Understanding the /etc/quotas file

Overview of the /etc/quotas file

Contents of the /etc/quotas file

Each quota entry in the /etc/quotas file consists of the following fields:

Quota Target
Type
Disk
Files (optional)
Threshold (optional)
Soft Disk (optional)
Soft Files (optional)

A line beginning with the pound sign (#) is considered a comment.

Each entry in the /etc/quotas file can extend to multiple lines, but the Files, Threshold, Soft Disk, and Soft Files fields must be on the same line as the Disk field. If they are not on the same line as the Disk field, they are ignored.

Order of entries

Entries in the /etc/quotas file can be in any order. After Data ONTAP receives a write request, it grants access only if the request meets the requirements specified by all /etc/quotas entries. That is, if a quota target is affected by several /etc/quotas entries, the most restrictive entry applies.

Rules for a user or group quota

The following rules apply to a user or group quota:

If you do not specify a path name to a volume or qtree to which the quota is applied, the quota takes effect in the root volume.
You cannot impose restrictions on particular quota targets. For the following targets, you can specify quotas entries for tracking purposes only:
- User with UID 0
- Group with GID 0
- BUILTIN\Administrators
A file created by a member of the BUILTIN\Administrators group is owned by the BUILTIN\Administrators group, not by the member. When determining the amount of disk space or number of files used by that user, Data ONTAP does not count the files that are owned by the BUILTIN\Administrators group.

Character coding of the /etc/quotas file

For information about character coding of the /etc/quotas file, see Contents of the /etc directory.