xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision 5521ff5a4d1929056e7ffc982fac3341ca54df7c)
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35.\"	@(#)chmod.1	8.4 (Berkeley) 3/31/94
36.\" $FreeBSD$
37.\"
38.Dd March 31, 1994
39.Dt CHMOD 1
40.Os
41.Sh NAME
42.Nm chmod
43.Nd change file modes
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Nm
46.Op Fl fhv
47.Op Fl R Op Fl H | L | P
48.Ar mode
49.Ar
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Nm
53utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files
54as specified by the
55.Ar mode
56operand.
57.Pp
58The options are as follows:
59.Bl -tag -width Ds
60.It Fl H
61If the
62.Fl R
63option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
64(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed by
65default.)
66.It Fl L
67If the
68.Fl R
69option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
70.It Fl P
71If the
72.Fl R
73option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
74This is the default.
75.It Fl R
76Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files
77instead of just the files themselves.
78.It Fl f
79Do not display a diagnostic message if
80.Nm
81could not modify the mode for
82.Va file .
83.It Fl h
84If the file is a symbolic link, change the mode of the link itself
85rather than the file that the link points to.
86.It Fl v
87Cause
88.Nm
89to be verbose, showing files as the mode is modified.
90.El
91.Pp
92The
93.Fl H ,
94.Fl L
95and
96.Fl P
97options are ignored unless the
98.Fl R
99option is specified.
100In addition, these options override each other and the
101command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
102.Pp
103Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
104the mode of a file.
105.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
106The
107.Nm
108utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
109.Sh MODES
110Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
111An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
112one or more of the following values:
113.Pp
114.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
115.It Li 4000
116(the set-user-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
117will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
118Directories with the set-user-id bit set will force all files and
119sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
120and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
121system supports this feature: see
122.Xr chmod 2
123and the
124.Ar suiddir
125option to
126.Xr mount 8 .
127.It Li 2000
128(the set-group-ID-on-execution bit)  Executable files with this bit set
129will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
130.It Li 1000
131(the sticky bit)
132When set on a directory, unprivileged users can delete and rename
133only those files in the directory that are owned by them, regardless of
134the permissions on the directory.  Under
135.Fx ,
136the sticky bit is
137ignored for executable files and may only be set for directories (see
138.Xr sticky 8 ) .
139.It Li 0400
140Allow read by owner.
141.It Li 0200
142Allow write by owner.
143.It Li 0100
144For files, allow execution by owner.  For directories, allow the owner to
145search in the directory.
146.It Li 0040
147Allow read by group members.
148.It Li 0020
149Allow write by group members.
150.It Li 0010
151For files, allow execution by group members.  For directories, allow
152group members to search in the directory.
153.It Li 0004
154Allow read by others.
155.It Li 0002
156Allow write by others.
157.It Li 0001
158For files, allow execution by others.  For directories allow others to
159search in the directory.
160.El
161.Pp
162For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
163the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
164others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
165(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
166.Pp
167The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
168.Bd -literal -offset indent
169mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
170clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] action
171action       ::= op [perm ...]
172who          ::= a | u | g | o
173op           ::= + | \- | =
174perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
175.Ed
176.Pp
177The
178.Ar who
179symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
180of the mode bits, respectively.
181The
182.Ar who
183symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
184.Pp
185The
186.Ar perm
187symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
188.Pp
189.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
190.It r
191The read bits.
192.It s
193The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
194.It t
195The sticky bit.
196.It w
197The write bits.
198.It x
199The execute/search bits.
200.It X
201The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
202execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
203Operations with the
204.Ar perm
205symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
206.Ar op
207symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
208.It u
209The user permission bits in the mode of the original file.
210.It g
211The group permission bits in the mode of the original file.
212.It o
213The other permission bits in the mode of the original file.
214.El
215.Pp
216The
217.Ar op
218symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
219.Bl -tag -width 4n
220.It +
221If no value is supplied for
222.Ar perm ,
223the ``+'' operation has no effect.
224If no value is supplied for
225.Ar who ,
226each permission bit specified in
227.Ar perm ,
228for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
229is clear, is set.
230Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
231.Ar who
232and
233.Ar perm
234values are set.
235.It \&\-
236If no value is supplied for
237.Ar perm ,
238the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
239If no value is supplied for
240.Ar who ,
241each permission bit specified in
242.Ar perm ,
243for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
244is clear, is cleared.
245Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
246.Ar who
247and
248.Ar perm
249values are cleared.
250.It =
251The mode bits specified by the
252.Ar who
253value are cleared, or, if no who value is specified, the owner, group
254and other mode bits are cleared.
255Then, if no value is supplied for
256.Ar who ,
257each permission bit specified in
258.Ar perm ,
259for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
260is clear, is set.
261Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
262.Ar who
263and
264.Ar perm
265values are set.
266.El
267.Pp
268Each
269.Ar clause
270specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
271bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
272order specified.
273.Pp
274Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
275``o'' by itself), in combination with the
276.Ar perm
277symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
278.Sh EXAMPLES
279.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
280.It Li 644
281make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
282.Pp
283.It Li go-w
284deny write permission to group and others.
285.Pp
286.It Li =rw,+X
287set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
288retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
289.Pp
290.It Li +X
291make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
292already searchable/executable by anyone.
293.Pp
294.It Li 755
295.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
296.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
297make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
298.Pp
299.It Li go=
300clear all mode bits for group and others.
301.Pp
302.It Li g=u-w
303set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
304.El
305.Sh BUGS
306There's no
307.Ar perm
308option for the naughty bits.
309.Sh COMPATIBILITY
310The
311.Fl v
312option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
313.Sh SEE ALSO
314.Xr chflags 1 ,
315.Xr install 1 ,
316.Xr chmod 2 ,
317.Xr stat 2 ,
318.Xr umask 2 ,
319.Xr fts 3 ,
320.Xr setmode 3 ,
321.Xr symlink 7 ,
322.Xr chown 8 ,
323.Xr mount 8 ,
324.Xr sticky 8
325.Sh STANDARDS
326The
327.Nm
328utility is expected to be
329.St -p1003.2
330compatible with the exception of the
331.Ar perm
332symbol
333.Dq t
334which is not included in that standard.
335.Sh HISTORY
336A
337.Nm
338command appeared in
339.At v1 .
340