CHMOD(1)                NetBSD General Commands Manual                CHMOD(1)

NAME
     chmod -- change file modes

SYNOPSIS
     chmod [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-h] mode file ...

DESCRIPTION
     The chmod utility modifies the file mode bits of the listed files as
     specified by the mode operand.

     The options are as follows:

     -H      If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line
             are followed.  (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal
             are not followed.)

     -L      If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.

     -P      If the -R option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.

     -R      Change the modes of the file hierarchies rooted in the files
             instead of just the files themselves.

     -h      If file is symbolic link, the mode of the link is changed.

     The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified.
     In addition, these options override each other and the command's actions
     are determined by the last one specified.

     Only the owner of a file or the super-user is permitted to change the
     mode of a file.

EXIT STATUS
     The chmod utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

MODES
     Modes may be absolute or symbolic.  An absolute mode is an octal number
     constructed by or'ing the following values:

           4000    set-user-ID-on-execution
           2000    set-group-ID-on-execution
           1000    sticky bit, see chmod(2)
           0400    read by owner
           0200    write by owner
           0100    execute (or search for directories) by owner
           0070    read, write, execute/search by group
           0007    read, write, execute/search by others

     The read, write, and execute/search values for group and others are
     encoded as described for owner.

     The symbolic mode is described by the following grammar:

           mode         ::= clause [, clause ...]
           clause       ::= [who ...] [action ...] last_action
           action       ::= op [perm ...]
           last_action  ::= op [perm ...]
           who          ::= a | u | g | o
           op           ::= + | - | =
           perm         ::= r | s | t | w | x | X | u | g | o

     The who symbols ``u'', ``g'', and ``o'' specify the user, group, and
     other parts of the mode bits, respectively.  The who symbol ``a'' is
     equivalent to ``ugo''.

     The perm symbols represent the portions of the mode bits as follows:

           r       The read bits.
           s       The set-user-ID-on-execution and set-group-ID-on-execution
                   bits.
           t       The sticky bit.
           w       The write bits.
           x       The execute/search bits.
           X       The execute/search bits if the file is a directory or any
                   of the execute/search bits are set in the original (unmodi-
                   fied) mode.  Operations with the perm symbol ``X'' are only
                   meaningful in conjunction with the op symbol ``+'', and are
                   ignored in all other cases.
           u       The user permission bits in the mode of the original file.
           g       The group permission bits in the mode of the original file.
           o       The other permission bits in the mode of the original file.

     The op symbols represent the operation performed, as follows:

     +     If no value is supplied for perm, the ``+'' operation has no
           effect.  If no value is supplied for who, each permission bit spec-
           ified in perm, for which the corresponding bit in the file mode
           creation mask is clear, is set.  Otherwise, the mode bits repre-
           sented by the specified who and perm values are set.

     -     If no value is supplied for perm, the ``-'' operation has no
           effect.  If no value is supplied for who, each permission bit spec-
           ified in perm, for which the corresponding bit in the file mode
           creation mask is clear, is cleared.  Otherwise, the mode bits rep-
           resented by the specified who and perm values are cleared.

     =     The mode bits specified by the who value are cleared, or, if no who
           value is specified, the owner, group and other mode bits are
           cleared.  Then, if no value is supplied for who, each permission
           bit specified in perm, for which the corresponding bit in the file
           mode creation mask is clear, is set.  Otherwise, the mode bits rep-
           resented by the specified who and perm values are set.

     Each clause specifies one or more operations to be performed on the mode
     bits, and each operation is applied to the mode bits in the order speci-
     fied.

     Operations upon the other permissions only (specified by the symbol ``o''
     by itself), in combination with the perm symbols ``s'' or ``t'', are
     ignored.

EXAMPLES
     644           make a file readable by anyone and writable by the owner
                   only.

     go-w          deny write permission to group and others.

     =rw,+X        set the read and write permissions to the usual defaults,
                   but retain any execute permissions that are currently set.

     +X            make a directory or file searchable/executable by everyone
                   if it is already searchable/executable by anyone.

     755
     u=rwx,go=rx
     u=rwx,go=u-w  make a file readable/executable by everyone and writable by
                   the owner only.

     go=           clear all mode bits for group and others.

     g=u-w         set the group bits equal to the user bits, but clear the
                   group write bit.

SEE ALSO
     chflags(1), install(1), chmod(2), stat(2), umask(2), fts(3), setmode(3),
     symlink(7), chown(8)

STANDARDS
     The chmod utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'')
     compatible with the exception of the perm symbol ``t'' which is not
     included in that standard.

BUGS
     There's no perm option for the naughty bits.

NetBSD 5.0_STABLE              December 9, 2005              NetBSD 5.0_STABLE
