The following code is from lowntfs-3g.c:



Here is an excerpt from the latest fuse_lowlevel.h (2.81)



It seems that FUSE does not support creation time at all (not birthtime, not in form of ctime - except for non-changing getstat)
Which poses some problems - first for networked backup, synchronization, and sorting purposes.

Hi,


This is perfectly true. The creation date is not specified by Posix, only modification time (mtime), access time (atime) and change time (ctime) are.

BUT ntfs-3g supports these three times AND the creation time. The creation time is set when you create a file and is not changed afterwards (except for the system.ntfs_times extended attribute).

Beware of "st_ctime" which has a different meaning in the implementation of stat() for Linux (change time) and stat() for Windows (creation time).


Networked backup with Unix tools is generally based on change time, not creation time. But networked backup with Windows tools cannot be based on change time, as change time does not exist on Windows, so generally the modification time (or the archive flag) is used.

Now, when you access a Linux file from a Windows client, using Samba, you cannot get the change time, because you are using a Windows tool which does not know about it, and you cannot get the creation time either, because you are supposed to access a Posix file system which does not know about the creation time. Samba may have a workaround for that.

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Dear Jean-Pierre,
this is definitely a SAMBA issue.

I have successfully patched a /source3/lib/time.c from 3.4.2 distributive, and now it seems to show correct dates.
Allowing setting ctime however is rather tricky because of POSIX/'ustat' nature of smb'd VFS
(there's no separate call for ctime, and FC12 doesn't support ctime setting at all - an exotic st_birthtime still is not shown in any of headers, and is not supported at all, in fact, by FUSE)

However, ctime acts very differently if compared to NT creation time: it's changed even on rename operations, what is not good for network backup. I don't see currently any solution except for rewriting all off three

Unfortunately, i have not found yet also a separate distributive for FUSE kernel module source.

Hi,


As I already told you, ctime is a very confusing acronym which has different meanings on Linux and Windows :


You cannot get things right when confusing creation time and change time. Samba can only have workarounds.


FC12, like all Posix system supports ctime with the meaning of change time. It can be queried, but not set, and there is nothing like st_birthtime in Posix systems. To make decisions for backups, use mtime.

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Yes, it's clear about ctime attribute - the most confusing part was that even a rename op is considered a "node change".

This part is completely different from NT - but NT should consider a network drive as its own.
The sad part is that one cannot make decisions for OpenView and other proprietary software, for example.
Still seeking for workaround

Sorry for inconvenience.

jpa, just notified that an Archive bit cannot be changed on ntfs-3g drive. Completely.
ext3 share is ok

Hi,


The NTFS archive bit is set whenever you make a change. It is intended for archiving programs (they have to reset it).

Do not be confused by Samba which maps its own archive bit to a permission bit (from your other post)


Be aware that Samba does not map its own archive bit to NTFS archive bit, and ntfs-3g can do nothing about it.

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Why not mapping this in reverse? Or at least offering a such a option to user?


But regretely i don't see how they can reset it till I cannot (via Samba, of course)
It is an ACL issue, or something different? (my case is gid and uid numbers in fstab, single owner)

Hi,

This could have been a possibility, but we have opted for a compatibility with Posix and ext3, which much more users want.
Moreover reversing the Samba mapping can only produce poor results (no individual ownership, protection mapped to 5 bits, etc).

ntfs-3g has interfaces to deal with NTFS internal data (including archive bit and creation time), and they can be used through fuse. See http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g ... ttributes/
Samba could use them, instead of using a mapping intended for ext3, and render a full native NTFS service... If there is enough demand, somebody will surely volunteer.

Regards

Jean-Pierre