. an ACL prohibits reading the attributes of this file).

- \[ELOOP\]

  Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.

- \[ELOOP\]

  If XATTR\_NOFOLLOW\_ANY option was passed and a symbolic link was encountered in translating the pathname.

- \[ENOTCAPABLE\]

  If XATTR\_RESOLVE\_BENEATH was passed and *path* does not reside in the directory hierarchy beneath the starting directory.

- \[EFAULT\]

  *path* or *name* points to an invalid address.

- \[EIO\]

  An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.

## SEE ALSO

[listxattr(2)](/listxattr/2.md), [removexattr(2)](/removexattr/2.md), [setxattr(2)](/setxattr/2.md)

## HISTORY

**getxattr**() and **fgetxattr**() first appeared in Mac OS X 10.4.