xref: /freebsd/bin/chmod/chmod.1 (revision c68159a6d8eede11766cf13896d0f7670dbd51aa)
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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.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 by
69default.)
70.It Fl L
71If the
72.Fl R
73option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
74.It Fl P
75If the
76.Fl R
77option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
78.It Fl R
79Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files
80instead of just the files themselves.
81.It Fl f
82Do not display a diagnostic message if
83.Nm
84could not modify the mode for
85.Va file .
86.It Fl v
87Cause
88.Nm
89to be verbose, showing files as the mode is modified.
90.El
91.Pp
92Symbolic links do not have modes, so unless the
93.Fl H
94or
95.Fl L
96option is set,
97.Nm
98on a symbolic link always succeeds and has no effect.
99The
100.Fl H ,
101.Fl L
102and
103.Fl P
104options are ignored unless the
105.Fl R
106option is specified.
107In addition, these options override each other and the
108command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
109.Pp
110Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change
111the mode of a file.
112.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
113The
114.Nm
115utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
116.Sh MODES
117Modes may be absolute or symbolic.
118An absolute mode is an octal number constructed from the sum of
119one or more of the following values:
120.Pp
121.Bl -tag -width 6n -compact -offset indent
122.It Li 4000
123(the set-user-ID-on-execution bit) Executable files with this bit set
124will run with effective uid set to the uid of the file owner.
125Directories with the set-user-id bit set will force all files and
126sub-directories created in them to be owned by the directory owner
127and not by the uid of the creating process, if the underlying file
128system supports this feature: see
129.Xr chmod 2
130and the
131.Ar suiddir
132option to
133.Xr mount 8 .
134.It Li 2000
135(the set-group-ID-on-execution bit)  Executable files with this bit set
136will run with effective gid set to the gid of the file owner.
137.It Li 1000
138(the sticky bit)
139When set on a directory, unprivileged users can delete and rename
140only those files in the directory that are owned by them, regardless of
141the permissions on the directory.  Under
142.Fx ,
143the sticky bit is
144ignored for executable files and may only be set for directories (see
145.Xr sticky 8 ).
146.It Li 0400
147Allow read by owner.
148.It Li 0200
149Allow write by owner.
150.It Li 0100
151For files, allow execution by owner.  For directories, allow the owner to
152search in the directory.
153.It Li 0040
154Allow read by group members.
155.It Li 0020
156Allow write by group members.
157.It Li 0010
158For files, allow execution by group members.  For directories, allow
159group members to search in the directory.
160.It Li 0004
161Allow read by others.
162.It Li 0002
163Allow write by others.
164.It Li 0001
165For files, allow execution by others.  For directories allow others to
166search in the directory.
167.El
168.Pp
169For example, the absolute mode that permits read, write and execute by
170the owner, read and execute by group members, read and execute by
171others, and no set-uid or set-gid behaviour is 755
172(400+200+100+040+010+004+001).
173.Pp
174The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:
175.Bd -literal -offset indent
176mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
177clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] action
178action       ::= op [perm ...]
179who          ::= a | u | g | o
180op           ::= + | \- | =
181perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o
182.Ed
183.Pp
184The
185.Ar who
186symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and other parts
187of the mode bits, respectively.
188The
189.Ar who
190symbol ``a'' is equivalent to ``ugo''.
191.Pp
192The
193.Ar perm
194symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:
195.Pp
196.Bl -tag -width Ds -compact -offset indent
197.It r
198The read bits.
199.It s
200The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution bits.
201.It t
202The sticky bit.
203.It w
204The write bits.
205.It x
206The execute/search bits.
207.It X
208The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any of the
209execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodified) mode.
210Operations with the
211.Ar perm
212symbol ``X'' are only meaningful in conjunction with the
213.Ar op
214symbol ``+'', and are ignored in all other cases.
215.It u
216The user permission bits in the mode of the original file.
217.It g
218The group permission bits in the mode of the original file.
219.It o
220The other permission bits in the mode of the original file.
221.El
222.Pp
223The
224.Ar op
225symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:
226.Bl -tag -width 4n
227.It +
228If no value is supplied for
229.Ar perm ,
230the ``+'' operation has no effect.
231If no value is supplied for
232.Ar who ,
233each permission bit specified in
234.Ar perm ,
235for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
236is clear, is set.
237Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
238.Ar who
239and
240.Ar perm
241values are set.
242.It \&\-
243If no value is supplied for
244.Ar perm ,
245the ``\-'' operation has no effect.
246If no value is supplied for
247.Ar who ,
248each permission bit specified in
249.Ar perm ,
250for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
251is clear, is cleared.
252Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
253.Ar who
254and
255.Ar perm
256values are cleared.
257.It =
258The mode bits specified by the
259.Ar who
260value are cleared, or, if no who value is specified, the owner, group
261and other mode bits are cleared.
262Then, if no value is supplied for
263.Ar who ,
264each permission bit specified in
265.Ar perm ,
266for which the corresponding bit in the file mode creation mask
267is clear, is set.
268Otherwise, the mode bits represented by the specified
269.Ar who
270and
271.Ar perm
272values are set.
273.El
274.Pp
275Each
276.Ar clause
277specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
278bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the
279order specified.
280.Pp
281Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol
282``o'' by itself), in combination with the
283.Ar perm
284symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are ignored.
285.Sh EXAMPLES
286.Bl -tag -width "u=rwx,go=u-w" -compact
287.It Li 644
288make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner only.
289.Pp
290.It Li go-w
291deny write permission to group and others.
292.Pp
293.It Li =rw,+X
294set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults, but
295retain any execute permissions that are currently set.
296.Pp
297.It Li +X
298make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone if it is
299already searchable/executable by anyone.
300.Pp
301.It Li 755
302.It Li u=rwx,go=rx
303.It Li u=rwx,go=u-w
304make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by the owner only.
305.Pp
306.It Li go=
307clear all mode bits for group and others.
308.Pp
309.It Li g=u-w
310set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the group write bit.
311.El
312.Sh BUGS
313There's no
314.Ar perm
315option for the naughty bits.
316.Sh COMPATIBILITY
317The
318.Fl v
319option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
320.Sh SEE ALSO
321.Xr chflags 1 ,
322.Xr install 1 ,
323.Xr chmod 2 ,
324.Xr stat 2 ,
325.Xr umask 2 ,
326.Xr fts 3 ,
327.Xr setmode 3 ,
328.Xr symlink 7 ,
329.Xr chown 8 ,
330.Xr mount 8 ,
331.Xr sticky 8
332.Sh STANDARDS
333The
334.Nm
335utility is expected to be
336.St -p1003.2
337compatible with the exception of the
338.Ar perm
339symbols
340.Dq t
341and
342.Dq X
343which are not included in that standard.
344.Sh HISTORY
345A
346.Nm
347command appeared in
348.At v1 .
349