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Understanding Permissions and Ownership in Bash

The document explains file permissions and ownership in Linux/Bash, detailing the three-tiered permission system (User, Group, Others) and the types of permissions (Read, Write, Execute). It covers how to change file permissions using `chmod`, change file ownership with `chown`, and change group ownership with `chgrp`, including examples for each command. Understanding these concepts is essential for maintaining system security and proper file access control.

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13 views

Understanding Permissions and Ownership in Bash

The document explains file permissions and ownership in Linux/Bash, detailing the three-tiered permission system (User, Group, Others) and the types of permissions (Read, Write, Execute). It covers how to change file permissions using `chmod`, change file ownership with `chown`, and change group ownership with `chgrp`, including examples for each command. Understanding these concepts is essential for maintaining system security and proper file access control.

Uploaded by

helio.campos.brasil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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# Understanding Permissions and Ownership in Bash

This file explains basic concepts of file permissions and ownership in Linux/Bash.

1. Understanding Permissions
- Linux uses a three-tiered permission system: User (owner), Group, and Others (everyone
else).
- For each tier, there are three types of permissions: Read (r), Write (w), and Execute (x).
- Permissions are typically displayed in the long listing (`ls -l`) as a string like `-rw-r--r--` or
`drwxr-xr-x`.
- The first character indicates the file type (`-` for regular file, `d` for directory).
- The next three characters are the user's permissions.
- The following three are the group's permissions.
- The last three are the others' permissions.

2. chmod: Change File Permissions


- Modifies the permissions of files and directories.
- **Symbolic Mode:** Uses letters to represent users (u=user, g=group, o=others, a=all),
operators (+ to add, - to remove, = to set), and permissions (r, w, x).
- `chmod u+x <filename>`: Adds execute permission for the owner.
- `chmod g-w <filename>`: Removes write permission for the group.
- `chmod o=r <filename>`: Sets read-only permission for others.
- `chmod a+r <filename>`: Adds read permission for all.
- **Numeric Mode:** Uses octal numbers to represent permissions for user, group, and
others (read=4, write=2, execute=1, and their combinations).
- `chmod 755 <filename>`: User: rwx (4+2+1=7), Group: r-x (4+0+1=5), Others: r-x
(4+0+1=5).
- `chmod 644 <filename>`: User: rw- (4+2+0=6), Group: r-- (4+0+0=4), Others: r--
(4+0+0=4).
- Example: `chmod u+x script.sh`, `chmod 777 world_writable_file.txt` (use with caution!)

3. chown: Change File Owner


- Changes the user ownership of files and directories (requires superuser privileges - often
used with `sudo`).
- `chown <new_owner> <filename>`: Changes the owner to the specified user.
- `chown <new_owner>:<new_group> <filename>`: Changes both the owner and the
group.
- `chown -R <new_owner> <directory>`: Recursively changes the owner of all files and
subdirectories within the directory.
- Example: `sudo chown user1 myfile.txt`, `sudo chown webuser:www-group
/var/www/html`

4. chgrp: Change Group Ownership


- Changes the group ownership of files and directories (requires superuser privileges or
being a member of the new group).
- `chgrp <new_group> <filename>`: Changes the group to the specified group.
- `chgrp -R <new_group> <directory>`: Recursively changes the group of all files and
subdirectories.
- Example: `chgrp developers myproject/`, `sudo chgrp admins important_files/`

Understanding and managing permissions and ownership is crucial for system security and
proper file access control.

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