I often hear people saying that it is not possible to set ctime or btime (aka crtime) on files in Linux. This is incorrect. While the touch command only lets you set atime and mtime, you can set all timestamps using debugfs.
This script is an easier way of setting whatever timestamps you want. You may set all timestamps to a single value using only one command, or set each timestamp individually using multiple invocations. You can change timestamps on multiple files at the same time.
The script also has a mode that allows you to copy timestamps from an existing file and apply those timestamps to one or more files.
Command syntax is always available with -h:
Usage: extstomp [-COvh] [-e nanosec | -E extra] -[macb] [-T time | -S sourcefile] file ...
Optional modifiers:
-C Do not drop caches when program ends (changes may not be visible)
-O File system is "old": EXT3 or earlier (no fractional seconds)
-v Be verbose and show all file timestamps after changes made
-h Show this message and exit
Specify fractional seconds field (if not specified, random value will be used):
-e nanosec Specify nanosecond value (will be bit shifted)
-E extra Specify exact field including extra bits (will not be bit shifted)
Time fields to set (must choose at least one, may choose multiple):
-m Set mtime (file content last modified)
-a Set atime (file last access time)
-c Set ctime (metadata change time)
-b Set crtime (file creation time)
Specify time to set (must choose only one option):
-T time Argument may be any format recognized by system "date" program.
Time value cannot be earlier than 1901-12-13 20:45:52 UTC or later
than 2446-05-10 22:38:55 UTC.
-S sourcefile Specify file path. Timestamps will be copied from source file exactly.
-e, -E options will be ignored.