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Is it possible to update ctime by specifying ONTAP mount options?

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Applies to

  • ONTAP 9.x
  • NFS

Answer

  • After creating an empty file with the touch command on the local disk (/tmp/), when updating atime with touch -a, ctime will also be updated.
  • Similarly, after creating an empty file with the touch command on NetApp's NFS file system, when updating atime with touch -a, ctime remains not updated.
  • This is the NFS specification
  • There are no mount options that can control ctime on the ONTAP side.

Additional Information

  • The touch -a command in Unix/Linux systems is used to change the access time (atime) of a file.
  • The -a flag specifically stands for 'access'.
  • This command does not directly change the change time (ctime).
  • The ctime in Unix/Linux systems is the 'change time', which gets updated when the file's metadata (like permissions or ownership) changes.
  • It also gets updated when the file's content changes.
  • However, it's important to note that ctime can be indirectly affected by the touch -a command.
  • This is because the touch command modifies the file's metadata by changing the access time, which in turn updates the ctime.
  • So, while the touch -a command is not designed to directly modify ctime, it does cause ctime to be updated as a side effect of changing the file's metadata.

 

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