# Structure of Exported Files: `Metadata`

+ **`metadata`**: The start time of the exported files and the position of the master binary log or the `GTID`
```
$ cat metadata 
Started dump at: 2022-10-17 19:03:11
SHOW MASTER STATUS:
        Log: tidb-binlog
        Pos: 436733107733004293
        GTID:

Finished dump at: 2022-10-17 19:03:12
```
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
metadata: The start time of the exported files and the position of the master binary log.
```
$ cat metadata 
Started dump at: 2022-10-17 19:03:11
SHOW MASTER STATUS:
        Log: tidb-binlog
        Pos: 436733107733004293
        GTID:

Finished dump at: 2022-10-17 19:03:12
```

The example shown on the slide with the `gtid_mode` turned off (the default mode).

A global transaction identifier (GTID) is a unique identifier created and associated with each transaction committed on the server of origin (the source).

Controls whether GTID based logging is enabled and what type of transactions the logs can contain.