xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision b52b9d56d4e96089873a75f9e29062eec19fabba)
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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
106.Ex -std
107.Sh MODES
108Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
109An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
110one or more of the following values:
111.Pp
112.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
113.It Li 4000
114(the set-user-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
115will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
116Directories with the set-user-id bit set will force all files and
117sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
118and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
119system supports this feature: see
120.Xr chmod 2
121and the
122.Ar suiddir
123option to
124.Xr mount 8 .
125.It Li 2000
126(the set-group-ID-on-execution bit)  Executable files with this bit set
127will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
128.It Li 1000
129(the sticky bit)
130See
131.Xr chmod 2
132and
133.Xr sticky 8 .
134.It Li 0400
135Allow read by owner.
136.It Li 0200
137Allow write by owner.
138.It Li 0100
139For files, allow execution by owner.  For directories, allow the owner to
140search in the directory.
141.It Li 0040
142Allow read by group members.
143.It Li 0020
144Allow write by group members.
145.It Li 0010
146For files, allow execution by group members.  For directories, allow
147group members to search in the directory.
148.It Li 0004
149Allow read by others.
150.It Li 0002
151Allow write by others.
152.It Li 0001
153For files, allow execution by others.  For directories allow others to
154search in the directory.
155.El
156.Pp
157For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
158the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
159others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
160(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
161.Pp
162The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
163.Bd -literal -offset indent
164mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
165clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] action
166action       ::= op [perm ...]
167who          ::= a | u | g | o
168op           ::= + | \- | =
169perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
170.Ed
171.Pp
172The
173.Ar who
174symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
175of the mode bits, respectively.
176The
177.Ar who
178symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
179.Pp
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 original mode of the file.
205.It g
206The group permission bits in the original mode of the file.
207.It o
208The other permission bits in the original mode of the 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 COMPATIBILITY
305The
306.Fl v
307option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
308.Sh SEE ALSO
309.Xr chflags 1 ,
310.Xr install 1 ,
311.Xr chmod 2 ,
312.Xr stat 2 ,
313.Xr umask 2 ,
314.Xr fts 3 ,
315.Xr setmode 3 ,
316.Xr symlink 7 ,
317.Xr chown 8 ,
318.Xr mount 8 ,
319.Xr sticky 8
320.Sh STANDARDS
321The
322.Nm
323utility is expected to be
324.St -p1003.2
325compatible with the exception of the
326.Ar perm
327symbol
328.Dq t
329which is not included in that standard.
330.Sh HISTORY
331A
332.Nm
333command appeared in
334.At v1 .
335