Change permission folders linux

Change folder permissions and ownership

I would like the user to have full rights on this folder (as well as all sub-directories and files in it):

currently owned by root. I have found numerous posts (in this forum and elsewhere) on how to do this for files but I can’t find a way to do it for whole folders.

9 Answers 9

Use chown to change ownership and chmod to change rights.

As Paweł Karpiński said, use the -R option to apply the rights for all files inside of a directory too.

Note that both these commands just work for directories too. The -R option makes them also change the permissions for all files and directories inside of the directory.

sudo chown -R username:group directory 

will change ownership (both user and group) of all files and directories inside of directory and directory itself.

sudo chown username:group directory 

will only change the permission of the folder directory but will leave the files and folders inside the directory alone.

As enzotib mentioned, you need to use sudo to change the ownership from root to yourself.

Note that if you use chown : (Note the left-out group), it will use the default group for that user.

If you want to change only the group, you can use:

BEWARE of recursively taking ownership of ANY directory. Think before you leap. Don’t be chown copypastin’ from the internet, kids. Just because you want to install a node package and it won’t let you, don’t sudo chown -R just because the fist hit from googling the error message says to. Reckless sudo chown -R -ing can kill your OS.

It needs to be said that using the -R option only applies to files and folders that exist in the directory already. It does NOT apply to future creations. For example, if you create another folder or file as root within the folder you’ve already changed permissions on, you will have the same experiences you’re having now until you chmod\chown them again.

Make the current user own everything inside the folder (and the folder itself):

very helpful for newbies (like me) when don’t know what to type in ‘usergroup’ for sudo chown : -R /.blabla

If you prefer, this can be done with a GUI as well. You will need to open Nautilus as root to do so. Press Alt + F2 to access the «Run Applications» dialog and enter gksu nautilus

Next, browse to and right click on the folder you would like to modify. Then, select «Properties» from the context menu. You can now select the user or group that you would like to be the «Owner» of the folder as well as the permissions you would like to grant them. Finally, press «Apply Permissions to Enclosed Files» to apply the changes recursively.

Though it seems this does not always work for some operations in a deep folder tree. If it does not work use the appropriate terminal command.

Источник

Linux File Permission Tutorial: How to Check and Change Permissions

Linux, like other Unix-like operating systems, allows multiple users to work on the same server simultaneously without disrupting each other.

Individuals sharing access to files pose a risk exposing classified information or even data loss if other users access their files or directories. To address this, Unix added the file permission feature to specify how much power each user has over a given file or directory.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to view and change file permissions in Linux.

How to View Check Permissions in Linux

To start with file permissions, you have to find the current Linux permission settings. There are two options to choose from, depending on your personal preference: checking through the graphical interface or using the command.

Check Permissions using GUI

Finding the file (directory) permission via the graphical user interface is simple.

1. Locate the file you want to examine, right-click on the icon, and select Properties.

2. This opens a new window initially showing Basic information about the file.
Navigate to the second tab in the window, labeled Permissions.

3. There, you’ll see that the permission for each file differs according to three categories:

• Owner (the user who created the file/directory)
• Group (to which the owner belongs to)
• Others (all other users)

For each file, the owner can grant or restrict access to users according to the categories they fall in.

In our example, the owner of the file test.txt has access to “Read and write”, while other members of its group, as well as all other users, have “Read-only” access. Therefore, they can only open the file, but cannot make any modifications.

To alter the file configuration, the user can open the drop-down menu for each category and select the desired permission.

Additionally, you can make the file executable, allowing it to run as a program, by checking the Execute box.

Check Permissions in Command-Line with Ls Command

If you prefer using the command line, you can easily find a file’s permission settings with the ls command, used to list information about files/directories. You can also add the –l option to the command to see the information in the long list format.
To check the permission configuration of a file, use the command:

For instance, the command for the previously mentioned file would be:

As seen in the image above, the output provides the following information:

• file permission
• the owner (creator) of the file
• the group to which that owner belongs to
• the date of creation.

It shows the permission settings, grouped in a string of characters (-, r, w, x) classified into four sections:

1. File type. There are three possibilities for the type. It can either be a regular file (–), a directory (d) or a link (i).
2. File permission of the user (owner)
3. File permission of the owner’s group
4. File permission of other users

The characters r, w, and x stand for read, write, and execute.
The categories can have all three privileges, just specific ones, or none at all (represented by –, for denied).

Users that have reading permission can see the content of a file (or files in a directory). However, they cannot modify it (nor add/remove files in a directory). On the other hand, those who have writing privileges can edit (add and remove) files. Finally, being able to execute means the user can run the file. This option is mainly used for running scripts.

In the previous example, the output showed that test.txt is a regular file with read and write permission assigned to the owner, but gives read-only access to the group and others.

Using Chmod Command to Change File Permissions

As all Linux users, you will at some point need to modify the permission settings of a file/directory. The command that executes such tasks is the chmod command.

chmod [permission] [file_name]

There are two ways to define permission:

1. using symbols (alphanumerical characters)
2. using the octal notation method

Define File Permission with Symbolic Mode

To specify permission settings using alphanumerical characters, you’ll need to define accessibility for the user/owner (u), group (g), and others (o).

Type the initial letter for each class, followed by the equal sign (=) and the first letter of the read (r), write (w) and/or execute (x) privileges.

To set a file, so it is public for reading, writing, and executing, the command is:

chmod u=rwx,g=rwx,o=rwx [file_name]

To set permission as in the previously mentioned test.txt to be:
• read and write for the user
• read for the members of the group
• read for other users

Use the following command:

Note: There is no space between the categories; we only use commas to separate them.

Another way to specify permission is by using the octal/numeric format. This option is faster, as it requires less typing, although it is not as straightforward as the previous method.

Instead of letters, the octal format represents privileges with numbers:

The privileges are summed up and depicted by one number. Therefore, the possibilities are:

• 7 – for read, write, and execute permission
• 6 – for read and write privileges
• 5 – for read and execute privileges
• 4 – for read privileges

As you have to define permission for each category (user, group, owner), the command will include three (3) numbers (each representing the summation of privileges).

For instance, let’s look at the test.txt file that we symbolically configured with the chmod u=rw,g=r,o=r test.txt command.

The same permission settings can be defined using the octal format with the command:

Define File Permission in Octal/Numeric Mode

Note: If you need a more in-depth guide on how to use Chmod In Linux to change file permissions recursively, read our Chmod Recursive guide.

Changing User File and Group Ownership

Aside from changing file permissions, you may come across a situation that requires changing the user file ownership or even group ownership.

Performing either of these tasks requires you first need to switch to superuser privileges. Use one of the options outlined in the previous passage.

To change the file ownership use the chown command:

chown [user_name] [file_name]

Instead of [user_name] type in the name of the user who will be the new owner of the file.

To change the group ownership type in the following command:

chgrp [group_name] [file_name]

Instead of [group_name] type in the name of the group that will be the new owner of the file.

Learning how to check and change permissions of Linux files and directories are basic commands all users should master. To change file’s group permissions, you might find helpful our article on how to use the chgrp command.

No matter whether you prefer using the GUI or command-line, this article should help you better understand how to use file permissions.

Источник