xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision 3416500aef140042c64bc149cb1ec6620483bc44)
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32.\"	@(#)chmod.1	8.4 (Berkeley) 3/31/94
33.\" $FreeBSD$
34.\"
35.Dd January 7, 2017
36.Dt CHMOD 1
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm chmod
40.Nd change file modes
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Nm
43.Op Fl fhv
44.Op Fl R Op Fl H | L | P
45.Ar mode
46.Ar
47.Sh DESCRIPTION
48The
49.Nm
50utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files
51as specified by the
52.Ar mode
53operand.
54.Pp
55The options are as follows:
56.Bl -tag -width indent
57.It Fl f
58Do not display a diagnostic message if
59.Nm
60could not modify the mode for
61.Va file ,
62nor modify the exit status to reflect such failures.
63.It Fl H
64If the
65.Fl R
66option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed
67and hence unaffected by the command.
68(Symbolic links encountered during tree traversal are not followed.)
69.It Fl h
70If the file is a symbolic link, change the mode of the link itself
71rather than the file that the link points to.
72.It Fl L
73If the
74.Fl R
75option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
76.It Fl P
77If the
78.Fl R
79option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
80This is the default.
81.It Fl R
82Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files,
83instead of just the files themselves.
84Beware of unintentionally matching the
85.Dq Pa ".."
86hard link to the parent directory when using wildcards like
87.Dq Li ".*" .
88.It Fl v
89Cause
90.Nm
91to be verbose, showing filenames as the mode is modified.
92If the
93.Fl v
94flag is specified more than once, the old and new modes of the file
95will also be printed, in both octal and symbolic notation.
96.El
97.Pp
98The
99.Fl H ,
100.Fl L
101and
102.Fl P
103options are ignored unless the
104.Fl R
105option is specified.
106In addition, these options override each other and the
107command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
108.Pp
109If
110.Nm
111receives a
112.Dv SIGINFO
113signal (see the
114.Cm status
115argument for
116.Xr stty 1 ) ,
117then the current filename as well as the old and new modes are displayed.
118.Pp
119Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
120the mode of a file.
121.Sh EXIT STATUS
122.Ex -std
123.Sh MODES
124Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
125An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
126one or more of the following values:
127.Pp
128.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
129.It Li 4000
130(the setuid bit).
131Executable files with this bit set
132will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
133Directories with this bit set will force all files and
134sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
135and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
136system supports this feature: see
137.Xr chmod 2
138and the
139.Cm suiddir
140option to
141.Xr mount 8 .
142.It Li 2000
143(the setgid bit).
144Executable files with this bit set
145will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
146.It Li 1000
147(the sticky bit).
148See
149.Xr chmod 2
150and
151.Xr sticky 7 .
152.It Li 0400
153Allow read by owner.
154.It Li 0200
155Allow write by owner.
156.It Li 0100
157For files, allow execution by owner.
158For directories, allow the owner to
159search in the directory.
160.It Li 0040
161Allow read by group members.
162.It Li 0020
163Allow write by group members.
164.It Li 0010
165For files, allow execution by group members.
166For directories, allow
167group members to search in the directory.
168.It Li 0004
169Allow read by others.
170.It Li 0002
171Allow write by others.
172.It Li 0001
173For files, allow execution by others.
174For directories allow others to
175search in the directory.
176.El
177.Pp
178For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
179the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
180others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
181(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
182.Pp
183The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
184.Bd -literal -offset indent
185mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
186clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] action
187action       ::= op [perm ...]
188who          ::= a | u | g | o
189op           ::= + | \- | =
190perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
191.Ed
192.Pp
193The
194.Ar who
195symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
196of the mode bits, respectively.
197The
198.Ar who
199symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
200.Pp
201The
202.Ar perm
203symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
204.Pp
205.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
206.It r
207The read bits.
208.It s
209The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
210.It t
211The sticky bit.
212.It w
213The write bits.
214.It x
215The execute/search bits.
216.It X
217The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
218execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
219Operations with the
220.Ar perm
221symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
222.Ar op
223symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
224.It u
225The user permission bits in the original mode of the file.
226.It g
227The group permission bits in the original mode of the file.
228.It o
229The other permission bits in the original mode of the file.
230.El
231.Pp
232The
233.Ar op
234symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
235.Bl -tag -width 4n
236.It +
237If no value is supplied for
238.Ar perm ,
239the ``+'' operation has no effect.
240If no value is supplied for
241.Ar who ,
242each permission bit specified in
243.Ar perm ,
244for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
245(see
246.Xr umask 2 )
247is clear, is set.
248Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
249.Ar who
250and
251.Ar perm
252values are set.
253.It \&\-
254If no value is supplied for
255.Ar perm ,
256the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
257If no value is supplied for
258.Ar who ,
259each permission bit specified in
260.Ar perm ,
261for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
262is clear, is cleared.
263Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
264.Ar who
265and
266.Ar perm
267values are cleared.
268.It =
269The mode bits specified by the
270.Ar who
271value are cleared, or, if no
272.Ar who
273value is specified, the owner, group
274and other mode bits are cleared.
275Then, if no value is supplied for
276.Ar who ,
277each permission bit specified in
278.Ar perm ,
279for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
280is clear, is set.
281Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
282.Ar who
283and
284.Ar perm
285values are set.
286.El
287.Pp
288Each
289.Ar clause
290specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
291bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
292order specified.
293.Pp
294Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
295``o'' by itself), in combination with the
296.Ar perm
297symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
298.Pp
299The ``w'' permission on directories will permit file creation, relocation,
300and copy into that directory.
301Files created within the directory itself will inherit its group ID.
302.Sh EXAMPLES
303.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
304.It Li 644
305make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
306.Pp
307.It Li go-w
308deny write permission to group and others.
309.Pp
310.It Li =rw,+X
311set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
312retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
313.Pp
314.It Li +X
315make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
316already searchable/executable by anyone.
317.Pp
318.It Li 755
319.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
320.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
321make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
322.Pp
323.It Li go=
324clear all mode bits for group and others.
325.Pp
326.It Li g=u-w
327set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
328.El
329.Sh COMPATIBILITY
330The
331.Fl v
332option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
333.Sh SEE ALSO
334.Xr chflags 1 ,
335.Xr install 1 ,
336.Xr setfacl 1 ,
337.Xr chmod 2 ,
338.Xr stat 2 ,
339.Xr umask 2 ,
340.Xr fts 3 ,
341.Xr setmode 3 ,
342.Xr sticky 7 ,
343.Xr symlink 7 ,
344.Xr chown 8 ,
345.Xr mount 8
346.Sh STANDARDS
347The
348.Nm
349utility is expected to be
350.St -p1003.2
351compatible with the exception of the
352.Ar perm
353symbol
354.Dq t
355which is not included in that standard.
356.Sh HISTORY
357A
358.Nm
359command appeared in
360.At v1 .
361.Sh BUGS
362There is no
363.Ar perm
364option for the naughty bits of a horse.
365