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Thread: File Accessed property

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Beans
    6

    File Accessed property

    Hi,

    I can see that file properties like "Modified" change whe the file is modified. However, what does the "Accessed" file property describe? It does not appear to change for example if I open the file.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Hidden!

    Re: File Accessed property

    There are 3 times associated with linux files: atime (access time), mtime (modifed time), ctime (inode change time).

    For performance reasons, some people turn off atime when the drive is mounted.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Beans
    357

    Re: File Accessed property

    Accessed time (atime) should show you the last time someone opened the file. Anytime you open to read the file or change it, the file's access time should change. .... Unless changing access times had been disabled on your computer. A lot of people disable access time to reduce the number of times information on the disk is updated, or to improve performance.

    Check the file /etc/fstab. It lists all drives that are automatically attached to your system. If one of the entries has "noatime" on the line, then it means access times have been disabled.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Re: File Accessed property

    Quote Originally Posted by thnewguy View Post
    Check the file /etc/fstab. It lists all drives that are automatically attached to your system. If one of the entries has "noatime" on the line, then it means access times have been disabled.

    Or 'relatime' which is a hybrid between changing with every access and never changing. Using noatime can break some applications. It may be the default setting in Ubuntu, but I would have to look it up to be certain.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Beans
    807

    Re: File Accessed property

    I always set noatime and I've not had it break anything, yet.
    Registered Linux User: 450747 Registered Ubuntu User: 16269

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Lab, Slovakia
    Beans
    10,783

    Re: File Accessed property

    On most distros, relatime is the new default. It will avoid writing unnecessarily to files that are cached or reside on SSDs.

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