What does errno 93 (ENOATTR) mean?

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: The named extended attribute is absent from the specified file-system object.

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
EPROTONOSUPPORT	errno	Linux
ENOTEMPTY	errno	Solaris
UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR	BugCheck Code	Windows

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EPROTONOSUPPORT	ENOTEMPTY

ENOATTR

Extended attributes have their own namespace

ENOATTR means that a requested extended attribute name is not present on the file or directory. It says nothing about the existence of the file itself, and it is different from an empty attribute value. The object can be accessible and valid while simply not carrying that metadata key.

Use the xattr API’s documented list/read behavior to distinguish absence, unsupported attribute storage, permission denial, and a race where another process removed the attribute. A missing attribute should be treated as a normal state only when the application’s metadata schema says it is optional.

Evidence that matters

Log the object identity, attribute name, filesystem type, and whether the lookup followed a symbolic link.
Check whether the code expected a resource-fork or application-specific metadata attribute that may not survive copying or archiving.
Do not replace ENOATTR with ENOENT; the path and the metadata key are separate lookups.

References

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