xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision c4f6a2a9e1b1879b618c436ab4f56ff75c73a0f5)
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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 filenames as the mode is modified.
90If the
91.Fl v
92flag is specified more than once, the old and new modes of the file
93will also be printed, in both octal and symbolic notation.
94.El
95.Pp
96The
97.Fl H ,
98.Fl L
99and
100.Fl P
101options are ignored unless the
102.Fl R
103option is specified.
104In addition, these options override each other and the
105command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
106.Pp
107Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
108the mode of a file.
109.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
110.Ex -std
111.Sh MODES
112Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
113An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
114one or more of the following values:
115.Pp
116.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
117.It Li 4000
118(the set-user-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
119will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
120Directories with the set-user-id bit set will force all files and
121sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
122and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
123system supports this feature: see
124.Xr chmod 2
125and the
126.Ar suiddir
127option to
128.Xr mount 8 .
129.It Li 2000
130(the set-group-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
131will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
132.It Li 1000
133(the sticky bit)
134See
135.Xr chmod 2
136and
137.Xr sticky 8 .
138.It Li 0400
139Allow read by owner.
140.It Li 0200
141Allow write by owner.
142.It Li 0100
143For files, allow execution by owner.
144For 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.
152For directories, allow
153group members to search in the directory.
154.It Li 0004
155Allow read by others.
156.It Li 0002
157Allow write by others.
158.It Li 0001
159For files, allow execution by others.
160For directories allow others to
161search in the directory.
162.El
163.Pp
164For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
165the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
166others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
167(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
168.Pp
169The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
170.Bd -literal -offset indent
171mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
172clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] action
173action       ::= op [perm ...]
174who          ::= a | u | g | o
175op           ::= + | \- | =
176perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
177.Ed
178.Pp
179The
180.Ar who
181symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
182of the mode bits, respectively.
183The
184.Ar who
185symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
186.Pp
187The
188.Ar perm
189symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
190.Pp
191.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
192.It r
193The read bits.
194.It s
195The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
196.It t
197The sticky bit.
198.It w
199The write bits.
200.It x
201The execute/search bits.
202.It X
203The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
204execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
205Operations with the
206.Ar perm
207symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
208.Ar op
209symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
210.It u
211The user permission bits in the original mode of the file.
212.It g
213The group permission bits in the original mode of the file.
214.It o
215The other permission bits in the original mode of the file.
216.El
217.Pp
218The
219.Ar op
220symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
221.Bl -tag -width 4n
222.It +
223If no value is supplied for
224.Ar perm ,
225the ``+'' operation has no effect.
226If no value is supplied for
227.Ar who ,
228each permission bit specified in
229.Ar perm ,
230for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
231is clear, is set.
232Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
233.Ar who
234and
235.Ar perm
236values are set.
237.It \&\-
238If no value is supplied for
239.Ar perm ,
240the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
241If no value is supplied for
242.Ar who ,
243each permission bit specified in
244.Ar perm ,
245for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
246is clear, is cleared.
247Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
248.Ar who
249and
250.Ar perm
251values are cleared.
252.It =
253The mode bits specified by the
254.Ar who
255value are cleared, or, if no who value is specified, the owner, group
256and other mode bits are cleared.
257Then, if no value is supplied for
258.Ar who ,
259each permission bit specified in
260.Ar perm ,
261for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
262is clear, is set.
263Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
264.Ar who
265and
266.Ar perm
267values are set.
268.El
269.Pp
270Each
271.Ar clause
272specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
273bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
274order specified.
275.Pp
276Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
277``o'' by itself), in combination with the
278.Ar perm
279symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
280.Sh EXAMPLES
281.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
282.It Li 644
283make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
284.Pp
285.It Li go-w
286deny write permission to group and others.
287.Pp
288.It Li =rw,+X
289set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
290retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
291.Pp
292.It Li +X
293make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
294already searchable/executable by anyone.
295.Pp
296.It Li 755
297.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
298.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
299make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
300.Pp
301.It Li go=
302clear all mode bits for group and others.
303.Pp
304.It Li g=u-w
305set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
306.El
307.Sh BUGS
308There's no
309.Ar perm
310option for the naughty bits.
311.Sh COMPATIBILITY
312The
313.Fl v
314option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
315.Sh SEE ALSO
316.Xr chflags 1 ,
317.Xr install 1 ,
318.Xr chmod 2 ,
319.Xr stat 2 ,
320.Xr umask 2 ,
321.Xr fts 3 ,
322.Xr setmode 3 ,
323.Xr symlink 7 ,
324.Xr chown 8 ,
325.Xr mount 8 ,
326.Xr sticky 8
327.Sh STANDARDS
328The
329.Nm
330utility is expected to be
331.St -p1003.2
332compatible with the exception of the
333.Ar perm
334symbol
335.Dq t
336which is not included in that standard.
337.Sh HISTORY
338A
339.Nm
340command appeared in
341.At v1 .
342