xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision 61ba55bcf70f2340f9c943c9571113b3fd8eda69)
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32.\"	@(#)chmod.1	8.4 (Berkeley) 3/31/94
33.\"
34.Dd January 7, 2017
35.Dt CHMOD 1
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm chmod
39.Nd change file modes
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Nm
42.Op Fl fhv
43.Op Fl R Op Fl H | L | P
44.Ar mode
45.Ar
46.Sh DESCRIPTION
47The
48.Nm
49utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files
50as specified by the
51.Ar mode
52operand.
53.Pp
54The options are as follows:
55.Bl -tag -width indent
56.It Fl f
57Do not display a diagnostic message if
58.Nm
59could not modify the mode for
60.Va file ,
61nor modify the exit status to reflect such failures.
62.It Fl H
63If the
64.Fl R
65option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed
66and hence unaffected by the command.
67(Symbolic links encountered during tree traversal are not followed.)
68.It Fl h
69If the file is a symbolic link, change the mode of the link itself
70rather than the file that the link points to.
71.It Fl L
72If the
73.Fl R
74option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
75.It Fl P
76If the
77.Fl R
78option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
79This is the default.
80.It Fl R
81Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files,
82instead of just the files themselves.
83Beware of unintentionally matching the
84.Dq Pa ".."
85hard link to the parent directory when using wildcards like
86.Dq Li ".*" .
87.It Fl v
88Cause
89.Nm
90to be verbose, showing filenames as the mode is modified.
91If the
92.Fl v
93flag is specified more than once, the old and new modes of the file
94will also be printed, in both octal and symbolic notation.
95.El
96.Pp
97The
98.Fl H ,
99.Fl L
100and
101.Fl P
102options are ignored unless the
103.Fl R
104option is specified.
105In addition, these options override each other and the
106command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
107.Pp
108If
109.Nm
110receives a
111.Dv SIGINFO
112signal (see the
113.Cm status
114argument for
115.Xr stty 1 ) ,
116then the current filename as well as the old and new modes are displayed.
117.Pp
118Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
119the mode of a file.
120.Sh EXIT STATUS
121.Ex -std
122.Sh MODES
123Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
124An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
125one or more of the following values:
126.Pp
127.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
128.It Li 4000
129(the setuid bit).
130Executable files with this bit set
131will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
132Directories with this bit set will force all files and
133sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
134and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
135system supports this feature: see
136.Xr chmod 2
137and the
138.Cm suiddir
139option to
140.Xr mount 8 .
141.It Li 2000
142(the setgid bit).
143Executable files with this bit set
144will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
145.It Li 1000
146(the sticky bit).
147See
148.Xr chmod 2
149and
150.Xr sticky 7 .
151.It Li 0400
152Allow read by owner.
153.It Li 0200
154Allow write by owner.
155.It Li 0100
156For files, allow execution by owner.
157For directories, allow the owner to
158search in the directory.
159.It Li 0040
160Allow read by group members.
161.It Li 0020
162Allow write by group members.
163.It Li 0010
164For files, allow execution by group members.
165For directories, allow
166group members to search in the directory.
167.It Li 0004
168Allow read by others.
169.It Li 0002
170Allow write by others.
171.It Li 0001
172For files, allow execution by others.
173For directories allow others to
174search in the directory.
175.El
176.Pp
177For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
178the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
179others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
180(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
181.Pp
182The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
183.Bd -literal -offset indent
184mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
185clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] action
186action       ::= op [perm ...]
187who          ::= a | u | g | o
188op           ::= + | \- | =
189perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
190.Ed
191.Pp
192The
193.Ar who
194symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
195of the mode bits, respectively.
196The
197.Ar who
198symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
199.Pp
200The
201.Ar perm
202symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
203.Pp
204.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
205.It r
206The read bits.
207.It s
208The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
209.It t
210The sticky bit.
211.It w
212The write bits.
213.It x
214The execute/search bits.
215.It X
216The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
217execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
218Operations with the
219.Ar perm
220symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
221.Ar op
222symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
223.It u
224The user permission bits in the original mode of the file.
225.It g
226The group permission bits in the original mode of the file.
227.It o
228The other permission bits in the original mode of the file.
229.El
230.Pp
231The
232.Ar op
233symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
234.Bl -tag -width 4n
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
244(see
245.Xr umask 2 )
246is clear, is set.
247Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
248.Ar who
249and
250.Ar perm
251values are set.
252.It \&\-
253If no value is supplied for
254.Ar perm ,
255the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
256If no value is supplied for
257.Ar who ,
258each permission bit specified in
259.Ar perm ,
260for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
261is set, is cleared.
262Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
263.Ar who
264and
265.Ar perm
266values are cleared.
267.It =
268The mode bits specified by the
269.Ar who
270value are cleared, or, if no
271.Ar who
272value is specified, the owner, group
273and other mode bits are cleared.
274Then, if no value is supplied for
275.Ar who ,
276each permission bit specified in
277.Ar perm ,
278for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
279is clear, is set.
280Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
281.Ar who
282and
283.Ar perm
284values are set.
285.El
286.Pp
287Each
288.Ar clause
289specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
290bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
291order specified.
292.Pp
293Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
294``o'' by itself), in combination with the
295.Ar perm
296symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
297.Pp
298The ``w'' permission on directories will permit file creation, relocation,
299and copy into that directory.
300Files created within the directory itself will inherit its group ID.
301.Sh EXAMPLES
302.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
303.It Li 644
304make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
305.Pp
306.It Li go-w
307deny write permission to group and others.
308.Pp
309.It Li =rw,+X
310set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
311retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
312.Pp
313.It Li +X
314make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
315already searchable/executable by anyone.
316.Pp
317.It Li 755
318.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
319.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
320make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
321.Pp
322.It Li go=
323clear all mode bits for group and others.
324.Pp
325.It Li g=u-w
326set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
327.El
328.Sh COMPATIBILITY
329The
330.Fl v
331option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
332.Sh SEE ALSO
333.Xr chflags 1 ,
334.Xr install 1 ,
335.Xr setfacl 1 ,
336.Xr chmod 2 ,
337.Xr stat 2 ,
338.Xr umask 2 ,
339.Xr fts 3 ,
340.Xr setmode 3 ,
341.Xr sticky 7 ,
342.Xr symlink 7 ,
343.Xr chown 8 ,
344.Xr mount 8
345.Sh STANDARDS
346The
347.Nm
348utility is expected to be
349.St -p1003.2
350compatible with the exception of the
351.Ar perm
352symbol
353.Dq t
354which is not included in that standard.
355.Sh HISTORY
356A
357.Nm
358command appeared in
359.At v1 .
360.Sh BUGS
361There is no
362.Ar perm
363option for the naughty bits of a horse.
364