BTRFS-PROPERTY(8) BTRFS BTRFS-PROPERTY(8)
NAME
btrfs-property - get/set/list properties for given filesystem object
SYNOPSIS
btrfs property <subcommand> <args>
DESCRIPTION
btrfs property is used to get/set/list property for given filesystem ob-
ject. The object can be an inode (file or directory), subvolume or the
whole filesystem.
btrfs property provides an unified and user-friendly method to tune dif-
ferent btrfs properties instead of using the traditional method like ]8;;https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/chattr.1.html\-
chattr(1)]8;;\ or ]8;;https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/lsattr.1.html\lsattr(1)]8;;\.
Object types
A property might apply to several object types so in some cases it's
necessary to specify that explicitly, however it's not needed in the
most common case of files and directories.
The subcommands take parameter -t, use first letter as a shortcut
(f/s/d/i) of the type:
• filesystem
• subvolume
• device
• inode (file or directory)
Inode properties
compression
compression algorithm set for an inode (it's not possible to set
the compression level this way), possible values:
• lzo
• zlib
• zstd
• no or none - disable compression (equivalent to chattr +m)
• "" (empty string) - set the default value
NOTE:
This has changed in version 5.18 of btrfs-progs and re-
quires kernel 5.14 or newer to work.
Subvolume properties
ro read-only flag of subvolume: true or false. Please also see sec-
tion SUBVOLUME FLAGS in btrfs-subvolume(8) for possible implica-
tions regarding incremental send.
Filesystem properties
label label of the filesystem. For an unmounted filesystem, provide a
path to a block device as object. For a mounted filesystem, spec-
ify a mount point.
SUBCOMMAND
get [-t <type>] <object> [<name>]
Read value of a property name of btrfs object of given type,
empty name will read all of them
list [-t <type>] <object>
List available properties with their descriptions for the given
object.
set [-f] [-t <type>] <object> <name> <value>
Set value of property name on a given btrfs object.
Options
-f Force the change. Changing some properties may involve
safety checks or additional changes that depend on the
properties semantics.
EXAMPLES
Set compression on a file:
$ touch file1
$ btrfs prop get file1
[ empty output ]
$ btrfs prop set file1 compression zstd
$ btrfs prop get file1
compression=zstd
Make a writeable subvolume read-only:
$ btrfs subvol create subvol1
[ fill subvol1 with data ]
$ btrfs prop get subvol1
ro=false
$ btrfs prop set subvol1 ro true
ro=true
EXIT STATUS
btrfs property returns a zero exit status if it succeeds. Non zero is
returned in case of failure.
AVAILABILITY
btrfs is part of btrfs-progs. Please refer to the documentation at ]8;;https://btrfs.readthedocs.io\-
https://btrfs.readthedocs.io]8;;\.
SEE ALSO
mkfs.btrfs(8), ]8;;https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/lsattr.1.html\lsattr(1)]8;;\, ]8;;https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/chattr.1.html\chattr(1)]8;;\
6.14 Apr 17, 2025 BTRFS-PROPERTY(8)
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