removexattr(2)                System Calls Manual               removexattr(2)

NAME
       removexattr, lremovexattr, fremovexattr - remove an extended attribute

LIBRARY
       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/xattr.h>

       int removexattr(const char *path, const char *name);
       int lremovexattr(const char *path, const char *name);
       int fremovexattr(int fd, const char *name);

DESCRIPTION
       Extended attributes are name:value pairs associated with inodes (files,
       directories, symbolic links, etc.).  They are extensions to the normal
       attributes which are associated with all inodes in the system (i.e.,
       the stat(2) data).  A complete overview of extended attributes concepts
       can be found in xattr(7).

       removexattr() removes the extended attribute identified by name and
       associated with the given path in the filesystem.

       lremovexattr() is identical to removexattr(), except in the case of a
       symbolic link, where the extended attribute is removed from the link
       itself, not the file that it refers to.

       fremovexattr() is identical to removexattr(), only the extended
       attribute is removed from the open file referred to by fd (as returned
       by open(2)) in place of path.

       An extended attribute name is a null-terminated string.  The name
       includes a namespace prefix; there may be several, disjoint namespaces
       associated with an individual inode.

RETURN VALUE
       On success, zero is returned.  On failure, -1 is returned and errno is
       set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
       ENODATA
              The named attribute does not exist.

       ENOTSUP
              Extended attributes are not supported by the filesystem, or are
              disabled.

       In addition, the errors documented in stat(2) can also occur.

STANDARDS
       Linux.

HISTORY
       Linux 2.4, glibc 2.3.

SEE ALSO
       getfattr(1), setfattr(1), getxattr(2), listxattr(2), open(2),
       setxattr(2), stat(2), symlink(7), xattr(7)

Linux man-pages 6.14              2025-05-06                    removexattr(2)