4mMTREE24m(5) File Formats Manual 4mMTREE24m(5) 1mNAME0m mtree — format of mtree dir hierarchy files 1mDESCRIPTION0m The 1mmtree 22mformat is a textual format that describes a collection of filesystem objects. Such files are typically used to create or verify directory hierarchies. 1mGeneral Format0m An 1mmtree 22mfile consists of a series of lines, each providing information about a single filesystem object. Leading whitespace is always ig‐ nored. When encoding file or pathnames, any backslash character or character outside of the 95 printable ASCII characters must be encoded as a back‐ slash followed by three octal digits. When reading mtree files, any appearance of a backslash followed by three octal digits should be con‐ verted into the corresponding character. Each line is interpreted independently as one of the following types: Blank Blank lines are ignored. Comment Lines beginning with 1m# 22mare ignored. Special Lines beginning with 1m/ 22mare special commands that influence the interpretation of later lines. Relative If the first whitespace-delimited word has no 1m/ 22mcharacters, it is the name of a file in the current directory. Any relative entry that describes a directory changes the cur‐ rent directory. dot-dot As a special case, a relative entry with the filename 4m..0m changes the current directory to the parent directory. Op‐ tions on dot-dot entries are always ignored. Full If the first whitespace-delimited word has a 1m/ 22mcharacter after the first character, it is the pathname of a file relative to the starting directory. There can be multiple full entries describing the same file. Some tools that process 1mmtree 22mfiles may require that multiple lines de‐ scribing the same file occur consecutively. It is not permitted for the same file to be mentioned using both a relative and a full file specification. 1mSpecial commands0m Two special commands are currently defined: 1m/set 22mThis command defines default values for one or more key‐ words. It is followed on the same line by one or more whitespace-separated keyword definitions. These defini‐ tions apply to all following files that do not specify a value for that keyword. 1m/unset 22mThis command removes any default value set by a previous 1m/set 22mcommand. It is followed on the same line by one or more keywords separated by whitespace. 1mKeywords0m After the filename, a full or relative entry consists of zero or more whitespace-separated keyword definitions. Each such definition con‐ sists of a key from the following list immediately followed by an '=' sign and a value. Software programs reading mtree files should warn about unrecognized keywords. Currently supported keywords are as follows: 1mcksum 22mThe checksum of the file using the default algorithm speci‐ fied by the 4mcksum24m(1) utility. 1mdevice 22mThe device number for 1mblock 22mor 1mchar 22mfile types. The value must be one of the following forms: 4mformat24m,4mmajor24m,4mminor24m[,4msubunit24m] A device with 4mmajor24m, 4mminor24m and optional 4msubunit0m fields. Their meaning is specified by the operat‐ ing's system 4mformat24m. See below for valid formats. 4mnumber0m Opaque number (as stored on the file system). The following values for 4mformat24m are recognized: 1mnative22m, 1m386bsd22m, 1m4bsd22m, 1mbsdos22m, 1mfreebsd22m, 1mhpux22m, 1misc22m, 1mlinux22m, 1mnetbsd22m, 1mosf122m, 1msco22m, 1msolaris22m, 1msunos22m, 1msvr322m, 1msvr422m, and 1multrix22m. See 4mmknod24m(8) for more details. 1mcontents 22mThe full pathname of a file that holds the contents of this file. 1mflags 22mThe file flags as a symbolic name. See 4mchflags24m(1) for in‐ formation on these names. If no flags are to be set the string “none” may be used to override the current default. 1mgid 22mThe file group as a numeric value. 1mgname 22mThe file group as a symbolic name. 1mignore 22mIgnore any file hierarchy below this file. 1minode 22mThe inode number. 1mlink 22mThe target of the symbolic link when type=link. 1mmd5 22mThe MD5 message digest of the file. 1mmd5digest 22mA synonym for 1mmd522m. 1mmode 22mThe current file's permissions as a numeric (octal) or sym‐ bolic value. 1mnlink 22mThe number of hard links the file is expected to have. 1mnochange 22mMake sure this file or directory exists but otherwise ig‐ nore all attributes. 1moptional 22mThe file is optional; do not complain about the file if it is not in the file hierarchy. 1mresdevice 22mThe “resident” device number of the file, e.g. the ID of the device that contains the file. Its format is the same as the one for 1mdevice22m. 1mripemd160digest0m The RIPEMD160 message digest of the file. 1mrmd160 22mA synonym for 1mripemd160digest22m. 1mrmd160digest0m A synonym for 1mripemd160digest22m. 1msha1 22mThe FIPS 160-1 (“SHA-1”) message digest of the file. 1msha1digest 22mA synonym for 1msha122m. 1msha256 22mThe FIPS 180-2 (“SHA-256”) message digest of the file. 1msha256digest0m A synonym for 1msha25622m. 1msha384 22mThe FIPS 180-2 (“SHA-384”) message digest of the file. 1msha384digest0m A synonym for 1msha38422m. 1msha512 22mThe FIPS 180-2 (“SHA-512”) message digest of the file. 1msha512digest0m A synonym for 1msha51222m. 1msize 22mThe size, in bytes, of the file. 1mtime 22mThe last modification time of the file. 1mtype 22mThe type of the file; may be set to any one of the follow‐ ing: 1mblock 22mblock special device 1mchar 22mcharacter special device 1mdir 22mdirectory 1mfifo 22mfifo 1mfile 22mregular file 1mlink 22msymbolic link 1msocket 22msocket 1muid 22mThe file owner as a numeric value. 1muname 22mThe file owner as a symbolic name. 1mSEE ALSO0m 4mcksum24m(1), 4mfind24m(1), 4mmtree24m(8) 1mHISTORY0m The 1mmtree 22mutility appeared in 4.3BSD-Reno. The MD5 digest capability was added in FreeBSD 2.1, in response to the widespread use of programs which can spoof 4mcksum24m(1). The SHA-1 and RIPEMD160 digests were added in FreeBSD 4.0, as new attacks have demonstrated weaknesses in MD5. The SHA-256 digest was added in FreeBSD 6.0. Support for file flags was added in FreeBSD 4.0, and mostly comes from NetBSD. The “full” en‐ try format was added by NetBSD. Debian September 4, 2013 4mMTREE24m(5)