{
  "slug": "nfs-attribute-cache",
  "term": "NFS attribute cache",
  "aliases": [
    "NFS metadata attribute cache"
  ],
  "definition": "An NFS attribute cache is a client-side copy of file or directory metadata reused until refresh or revalidation is required.",
  "note": "Metadata such as size and change information is not the file's cached payload. Attribute freshness does not create an atomic snapshot across multiple files. Linux actimeo configures attribute-cache timers; noac additionally makes application writes synchronous, so they are not interchangeable settings.",
  "related": [
    "nfs-storage",
    "close-to-open-consistency",
    "nfs-delegation",
    "page-cache",
    "nfs-lookup-cache"
  ],
  "limitations": [
    {
      "text": "Disabling attribute caching does not disable all file-data caching or eliminate every coherence race.",
      "citationIds": [
        "nfs-client"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "citations": [
    {
      "id": "nfs-client",
      "title": "nfs-utils nfs(5), Debian trixie: data and metadata coherence and version-specific cto/nocto options.",
      "url": "https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/nfs-common/nfs.5.en.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-14"
    },
    {
      "id": "rfc7530",
      "title": "Haynes and Noveck (editors). NFS Version 4 Protocol. RFC 7530, sections 10.3, 10.4 and 10.6 (NFSv4.0).",
      "url": "https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7530#section-10",
      "accessed": "2026-10-14"
    },
    {
      "id": "hesela-stability",
      "title": "NFS stable writes: what COMMIT, flush and FUA actually promise",
      "url": "https://hesela.com/analyses/nfs-stable-writes-flush-fua/",
      "accessed": "2026-10-14"
    }
  ],
  "status": "shipping",
  "advantages": [],
  "supersedes": [],
  "supersededBy": [],
  "firstSeen": null,
  "lastSeen": null,
  "updated": "2026-10-14"
}