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+# Convert GFID to Path
+
+GlusterFS internal file identifier (GFID) is a uuid that is unique to each
+file across the entire cluster. This is analogous to inode number in a
+normal filesystem. The GFID of a file is stored in its xattr named
+`trusted.gfid`.
+
+#### Special mount using [gfid-access translator][1]:
+```
+mount -t glusterfs -o aux-gfid-mount vm1:test /mnt/testvol
+```
+
+Assuming, you have `GFID` of a file from changelog (or somewhere else).
+For trying this out, you can get `GFID` of a file from mountpoint:
+```
+getfattr -n glusterfs.gfid.string /mnt/testvol/dir/file
+```
+
+
+---
+### Get file path from GFID (Method 1):
+**(Lists hardlinks delimited by `:`, returns path as seen from mountpoint)**
+
+#### Turn on build-pgfid option
+```
+gluster volume set test build-pgfid on
+```
+Read virtual xattr `glusterfs.ancestry.path` which contains the file path
+```
+getfattr -n glusterfs.ancestry.path -e text /mnt/testvol/.gfid/<GFID>
+```
+
+**Example:**
+```
+[root@vm1 glusterfs]# ls -il /mnt/testvol/dir/
+total 1
+10610563327990022372 -rw-r--r--. 2 root root 3 Jul 17 18:05 file
+10610563327990022372 -rw-r--r--. 2 root root 3 Jul 17 18:05 file3
+
+[root@vm1 glusterfs]# getfattr -n glusterfs.gfid.string /mnt/testvol/dir/file
+getfattr: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
+# file: mnt/testvol/dir/file
+glusterfs.gfid.string="11118443-1894-4273-9340-4b212fa1c0e4"
+
+[root@vm1 glusterfs]# getfattr -n glusterfs.ancestry.path -e text /mnt/testvol/.gfid/11118443-1894-4273-9340-4b212fa1c0e4
+getfattr: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
+# file: mnt/testvol/.gfid/11118443-1894-4273-9340-4b212fa1c0e4
+glusterfs.ancestry.path="/dir/file:/dir/file3"
+```
+
+---
+### Get file path from GFID (Method 2):
+**(Does not list all hardlinks, returns backend brick path)**
+```
+getfattr -n trusted.glusterfs.pathinfo -e text /mnt/testvol/.gfid/<GFID>
+```
+
+**Example:**
+```
+[root@vm1 glusterfs]# getfattr -n trusted.glusterfs.pathinfo -e text /mnt/testvol/.gfid/11118443-1894-4273-9340-4b212fa1c0e4
+getfattr: Removing leading '/' from absolute path names
+# file: mnt/testvol/.gfid/11118443-1894-4273-9340-4b212fa1c0e4
+trusted.glusterfs.pathinfo="(<DISTRIBUTE:test-dht> <POSIX(/mnt/brick-test/b):vm1:/mnt/brick-test/b/dir//file3>)"
+```
+
+---
+#### References and links:
+[posix: placeholders for GFID to path conversion](http://review.gluster.org/5951)