mfstrashtime(1)

📦
version 4.59.2 · 5 versions
, in arch rolling, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu stonking

💖 mfstrashtime — bestie edition 💖

okay so listen. this is mfstrashtime(1), part of MooseFS, and before you get attached — it's DEPRECATED. like, it still exists, it still works, but the cool girls are all using the mfstrashretention tools now. so yeah. use those instead. 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

mfstrashtime — DEPRECATED MooseFS trash time management tools (use mfstrashretention tools instead)

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

mfsgettrashtime [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] OBJECT...

mfssettrashtime [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] SECONDS[+|-] OBJECT...

mfscopytrashtime [-?] [-r] [-n|-h|-H|-k|-m|-g] SOURCE_OBJECT OBJECT...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So these three tools all mess with a filesystem object's trashtime value. and a filesystem object is a file, a special file, or a directory — any of the three, we don't discriminate 💅

and trashtime is literally just the number of seconds that file gets preserved in the special trash directory before it's finally yeeted out of the filesystem forever. gone. bye. 👋

trashtime has to be a non-negative integer value. that's the vibe check. no negatives, no decimals, ty.

mfsgettrashtime prints the current trashtime value of whatever object(s) you hand it. the -r option turns on recursive mode — which, bestie, works the usual way for every file you give it, but for every directory you give it, it additionally prints the current trashtime value of every single object contained inside (files and directories, all of them, no cap).

mfssettrashtime changes the current trashtime value of the object(s) you give it. and here's the cute part:

  • if the new value is written as SECONDS+, the trashtime is increased to SECONDS for objects with a lower trashtime value, and left alone for everybody else.
  • same energy, flipped: if it's written as SECONDS-, the trashtime is decreased to SECONDS for objects with a higher trashtime value, and unchanged for the rest.

the -r option turns on recursive mode here too. and these tools can be used on any file, directory, or deleted (trash) file. very versatile, we love her. ✨

mfscopytrashtime is the copy-paste of the group — it copies the trashtime value from one object to another. it's giving clipboard energy. 📋

🌸 PRECISION 🌸

Since version 3.0 of MooseFS, trashtime is stored in the system as the number of hours the file is preserved in the trash directory. so any value you give in seconds gets rounded up to hours. key detail. don't forget it. 🧚

💅 OPTIONS 💅

okay so most MooseFS tools use -n, -h, -H, -k, -m and -g to pick the format of the printed numbers. here's the tea:

  • -n — prints exact numbers. plain. honest. no notes.
  • -h — uses binary prefixes (Ki, Mi, Gi as 2^10, 2^20 etc.) 🔥
  • -H — uses SI prefixes (k, M, G as 10^3, 10^6 etc.) ⭐
  • -k — shows plain numbers in kibis (binary kilo — 1024)
  • -m — shows plain numbers in mebis (binary mega — 1024^2)
  • -g — shows plain numbers in gibis (binary giga — 1024^3)

and you can also get the same results by setting the MFSHRFORMAT environment variable to:

  • 0 — exact numbers
  • 1 or h — binary prefixes
  • 2 or H — SI prefixes
  • 3 or h+ — exact numbers and binary prefixes
  • 4 or H+ — exact numbers and SI prefixes
🌈 the default is to print just exact numbers. so if you don't say anything, you get the plain ones.
  • -? — displays the short usage message. the little "here's how you use me" moment. 🙈

👑 NOTES 👑

💜 INHERITANCE 💜

When a new object is created in MooseFS, its trashtime is inherited from the parent directory. a freshly created object always inherits the current value of its parent's trashtime. that's the family lineage. ✨

BUT — and this is the part people get wrong — changing a directory's trashtime does NOT affect its already-created children. nope. those babies keep what they got at birth. 😭

if you want to change trashtime for a directory and all of its children, use the -r option. periodt.

💀 REPORTING BUGS 💀

Report bugs to <bugs@moosefs.com>.

Copyright (C) 2026 Jakub Kruszona-Zawadzki, Saglabs SA

This file is part of MooseFS.

MooseFS is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 2 (only).

MooseFS is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

okay that's the whole page, bestie, you ate it 💖 this was MooseFS 4.59.2-1, dated May 2026 — and remember, mfstrashtime is deprecated, so go hang out with mfstrashretention instead. slay, love u, bye! 👑🦋✨

📦 where this page comes from