MTREE(5) manual page 
== NAME == 
'''mtree''' 
- format of mtree dir hierarchy files 
== DESCRIPTION == 
The 
'''mtree''' 
format is a textual format that describes a collection of filesystem objects. 
Such files are typically used to create or verify directory hierarchies. 
=== General Format=== 
An 
'''mtree''' 
file consists of a series of lines, each providing information 
about a single filesystem object. 
Leading whitespace is always ignored. 

When encoding file or pathnames, any backslash character or 
character outside of the 95 printable ASCII characters must be 
encoded as a a backslash followed by three 
octal digits. 
When reading mtree files, any appearance of a backslash 
followed by three octal digits should be converted into the 
corresponding character. 

Each line is interpreted independently as one of the following types: 
<dl> 
<dt>Signature</dt><dd> 
The first line of any mtree file must begin with 
"#mtree". 
If a file contains any full path entries, the first line should 
begin with 
"#mtree v2.0", 
otherwise, the first line should begin with 
"#mtree v1.0". 
</dd><dt>Blank</dt><dd> 
Blank lines are ignored. 
</dd><dt>Comment</dt><dd> 
Lines beginning with 
'''#''' 
are ignored. 
</dd><dt>Special</dt><dd> 
Lines beginning with 
'''/''' 
are special commands that influence 
the interpretation of later lines. 
</dd><dt>Relative</dt><dd> 
If the first whitespace-delimited word has no 
'''/''' 
characters, 
it is the name of a file in the current directory. 
Any relative entry that describes a directory changes the 
current directory. 
</dd><dt>dot-dot</dt><dd> 
As a special case, a relative entry with the filename 
''..'' 
changes the current directory to the parent directory. 
Options on dot-dot entries are always ignored. 
</dd><dt>Full</dt><dd> 
If the first whitespace-delimited word has a 
'''/''' 
character 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. 
</dd></dl> 

Some tools that process 
'''mtree''' 
files may require that multiple lines describing 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. 
=== Special commands=== 
Two special commands are currently defined: 
<dl> 
<dt>'''/set'''</dt><dd> 
This command defines default values for one or more keywords. 
It is followed on the same line by one or more whitespace-separated 
keyword definitions. 
These definitions apply to all following files that do not specify 
a value for that keyword. 
</dd><dt>'''/unset'''</dt><dd> 
This command removes any default value set by a previous 
'''/set''' 
command. 
It is followed on the same line by one or more keywords 
separated by whitespace. 
</dd></dl> 
=== Keywords=== 
After the filename, a full or relative entry consists of zero 
or more whitespace-separated keyword definitions. 
Each such definition consists 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: 
<dl> 
<dt>'''cksum'''</dt><dd> 
The checksum of the file using the default algorithm specified by 
the 
'''cksum'''(1) 
utility. 
</dd><dt>'''contents'''</dt><dd> 
The full pathname of a file that holds the contents of this file. 
</dd><dt>'''flags'''</dt><dd> 
The file flags as a symbolic name. 
See 
'''chflags'''(1) 
for information on these names. 
If no flags are to be set the string 
"none" 
may be used to override the current default. 
</dd><dt>'''gid'''</dt><dd> 
The file group as a numeric value. 
</dd><dt>'''gname'''</dt><dd> 
The file group as a symbolic name. 
</dd><dt>'''ignore'''</dt><dd> 
Ignore any file hierarchy below this file. 
</dd><dt>'''link'''</dt><dd> 
The target of the symbolic link when type=link. 
</dd><dt>'''md5'''</dt><dd> 
The MD5 message digest of the file. 
</dd><dt>'''md5digest'''</dt><dd> 
A synonym for 
'''md5'''. 
</dd><dt>'''mode'''</dt><dd> 
The current file's permissions as a numeric (octal) or symbolic 
value. 
</dd><dt>'''nlink'''</dt><dd> 
The number of hard links the file is expected to have. 
</dd><dt>'''nochange'''</dt><dd> 
Make sure this file or directory exists but otherwise ignore all attributes. 
</dd><dt>'''ripemd160digest'''</dt><dd> 
The 
'''RIPEMD160''' 
message digest of the file. 
</dd><dt>'''rmd160'''</dt><dd> 
A synonym for 
'''ripemd160digest'''. 
</dd><dt>'''rmd160digest'''</dt><dd> 
A synonym for 
'''ripemd160digest'''. 
</dd><dt>'''sha1'''</dt><dd> 
The 
'''FIPS''' 
160-1 
("Tn SHA-1") 
message digest of the file. 
</dd><dt>'''sha1digest'''</dt><dd> 
A synonym for 
'''sha1'''. 
</dd><dt>'''sha256'''</dt><dd> 
The 
'''FIPS''' 
180-2 
("Tn SHA-256") 
message digest of the file. 
</dd><dt>'''sha256digest'''</dt><dd> 
A synonym for 
'''sha256'''. 
</dd><dt>'''size'''</dt><dd> 
The size, in bytes, of the file. 
</dd><dt>'''time'''</dt><dd> 
The last modification time of the file. 
</dd><dt>'''type'''</dt><dd> 
The type of the file; may be set to any one of the following: 

<dl> 
<dt>'''block'''</dt><dd> 
block special device 
</dd><dt>'''char'''</dt><dd> 
character special device 
</dd><dt>'''dir'''</dt><dd> 
directory 
</dd><dt>'''fifo'''</dt><dd> 
fifo 
</dd><dt>'''file'''</dt><dd> 
regular file 
</dd><dt>'''link'''</dt><dd> 
symbolic link 
</dd><dt>'''socket'''</dt><dd> 
socket 
</dd></dl> 
</dd><dt>'''uid'''</dt><dd> 
The file owner as a numeric value. 
</dd><dt>'''uname'''</dt><dd> 
The file owner as a symbolic name. 
</dd></dl> 

== SEE ALSO == 
'''cksum'''(1), 
'''find'''(1), 
'''mtree'''(8) 
== BUGS == 
The 
FreeBSD 
implementation of mtree does not currently support 
the 
'''mtree''' 
2.0 
format. 
The requirement for a 
"#mtree" 
signature line is new and not yet widely implemented. 
== HISTORY == 
The 
'''mtree''' 
utility appeared in 
BSD 4.3 Reno. 
The 
'''MD5''' 
digest capability was added in 
FreeBSD 2.1, 
in response to the widespread use of programs which can spoof 
'''cksum'''(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" 
entry format was added by 
NetBSD. 
