CHMOD(1) General Commands Manual CHMOD(1)
NAME
chmod - change mode
SYNOPSIS
chmod mode file ...
DESCRIPTION
The mode of each named file is changed according to mode, which may be absolute or symbolic. An absolute mode is an octal number con-
structed from the OR of the following modes:
4000 set user ID on execution
2000 set group ID on execution
1000 sticky bit, see chmod(2)
0400 read by owner
0200 write by owner
0100 execute (search in directory) by owner
0070 read, write, execute (search) by group
0007 read, write, execute (search) by others
A symbolic mode has the form:
[who] op permission [op permission] ...
The who part is a combination of the letters u (for user's permissions), g (group) and o (other). The letter a stands for ugo. If who is
omitted, the default is a but the setting of the file creation mask (see umask(2)) is taken into account.
Op can be + to add permission to the file's mode, - to take away permission and = to assign permission absolutely (all other bits will be
reset).
Permission is any combination of the letters r (read), w (write), x (execute), s (set owner or group id) and t (save text - sticky). Let-
ters u, g or o indicate that permission is to be taken from the current mode. Omitting permission is only useful with = to take away all
permissions.
The first example denies write permission to others, the second makes a file executable:
chmod o-w file
chmod +x file
Multiple symbolic modes separated by commas may be given. Operations are performed in the order specified. The letter s is only useful
with u or g.
Only the owner of a file (or the super-user) may change its mode.
SEE ALSO
ls(1), chmod(2), chown (1), stat(2), umask(2)
CHMOD(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
CHMOD(1) BSD General Commands Manual CHMOD(1)
NAME
chmod -- change file modes
SYNOPSIS
chmod [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fh] mode file ...
DESCRIPTION
The chmod utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files as specified by the mode operand.
The options are as follows:
-H If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed. (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal
are not followed.)
-L If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
-P If the -R option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
-R Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files instead of just the files themselves.
-f Do not display a diagnostic message or modify the exit status if chmod fails to change the mode of a file.
-h If file is symbolic link, the mode of the link is changed.
The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified. In addition, these options override each other and the command's
actions are determined by the last one specified.
Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change the mode of a file.
EXIT STATUS
The chmod utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
MODES
Modes may be absolute or symbolic. An absolute mode is an octal number constructed by or'ing the following values:
4000 set-user-ID-on-execution
2000 set-group-ID-on-execution
1000 sticky bit, see chmod(2)
0400 read by owner
0200 write by owner
0100 execute (or search for directories) by owner
0070 read, write, execute/search by group
0007 read, write, execute/search by others
The read, write, and execute/search values for group and others are encoded as described for owner.
The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
mode ::= clause [, clause ...]
clause ::= [who ...] [action ...] last_action
action ::= op [perm ...]
last_action ::= op [perm ...]
who ::= a | u | g | o
op ::= + | - | =
perm ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
The who symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts of the mode bits, respectively. The who symbol ``a'' is
equivalent to ``ugo''.
The perm symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
r The read bits.
s The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
t The sticky bit.
w The write bits.
x The execute/search bits.
X The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
Operations with the perm symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the op symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other
cases.
u The user permission bits in the mode of the original file.
g The group permission bits in the mode of the original file.
o The other permission bits in the mode of the original file.
The op symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
+ If no value is supplied for perm, the ``+'' operation has no effect. If no value is supplied for who, each permission bit specified in
perm, for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask is clear, is set. Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the
specified who and perm values are set.
- If no value is supplied for perm, the ``-'' operation has no effect. If no value is supplied for who, each permission bit specified in
perm, for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask is clear, is cleared. Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the
specified who and perm values are cleared.
= The mode bits specified by the who value are cleared, or, if no who value is specified, the owner, group and other mode bits are
cleared. Then, if no value is supplied for who, each permission bit specified in perm, for which the corresponding bit in the file
mode creation mask is clear, is set. Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified who and perm values are set.
Each clause specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the order
specified.
Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol ``o'' by itself), in combination with the perm symbols ``s'' or ``t'',
are ignored.
EXAMPLES
644 make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
go-w deny write permission to group and others.
=rw,+X set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
+X make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is already searchable/executable by anyone.
755
u=rwx,go=rx
u=rwx,go=u-w make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
go= clear all mode bits for group and others.
g=u-w set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
SEE ALSO
chflags(1), install(1), chmod(2), stat(2), umask(2), fts(3), setmode(3), symlink(7), chown(8)
STANDARDS
The chmod utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'') compatible with the exception of the perm symbol ``t'' which is not
included in that standard.
BUGS
There's no perm option for the naughty bits.
BSD
January 22, 2010 BSD