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Permissions

Linux uses a permissions model to control access to files and programs. It distinguishes between users and groups, with each file assigned an owner and group. Permissions for the file owner, group and others are defined using read, write and execute attributes. When a program runs, the kernel checks the user's permissions for the file containing the program. File permissions can be set numerically or symbolically using the chmod command. Directory permissions also control access to their contents.

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67 views15 pages

Permissions

Linux uses a permissions model to control access to files and programs. It distinguishes between users and groups, with each file assigned an owner and group. Permissions for the file owner, group and others are defined using read, write and execute attributes. When a program runs, the kernel checks the user's permissions for the file containing the program. File permissions can be set numerically or symbolically using the chmod command. Directory permissions also control access to their contents.

Uploaded by

sheema shaik
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Linux System

Administration

Permissions

Getting Started with Linux


Goal

Understand the following:


 The Linux / Unix security model
 How a program is allowed to run
 Where user and group information is
stored
 Details of file permissions
Users and Groups

Linux understands Users and Groups


A user can belong to several groups
A file can belong to only one user and one
group at a time
A particular user, the superuser “root” has extra
privileges (uid = “0” in /etc/passwd)
Only root can change the ownership of a file
Users and Groups cont.

User information in /etc/passwd


Password info is in /etc/shadow
Group information is in /etc/group
/etc/passwd and /etc/group divide data
fields using “:”
/etc/passwd:
joeuser:x:1000:1000:Joe User,,,:/home/joeuser:/bin/bash

/etc/group:
joeuser:x:1000:
A program runs...

A program may be run by a user, when the


system starts or by another process.
Before the program can execute the kernel
inspects several things:
• Is the file containing the program accessible to the user
or group of the process that wants to run it?
• Does the file containing the program permit execution
by that user or group (or anybody)?
• In most cases, while executing, a program inherits the
privileges of the user/process who started it.
A program in detail

When we type:
ls -l /usr/bin/top
We'll see:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 68524 2011-12-19 07:18 /usr/bin/top

What does all this mean?


-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 68524 2011-12-19 07:18 /usr/bin/top

---------- --- ------- ------- -------- ------------ -------------


| | | | | | |
| | | | | | File Name
| | | | | |
| | | | | +--- Modification Time/Date
| | | | |
| | | | +------------- Size (in bytes
| | | |
| | | +----------------------- Group
| | |
| | +-------------------------------- Owner
| |
| +-------------------------------------- “link count”
|
+---------------------------------------------- File Permissions
Group
The name of the group that has permissions in addition to the file's owner.
Owner
The name of the user who owns the file.
File Permissions
The first character is the type of file. A "-" indicates a regular (ordinary) file. A "d”
indicate a directory. Second set of 3 characters represent the read, write, and execution
rights of the file's owner. Next 3 represent the rights of the file's group, and the final
3 represent the rights granted to everybody else.

(Example modified from http://www.linuxcommand.org/lts0030.php)


Access rights

Files are owned by a user and a group


(ownership)
Files have permissions for the user, the group,
and other
“other” permission is often referred to as “world”
The permissions are Read, Write and Execute
(R, W, X)
The user who owns a file is always allowed to
change its permissions
Some special cases

When looking at the output from “ls -l” in the


first column you might see:
d = directory
- = regular file
l = symbolic link
s = Unix domain socket
p = named pipe
c = character device file
b = block device file
Some special cases cont

In the Owner, Group and other columns you


might see:
s = setuid [when in Owner column]
s = setgid [when in Group column]
t = sticky bit [when at end]

Some References
http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/filepermissions.html
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/Links/class-info/330/Linux/linux.html
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2000/09/06/FreeBSD_Basics.html
File permissions

There are two ways to set permissions when


using the chmod command:
Symbolic mode:
testfile has permissions of -r--r--r--
U G O*
$ chmod g+x testfile ==> -r--r-xr--
$ chmod u+wx testfile ==> -rwxr-xr--
$ chmod ug-x testfile ==> -rw--r--r--
U=user, G=group, O=other (world)
File permissions cont.

Absolute mode:
We use octal (base eight) values represented like this:
Letter Permission Value
R read 4
W write 2
X execute 1
- none 0

For each column, User, Group or Other you can set


values from 0 to 7. Here is what each means:
0= --- 1= --x 2= -w- 3= -wx
4= r-- 5= r-x 6= rw- 7= rwx
File permissions cont.

Numeric mode cont:


Example index.html file with typical permission values:
$ chmod 755 index.html
$ ls -l index.html
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 0 May 24 06:20 index.html

$ chmod 644 index.html


$ ls -l index.html
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 May 24 06:20 index.html
Inherited permissions

Two critical points:


1.The permissions of a directory affect whether
someone can see its contents or add or
remove files in it.
2.The permissions on a file determine what a
user can do to the data in the file.
Example:
If you don't have write permission for a directory, then
you can't delete a file in the directory. If you have write
access to the file you can update the data in the file.
Conclusion

To reinforce these concepts let's do some


exercises.
In addition, a very nice reference on using the
chmod command is:

An Introduction to Unix Permissions -- Part Two


By Dru Lavigne (note, this is for FreeBSD)
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2000/09/13/FreeBSD_Basics.html

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