xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision 5bb83b98dbde8326de7b8221ef899ca38ddb3180)
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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 chmod
46.Oo
47.Fl f
48.Fl R
49.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
50.Fl v
51.Oc
52.Ar mode
53.Ar file ...
54.Sh DESCRIPTION
55The
56.Nm
57utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files
58as specified by the
59.Ar mode
60operand.
61.Pp
62The options are as follows:
63.Bl -tag -width Ds
64.It Fl H
65If the
66.Fl R
67option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
68(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
69.It Fl L
70If the
71.Fl R
72option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
73.It Fl P
74If the
75.Fl R
76option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
77.It Fl R
78Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files
79instead of just the files themselves.
80.It Fl f
81Do not display a diagnostic message if
82.Nm
83could not modify the mode for
84.It Fl v
85Cause
86.Nm
87to be verbose, showing files as the mode is modified.
88.Va file .
89.El
90.Pp
91Symbolic links do not have modes, so unless the
92.Fl H
93or
94.Fl L
95option is set,
96.Nm
97on a symbolic link always succeeds and has no effect.
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
109Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
110the mode of a file.
111.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
112The
113.Nm
114utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
115.Sh MODES
116Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
117An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
118one or more of the following values:
119.Pp
120.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
121.It Li 4000
122(the set-user-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
123will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
124Directories with the set-user-id bit set will force all files and
125sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
126and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
127system supports this feature: see
128.Xr chmod 2
129and the
130.Ar suiddir
131option to
132.Xr mount 8 .
133.It Li 2000
134(the set-group-ID-on-execution bit)  Executable files with this bit set
135will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
136.It Li 1000
137(the sticky bit)
138When set on a directory, unprivileged users can delete and rename
139only those files in the directory that are owned by them, regardless of
140the permissions on the directory.  Under FreeBSD, the sticky bit is
141ignored for executable files and may only be set for directories (see
142.Xr sticky 8 ).
143.It Li 0400
144Allow read by owner.
145.It Li 0200
146Allow write by owner.
147.It Li 0100
148For files, allow execution by owner.  For directories, allow the owner to
149search in the directory.
150.It Li 0040
151Allow read by group members.
152.It Li 0020
153Allow write by group members.
154.It Li 0010
155For files, allow execution by group members.  For directories, allow
156group members to search in the directory.
157.It Li 0004
158Allow read by others.
159.It Li 0002
160Allow write by others.
161.It Li 0001
162For files, allow execution by others.  For directories allow others to
163search in the directory.
164.El
165.Pp
166For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
167the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
168others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
169(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
170.Pp
171The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
172.Bd -literal -offset indent
173mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
174clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] last_action
175action       ::= op [perm ...]
176last_action  ::= op [perm ...]
177who          ::= a | u | g | o
178op           ::= + | \- | =
179perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
180.Ed
181.Pp
182The
183.Ar who
184symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
185of the mode bits, respectively.
186The
187.Ar who
188symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
189.Pp
190.ne 1i
191The
192.Ar perm
193symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
194.Pp
195.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
196.It r
197The read bits.
198.It s
199The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
200.It t
201The sticky bit.
202.It w
203The write bits.
204.It x
205The execute/search bits.
206.It X
207The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
208execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
209Operations with the
210.Ar perm
211symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
212.Ar op
213symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
214.It u
215The user permission bits in the mode of the original file.
216.It g
217The group permission bits in the mode of the original file.
218.It o
219The other permission bits in the mode of the original file.
220.El
221.Pp
222The
223.Ar op
224symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
225.Bl -tag -width 4n
226.It +
227If no value is supplied for
228.Ar perm ,
229the ``+'' operation has no effect.
230If no value is supplied for
231.Ar who ,
232each permission bit specified in
233.Ar perm ,
234for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
235is clear, is set.
236Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
237.Ar who
238and
239.Ar perm
240values are set.
241.It \&\-
242If no value is supplied for
243.Ar perm ,
244the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
245If no value is supplied for
246.Ar who ,
247each permission bit specified in
248.Ar perm ,
249for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
250is clear, is cleared.
251Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
252.Ar who
253and
254.Ar perm
255values are cleared.
256.It =
257The mode bits specified by the
258.Ar who
259value are cleared, or, if no who value is specified, the owner, group
260and other mode bits are cleared.
261Then, if no value is supplied for
262.Ar who ,
263each permission bit specified in
264.Ar perm ,
265for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
266is clear, is set.
267Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
268.Ar who
269and
270.Ar perm
271values are set.
272.El
273.Pp
274Each
275.Ar clause
276specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
277bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
278order specified.
279.Pp
280Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
281``o'' by itself), in combination with the
282.Ar perm
283symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
284.Sh EXAMPLES
285.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
286.It Li 644
287make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
288.Pp
289.It Li go-w
290deny write permission to group and others.
291.Pp
292.It Li =rw,+X
293set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
294retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
295.Pp
296.It Li +X
297make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
298already searchable/executable by anyone.
299.Pp
300.It Li 755
301.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
302.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
303make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
304.Pp
305.It Li go=
306clear all mode bits for group and others.
307.Pp
308.It Li g=u-w
309set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
310.El
311.Sh BUGS
312There's no
313.Ar perm
314option for the naughty bits.
315.Sh COMPATIBILITY
316The
317.Fl v
318option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
319.Sh SEE ALSO
320.Xr chflags 1 ,
321.Xr install 1 ,
322.Xr chmod 2 ,
323.Xr stat 2 ,
324.Xr umask 2 ,
325.Xr fts 3 ,
326.Xr setmode 3 ,
327.Xr symlink 7 ,
328.Xr chown 8 ,
329.Xr mount 8 ,
330.Xr sticky 8
331.Sh STANDARDS
332The
333.Nm
334utility is expected to be
335.St -p1003.2
336compatible with the exception of the
337.Ar perm
338symbols
339.Dq t
340and
341.Dq X
342which are not included in that standard.
343.Sh HISTORY
344A
345.Nm
346command appeared in
347.At v1 .
348