xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision 6e8394b8baa7d5d9153ab90de6824bcd19b3b4e1)
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35.\"	@(#)chmod.1	8.4 (Berkeley) 3/31/94
36.\"	$Id: chmod.1,v 1.10 1998/05/19 06:24:50 jkoshy Exp $
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 R
48.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
49.Oc
50.Ar mode
51.Ar file ...
52.Sh DESCRIPTION
53The
54.Nm
55utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files
56as specified by the
57.Ar mode
58operand.
59.Pp
60The options are as follows:
61.Bl -tag -width Ds
62.It Fl H
63If the
64.Fl R
65option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
66(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
67.It Fl L
68If the
69.Fl R
70option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
71.It Fl P
72If the
73.Fl R
74option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
75.It Fl R
76Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files
77instead of just the files themselves.
78.El
79.Pp
80Symbolic links do not have modes, so unless the
81.Fl H
82or
83.Fl L
84option is set,
85.Nm
86on a symbolic link always succeeds and has no effect.
87The
88.Fl H ,
89.Fl L
90and
91.Fl P
92options are ignored unless the
93.Fl R
94option is specified.
95In addition, these options override each other and the
96command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
97.Pp
98Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
99the mode of a file.
100.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
101The
102.Nm
103utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
104.Sh MODES
105Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
106An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
107one or more of the following values:
108.Pp
109.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
110.It Li 4000
111(the set-user-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
112will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
113Directories with the set-user-id bit set will force all files and
114sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
115and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
116system supports this feature: see
117.Xr chmod 2
118and the
119.Ar suiddir
120option to
121.Xr mount 1 .
122.It Li 2000
123(the set-group-ID-on-execution bit)  Executable files with this bit set
124will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
125.It Li 1000
126(the sticky bit)
127When set on a directory, unprivileged users can delete and rename
128only those files in the directory that are owned by them, regardless of
129the permissions on the directory.  Under FreeBSD, the sticky bit is
130ignored for executable files and may only be set for directories (see
131.Xr sticky 8 ).
132.It Li 0400
133Allow read by owner.
134.It Li 0200
135Allow write by owner.
136.It Li 0100
137For files, allow execution by owner.  For directories, allow the owner to
138search in the directory.
139.It Li 0040
140Allow read by group members.
141.It Li 0020
142Allow write by group members.
143.It Li 0010
144For files, allow execution by group members.  For directories, allow
145group members to search in the directory.
146.It Li 0004
147Allow read by others.
148.It Li 0002
149Allow write by others.
150.It Li 0001
151For files, allow execution by others.  For directories allow others to
152search in the directory.
153.El
154.Pp
155For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
156the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
157others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
158(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
159.Pp
160The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
161.Bd -literal -offset indent
162mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
163clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] last_action
164action       ::= op [perm ...]
165last_action  ::= op [perm ...]
166who          ::= a | u | g | o
167op           ::= + | \- | =
168perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
169.Ed
170.Pp
171The
172.Ar who
173symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
174of the mode bits, respectively.
175The
176.Ar who
177symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
178.Pp
179.ne 1i
180The
181.Ar perm
182symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
183.Pp
184.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
185.It r
186The read bits.
187.It s
188The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
189.It t
190The sticky bit.
191.It w
192The write bits.
193.It x
194The execute/search bits.
195.It X
196The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
197execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
198Operations with the
199.Ar perm
200symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
201.Ar op
202symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
203.It u
204The user permission bits in the mode of the original file.
205.It g
206The group permission bits in the mode of the original file.
207.It o
208The other permission bits in the mode of the original file.
209.El
210.Pp
211The
212.Ar op
213symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
214.Bl -tag -width 4n
215.It +
216If no value is supplied for
217.Ar perm ,
218the ``+'' operation has no effect.
219If no value is supplied for
220.Ar who ,
221each permission bit specified in
222.Ar perm ,
223for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
224is clear, is set.
225Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
226.Ar who
227and
228.Ar perm
229values are set.
230.It \&\-
231If no value is supplied for
232.Ar perm ,
233the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
234If no value is supplied for
235.Ar who ,
236each permission bit specified in
237.Ar perm ,
238for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
239is clear, is cleared.
240Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
241.Ar who
242and
243.Ar perm
244values are cleared.
245.It =
246The mode bits specified by the
247.Ar who
248value are cleared, or, if no who value is specified, the owner, group
249and other mode bits are cleared.
250Then, if no value is supplied for
251.Ar who ,
252each permission bit specified in
253.Ar perm ,
254for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
255is clear, is set.
256Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
257.Ar who
258and
259.Ar perm
260values are set.
261.El
262.Pp
263Each
264.Ar clause
265specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
266bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
267order specified.
268.Pp
269Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
270``o'' by itself), in combination with the
271.Ar perm
272symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
273.Sh EXAMPLES
274.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
275.It Li 644
276make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
277.Pp
278.It Li go-w
279deny write permission to group and others.
280.Pp
281.It Li =rw,+X
282set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
283retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
284.Pp
285.It Li +X
286make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
287already searchable/executable by anyone.
288.Pp
289.It Li 755
290.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
291.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
292make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
293.Pp
294.It Li go=
295clear all mode bits for group and others.
296.Pp
297.It Li g=u-w
298set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
299.El
300.Sh BUGS
301There's no
302.Ar perm
303option for the naughty bits.
304.Sh SEE ALSO
305.Xr chflags 1 ,
306.Xr install 1 ,
307.Xr mount 1 ,
308.Xr chmod 2 ,
309.Xr stat 2 ,
310.Xr umask 2 ,
311.Xr fts 3 ,
312.Xr setmode 3 ,
313.Xr symlink 7 ,
314.Xr chown 8 ,
315.Xr sticky 8
316.Sh STANDARDS
317The
318.Nm
319utility is expected to be
320.St -p1003.2
321compatible with the exception of the
322.Ar perm
323symbols
324.Dq t
325and
326.Dq X
327which are not included in that standard.
328.Sh HISTORY
329A
330.Nm
331command appeared in
332.At v1 .
333