---
name: "xrdfs"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "xrootd"
version: "6.1.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/xrdfs"
---

# xrdfs(1)

xrootd file and directory meta-data utility

## NAME

xrdfs - xrootd file and directory meta-data utility

## SYNOPSIS

```
xrdfs [--no-cwd] host[:port] [command [args]]
command: help, chmod, ls, locate, mkdir, mv, stat, statvfs, query, rm, rmdir,
           truncate, prepare, cat, tail, spaceinfo
```

## DESCRIPTION

The **xrdfs** utility executes meta-data oriented operations (e.g., ls, mv, rm, etc.) on one or more xrootd servers. Command help is available by invoking **xrdfs** with no command line options or parameters and then typing "help" in response to the input prompt.

## OPTIONS

- **--no-cwd**

  No CWD is being preset in interactive mode.

## COMMANDS

**chmod** *path* *\<user\>\<group\>\<other\>*

Modify permissions of the *path*. Permission string example: *rwxr-x--x*

**ls** *\[-l\]* *\[-u\]* *\[-R\]* *\[-D\]* *\[-Z\]* *\[-C\]* *\[dirname\]*

Get directory listing.\
 *-l* stat every entry and print long listing\
 *-u* print paths as URLs\
 *-R* list subdirectories recursively\
 *-D* show duplicate entries\
 *-Z* check if file is a ZIP archive and if yes list its content\
 *-C* checksum every entry

**locate** *\[-n\]* *\[-r\]* *\[-d\]* *\[-m\]* *\[-i\]* *\[-p\]* *\<path\>*

Get the locations of the path.\
 *-r* refresh, don't use cached locations\
 *-n* make the server return the response immediately even though it may be incomplete\
 *-d* do a recursive, deep locate in order to find data servers\
 *-m* prefer host names to IP addresses\
 *-i* ignore network dependencies (IPv6/IPv4)\
 *-p* be passive: ignore tried/triedrc cgi opaque info

**mkdir** *\[-p\] \[-m\<user\>\<group\>\<other\>\] \<dirname\>*

Creates a directory/tree of directories.\
 *-p* create the entire directory tree recursively\
 *-m***\<user\>\<group\>\<other\>** permissions for newly created directories

**mv** *\<path1\> \<path2\>*

Move path1 to path2 locally on the same server.

**stat** *\<path\>* *\[\<paths\>\]*

Get info about the file(s) or directory(ies).\
 *-q* **\<flags\>** Makes xrdfs return error code 55 to the shell if the requested flag combination is not present; flags may be combined together using '\|' or '&'\
 Available flags: **XBitSet**, **IsDir**, **Other**, **Offline**, **POSCPending**, **IsReadable**, **IsWriteable**, **BackUpExists**

**statvfs** *\<path\>*

Get info about a virtual file system.

**query** *\<code\> \<params\>*

Obtain server information. Query codes:\
 *config*         **\<what\>**   Server configuration; \<what\> is one of the following:

bind\_max      - the maximum number of parallel streams\
 chksum        - the supported checksum\
 pio\_max       - maximum number of parallel I/O requests\
 readv\_ior\_max - maximum size of a readv element\
 readv\_iov\_max - maximum number of readv entries\
 tpc           - support for third party copies\
 wan\_port      - the port to use for wan copies\
 wan\_window    - the wan\_port window size\
 window        - the tcp window size\
 cms           - the status of the cmsd\
 role          - the role in a cluster\
 sitename      - the site name\
 version       - the version of the server\

*checksumcancel* **\<path\>**   File checksum cancellation\
 *checksum*       **\<path\>**   File checksum\
 *opaque*         **\<arg\>**    Implementation dependent\
 *opaquefile*     **\<arg\>**    Implementation dependent\
 *space*          **\<space\>**  Logical space stats\
 *stats*          **\<what\>**   Server stats; \<what\> is a list of letters indicating information to be returned:

a - all statistics\
 p - protocol statistics\
 b - buffer usage statistics\
 s - scheduling statistics\
 d - device polling statistics\
 u - usage statistics\
 i - server identification\
 z - synchronized statistics\
 l - connection statistics\

*xattr*          **\<path\>**   Extended attributes\
 *prepare*        **\<reqid\> \[filenames\]**  Prepare request status

**rm** *\<filename\>* *\[\<filenames\>\]*

Remove a file.

**rmdir** *\<dirname\>*

Remove a directory.

**truncate** *\<filename\> \<length\>*

Truncate a file.

**prepare** *\[-c\]* *\[-f\]* *\[-s\]* *\[-w\]* *\[-e\]* *\[-p priority\]* *\[-a requestid\]* *filenames*

Prepare one or more files for access.\
 *-c* co-locate staged files if possible\
 *-f* refresh file access time even if the location is known\
 *-s* stage the files to disk if they are not online\
 *-w* when files will be accessed for modification\
 *-p* priority of the request, 0 (lowest) - 3 (highest)\
 *-a* abort the request\
 *-e* evict the file from disk cache

**cat** *\[-o localfile\]* *files*

Print contents of one or mote files to stdout\
 *-o* print to the specified local file

**tail** *\[-c bytes\] \[-f\]* *file*

Output last part of files to stdout.\
 *-c* num\_bytes out last num\_bytes\
 *-f*           output appended data as file grows

**spaceinfo** *path*

Get space statistics for given path.

**xattr** *\<path\> \<code\> \<params\>*

Operation on extended attributes. Codes:\
 *set*         **\<attr\>**   Set extended attribute; \
                      \<attr\> is string of form name=value\
 *get*         **\<name\>**   Get extended attribute.\
 *del*         **\<name\>**   Delete extended attribute.\
 *list*                 List extended attributes.

## RETURN CODES

**50**  : generic error (e.g. config, internal, data, OS)

**51**  : socket related error

**52**  : postmaster related error

**53**  : XRootD related error

**54**  : redirection error

**55**  : query response was negative (this is not an error)

## NOTES

For the list of available environment variables please refere to [xrdcopy(1)](/xrdcopy/1.md)

## DIAGNOSTICS

Errors yield an error message and a non-zero exit status.

## LICENSE

LGPL

## SUPPORT LEVEL

The **xrdfs** command is supported by the XRootD Collaboration. Contact information can be found at

https://xrootd.org/contact.html