Man pages › Compared with Linux and the BSDs

`edquota(8)` on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs

On Solnix, edquota is the illumos edquota at /usr/sbin/edquota, and it edits user quotas only for ufs file systems. It has no -u, -g, -f or -e: there is no group quota editing, and -t sets the time limits.

The manual pages

Solnix: edquota(8) from pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man · illumos.org
Linux: edquota(8) quota-4.11
FreeBSD: edquota(8) 15.1-RELEASE
OpenBSD: edquota(8) 8.0
NetBSD: edquota(8) 11.0

What Solnix runs

A default Solnix system runs the illumos edquota at /usr/sbin/edquota. No other variants are shipped. The page is dated February 14, 2003 and is limited to ufs file systems.

Differences

Compared with	Topic	What differs
all four	group quotas	Solnix edquota has no `-g` option and its page describes user quotas only. Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD all take `-g` to edit group quotas. Linux also has `-P` for project quotas. Source: Solnix edquota(8) SYNOPSIS; Linux edquota(8) -g, -P; FreeBSD edquota(8) -g; OpenBSD edquota(8) -g; NetBSD edquota(8) -g
all four	`-u` option	Solnix has no `-u` option, since users are the only quota type. Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD accept `-u`, which is their default. Source: Solnix edquota(8) SYNOPSIS; Linux edquota(8) -u; FreeBSD edquota(8) SYNOPSIS; OpenBSD edquota(8) SYNOPSIS; NetBSD edquota(8) SYNOPSIS
Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD	`-f` restricts file system	Solnix has no `-f`. It edits every mounted ufs file system that has a quotas file. Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD use `-f` to limit the operation to one file system. OpenBSD has no `-f` either. Source: Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; Linux edquota(8) -f; FreeBSD edquota(8) -f; NetBSD edquota(8) -f; OpenBSD edquota(8) SYNOPSIS
FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD	which file systems are edited	Solnix edits each mounted ufs file system that has a quotas file in its root directory, owned by root. FreeBSD and OpenBSD take the list of file systems from `/etc/fstab.` NetBSD edits all quota-enabled file systems. Source: Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; OpenBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION
all four	`-t` meaning	Solnix `-t` edits soft time limits in a temporary file, using the units month, week, day, hour, min and sec. If a limit is zero, the defaults in `/usr/include/sys/fs/ufs_quota.h` apply. Linux `-t` offers seconds, minutes, hours and days. FreeBSD and OpenBSD say days, hours, minutes or seconds. NetBSD `-t` takes grace times as an argument. Source: Solnix edquota(8) -t; Linux edquota(8) -t; FreeBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; OpenBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD edquota(8) -t
NetBSD	`-t`, `-h` and `-s` in scripts	On NetBSD, `-t` takes an argument, and `-h` and `-s` set limits without an editor. On Solnix, `-t` takes no argument and always opens an editor. Source: Solnix edquota(8) SYNOPSIS, -t; NetBSD edquota(8) SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION
FreeBSD, NetBSD	non-interactive setting	Solnix edquota always starts an editor, so it has no built-in non-interactive mode. FreeBSD `-e` sets limits for a file system without an editor. NetBSD `-h`, `-s` and `-t` do the same. Source: Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD edquota(8) -e; NetBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION
all four	meaning of zero	The Solnix page does not say what a zero limit means. Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD say that zero means no quota is imposed. NetBSD says zero means no allocation is permitted, and - or unlimited means no quota. Source: Linux edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; OpenBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION
Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD	units in the edit file	In the Solnix edit file, a block is 1024 bytes, and the page documents no unit suffixes for limits. Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD accept suffixes such as K, M and G. Source: Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; Linux edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; NetBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION
Linux	EDITOR and VISUAL	Solnix edquota uses vi(1) unless EDITOR says otherwise. Linux also honours VISUAL. FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD name only EDITOR. Source: Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; Linux edquota(8) DESCRIPTION
FreeBSD	numeric ID handling with `-p`	Solnix accepts numeric UIDs for proto_user and username, including unassigned ones, but not unassigned names. FreeBSD also accepts a uid range such as 1000-2000 with `-p`. The Solnix page does not mention ranges. Source: Solnix edquota(8) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD edquota(8) DESCRIPTION (-p)

Standards

POSIX: edquota is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.
Solnix: The page refers to largefile(7) for behaviour with files of 2 Gbyte or more, and to attributes(7). The bundle shows no STANDARDS section.

Writing portable scripts

Only edquota -p proto user... and the interactive edit work on all five systems. Do not use -g, -f, -e, -h, -s or an argument to -t in a script meant for Solnix as well.
To script quota changes on Solnix, set EDITOR to a non-interactive program. The page documents no other non-interactive mode.

Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.