Extended attributes are an extensible way to store metadata in files. These are name-value pairs associated with files and directories. Several filesystems support extended file attributes that enable further customization of allowable file operations.
Using extended file attributes to protect sensitive files
Getting ready
At present, in Linux there are four different namespaces for extended file attributes:
- user
- trusted
- security
- system
Many tools are available for manipulating extended attributes, and these are normally included in the attr package, which comes with most Linux distributions.
If attr is not installed in your system, simply execute the following command to install it:
sudo apt-get install attr
To check if...
