mfscreatepattern(1)

Usage

mfscreatepattern [-?] [-M MOUNTPOINT] -n pattern [-u uid] [-g gid] [-p priority] [-c storage_class] [-t trash_retention] [-f eattr]

mfsdeletepattern [-?] [-M MOUNTPOINT] -n pattern [-u uid] [-g gid]

mfslistpattern [-?] [-M MOUNTPOINT]

Overview

This is a set of tools for managing patterns, which are used to override storage classes, trash retention and/or extra attributes whenever a new file is created or an existing file is renamed.

mfscreatepattern adds new pattern definition, described below.

mfsdeletepattern removes specific pattern definition

mfslistpattern lists all the pattern definitions

Options

-n defines pattern that will be matched against file names. This is simple GLOB format (see below). This option must be defined for add and delete commands

-u defines user id that has to be equal to effective user id of the user that creates or renames a file. If not specified, user id will not be checked on match.

-g defines group id that has to be equal to one of the group ids of the user that creates or renames a file. If not specified, group id will not be checked on match.

-p priority of match. When there are more patterns that match a file name, patterns with higher priority take precedence. Priority can be defined as a value between 0 (lowest) and 255 (highest). If not specified, default value of 128 is used. If two or more patterns with the same priority match a file name (with highest possible priority for that file), only one (unspecified) of them will be used.

-c name of storage class that will be set on match

-t value of trash retention that will be set on match; minimum unit is hours, for value formatting see TIME

-f names of flags, separated by commas, that will be set on match. Each flag must be preceded with either '+' or '-' sign, meaning that this flag should be set on or off, respectively. For description of flags refer to mfseattr(1).

-M MooseFS mount point, doesn't need to be specified if a tool is run inside MooseFS mounted directory or MooseFS is mounted in /mnt/mfs/

-? displays short usage message

At least one of the -c, -t, -f options must be defined for add command.

Notes

Time

For variables that define time without requiring a single, specific unit, time can be defined as a number of seconds or hours (integer), depending on minimum unit for the variable, or as a time period in one of two possible formats:

first format: #.#T where T is one of: s-seconds, m-minutes, h-hours, d-days or w-weeks; fractions of minimum unit will be rounded

second format: #w#d#h#m#s, any number of definitions can be omitted, but the remaining definitions must be in order (so #d#m is still a valid definition, but #m#d is not); ranges: s,m: 0 to 59, h: 0 to 23, d: 0 t o 6, w is unlimited and the first definition is also always unlimited (i.e. for #d#h#m d will be unlimited)

If a minimum unit of a variable is larger than seconds, units below the minimum one will not be accepted. For example, a variable that has hours as a minimum unit will not accept s and m units.

Examples:

1.5d is the same as 1d12h, is the same as 36h

2.5w is the same as 2w3d12h, is the same as 420h; 2w84h is not a valid time period (h is not the first definition, so it is bound by range 0 to 23)

Pattern definition

Pattern is a string with optional wildcards (similar to UNIX glob). Recognized wildcards:

* - matches any number of any characters including none

? - matches any single character

[abc] - matches one character given in the bracket

[FROM-TO] - matches one character from the range given in the bracket

[!abc] - matches one character that is not given in the bracket

[!FROM-TO] - matches one character that is not from the range given in the bracket

Examples of patterns:

exactname - matches file with name 'exactname' only

*.txt - matches any 'text' file (formally file with name suffix '.txt').

myproject* - matches any file with name prefix 'myproject'.

letter[0-9] - matches files with names 'letter0', 'letter1', 'letter2', ... 'letter9'.

[CB]at - matches files with names 'Cat' and 'Bat'.

[!0-9]* - matches files with names that don't start with a digit

History

Arch Linux 2026-11-01: the text shown here
Debian 13 (Trixie)