setquota

Set quota for a user with soft and hard limits

$ sudo setquota -u [username] [block-soft] [block-hard] [inode-soft] [inode-hard] [/path/to/filesystem]

$ sudo setquota -g [groupname] [block-soft] [block-hard] [inode-soft] [inode-hard] [/path/to/filesystem]

$ sudo setquota -u -p [prototype_user] [target_user] [/path/to/filesystem]

$ sudo setquota -a -u [username] [block-soft] [block-hard] [inode-soft] [inode-hard]

$ sudo setquota -t -u [block-grace] [inode-grace] [/path/to/filesystem]

$ echo "[username] [block-soft] [block-hard] [inode-soft] [inode-hard]" | sudo setquota -b [/path/to/filesystem]

setquota [-u|-g|-P] [options] name block-softlimit block-hardlimit inode-softlimit inode-hardlimit filesystem
setquota [-u|-g|-P] -p protoname name filesystem
setquota -t [-u|-g|-P] block-grace inode-grace filesystem
setquota -T [-u|-g|-P] name block-time inode-time filesystem

setquota is a command-line quota editor that sets disk quotas for users, groups, or projects on a filesystem. Unlike the interactive edquota command, setquota allows quota configuration in a single command, making it suitable for scripts and automation.
Quotas can limit both disk space usage (blocks) and number of files (inodes). Each limit has a soft limit (can be exceeded temporarily) and a hard limit (absolute maximum). When a soft limit is exceeded, the grace period begins, after which the soft limit becomes a hard limit.
Block limits are typically specified in kilobytes, though this may vary by quota format. If a numeric value is given instead of a username, it is treated as a UID/GID/project ID.

-u, --user

Set user quotas for the named user. This is the default.

Set group quotas for the named group.

Set project quotas for the named project.

Copy quota settings from a prototype user, group, or project.

Read quota information from standard input. Format: name block-softlimit block-hardlimit inode-softlimit inode-hardlimit.

Set grace times (in seconds) for users, groups, or projects.

Alter time remaining for individual users when soft limit is enforced.

Apply to all filesystems with quotas listed in /etc/mtab.

Specify quota format: vfsold, vfsv0, vfsv1, rpc, or xfs.

Edit remote quota using rpc.rquotad.

Requires root privileges. The filesystem must have quota support enabled and quota files initialized with quotacheck. Changes take effect immediately without requiring a remount. Not all quota formats support all features.

setquota is part of the Linux Diskquota Tools project. Disk quotas have been part of Unix systems since the 1980s, originally introduced in BSD Unix. The Linux quota system evolved from these early implementations, with the modern tools supporting multiple quota formats including XFS native quotas and NFS remote quotas.

quota(1), edquota(8), repquota(8), quotacheck(8), quotaon(8)