Hi all,
I use extended attributes in a number of application, including SAMBA (which stores metadata in extended attributes). Does restic backup and or restore these?
FYI, you probably use extended attributes too. You’d be surprised how many apps hide details in the extended attributes on linux and mac, and in “alternate streams” on windows.
On windows, the same question would go for “alternate streams”. Is this something you can even support?
To be fair, since most people don’t know they have details hidden in extended attributes, and “cp” on linux doesn’t copy them by default, most applications must assume attributes are transient and could disappear at any moment.
Many Thanks
PS
While researching this I noticed many people seem to confuse “capabilities”, “attributes” and “extended attributes”. They are all things the OS hides is filesystem inodes… but have vastly different purposes and behaviours…
- “setcap” is for capabilities which are best NOT restored by default,
- “chattr” is for “regular” attributes, which generally don’t need backing up
- “getfattr”/“setfattr” under linux is for “extended attributes” which is what I’m asking about.