Linux set file as executable

Creating executable files in Linux

One thing I plan to be doing is writing (painfully simple) Perl scripts, and I’d like to be able to run them without explicitly calling Perl from the terminal. I appreciate that, to do this, I need to grant them execute permissions. Doing this with chmod is easy enough, but it also seems like a slightly laborious extra step. What I would like is one of two things: Firstly, is there a way to set the execute flag when saving a file? Currently I’m experimenting with gedit and geany, but would be willing to switch to a similarly- (or better-) featured editor if it had this capability. Failing that, is there a way to declare that all files created in a particular directory should have execute permissions? My umask is set to 022, which should be OK, as far as I understand, but it would appear that the files are created as text files (with 666 default permissions) rather than executable files (with 777 default permissions). Perhaps I’m just being lazy, but I figure there must be a more convenient way than chmodding every single script one creates.

You have to print the output of every file. You have to import the right libraries of every file. This seems like another step in the process of programming, and one that is dangerous to circumvent.

5 Answers 5

This should return something like

Then in the first line of your script add:

Then you can execute the file

There may be some issues with the PATH, so you may want to change that as well .

Thanks, but that’s not quite my problem. I’ve already gotten into the habit of starting my scripts with #!/usr/bin/perl. I can run scripts fine once I’ve given them executable permissions; I was just looking for a simpler way of doing so.

May I recommend #!/usr/bin/env perl instead? The env program basically finds the argument given (in this case, «perl») on the PATH and runs that. It’s useful when you’re sending scripts to other people — for example, I use a Mac, and Perl is located in /opt/local/bin.

No need to hack your editor, or switch editors.

Instead we can come up with a script to watch your development directories and chmod files as they’re created. This is what I’ve done in the attached bash script. You probably want to read through the comments and edit the ‘config’ section as fits your needs, then I would suggest putting it in your $HOME/bin/ directory and adding its execution to your $HOME/.login or similar file. Or you can just run it from the terminal.

This script does require inotifywait, which comes in the inotify-tools package on Ubuntu,

sudo apt-get install inotify-tools 

Suggestions/edits/improvements are welcome.

#!/usr/bin/env bash # --- usage --- # # Depends: 'inotifywait' available in inotify-tools on Ubuntu # # Edit the 'config' section below to reflect your working directory, WORK_DIR, # and your watched directories, WATCH_DIR. Each directory in WATCH_DIR will # be logged by inotify and this script will 'chmod +x' any new files created # therein. If SUBDIRS is 'TRUE' this script will watch WATCH_DIRS recursively. # I recommend adding this script to your $HOME/.login or similar to have it # run whenever you log into a shell, eg 'echo "watchdirs.sh &" >> ~/.login'. # This script will only allow one instance of itself to run at a time. # --- config --- # WORK_DIR="$HOME/path/to/devel" # top working directory (for cleanliness?) WATCH_DIRS=" \ $WORK_DIR/dirA \ $WORK_DIR/dirC \ " # list of directories to watch SUBDIRS="TRUE" # watch subdirectories too NOTIFY_ARGS="-e create -q" # watch for create events, non-verbose # --- script starts here --- # # probably don't need to edit beyond this point # kill all previous instances of myself SCRIPT="bash.*`basename $0`" MATCHES=`ps ax | egrep $SCRIPT | grep -v grep | awk '' | grep -v $$` kill $MATCHES >& /dev/null # set recursive notifications (for subdirectories) if [ "$SUBDIRS" = "TRUE" ] ; then RECURSE="-r" else RECURSE="" fi while true ; do # grab an event EVENT=`inotifywait $RECURSE $NOTIFY_ARGS $WATCH_DIRS` # parse the event into DIR, TAGS, FILE OLDIFS=$IFS ; IFS=" " ; set -- $EVENT E_DIR=$1 E_TAGS=$2 E_FILE=$3 IFS=$OLDIFS # skip if it's not a file event or already executable (unlikely) if [ ! -f "$E_DIR$E_FILE" ] || [ -x "$E_DIR$E_FILE" ] ; then continue fi # set file executable chmod +x $E_DIR$E_FILE done 

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How To Make A File Executable In Linux

If you’re someone with a background in a Windows operating system, chances are you’re aware of the “.exe” files. These files are referred to as executable files because their purpose is to execute a series of commands that make up the whole program.

However, when you make the change to a Linux distribution, this division of executable vs. non-executable does not apply. Any file can be made executable in Linux since it does not require a certain extension to be declared as an executable.

This provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to file management.

If you’re someone looking to learn how to make a file executable in Linux, then this guide is meant for you. We’ll provide a step-by-step solution on how you can make any file executable, either using the CLI or the GUI method.

Let’s take a look at the steps.

Method 1: Using The Command Terminal

The first method makes use of the Command Terminal. You can make any file executable by typing certain commands in the Terminal.

Although we’re going to be using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS in this guide, the steps shouldn’t be any different for other Linux distributions. With that said, just follow the steps explained with the help of an example.

First and foremost, open the Command Terminal on your system. The shortcut for Ubuntu is Ctrl + Alt + T.

For this guide, we’ll create a sample file using the echo command by using the following command:

This command will create a string literal with the text “This is a guide on how to make a file executable in Linux” and store it in a file called Test1.

To view the content of the file, type the following command:

You should notice that the file doesn’t end with an extension name. This means that you have the option to make the file executable.

In order to make Test1 an executable file, we’ll use the following command:

In case of a file extension, the command becomes:

Now you can call your file by typing its name in the Terminal as follow:

You can also execute the command in the following manner:

This will provide appropriate permission for the file to be executed.

If the CLI method seems complicated to you, worry not as you can achieve the same results with the help of the GUI.

Method 2: Using the GUI

Unlike the CLI method, the GUI method is much less daunting and simplified to understand what’s going on.

Follow these steps to make a file executable using the GUI.

Start by navigating to the file of your choice. Once you’ve navigated to the file, right-click on it and select “Properties”. A new window should appear.

Once a window opens, click on the Permissions tab.

In the Permissions tab, you should see an option titled “Allow executing file as program.”

You should now have the desired file in an executable format if you followed the steps correctly.

Understanding How File Execution Works

Learning how file execution works in Linux has its benefits as it provides more flexibility when it comes to an understanding of how the file works.

In Method 1, we used the command chmod +x. This was necessary in order to make the file executable since the file required “read” privileges. The “./” tells the Terminal to search for the location of the file.

Aside from Method 1, there are other ways to use the $ chmod command. This flexibility makes $ chmod extremely valuable. A list of options for the $ chmod command is given below:

• $ chmod 775 . This mode allows anyone to execute the file. However, only the owner of the file has permission to write in that file.
• $ chmod 0010 . Only users of a group will be allowed to execute the file.
• $ chmod 0100 . Permission to execute the file belongs exclusively to the user.
• $ chmod 777 . Provides permission to execute the file to all Linux users.
• $ chmod -777 . Doesn’t allow any user to execute the file.

Additional Information

Although the $ chmod command works for files without extension type, it should be noted that you’ll need to specify the file type in case it’s mentioned. For example, if you are dealing with a file that has a .run or .bin extension. The syntax for the execution command would be:

Additionally, make sure you have the correct name, file type, and file location before making any file executable.

Conclusion

If you followed the steps in the guide correctly, then the good news is you are now aware of how to make a file executable in Linux.

This guide covered different methods to make the file executable in Linux. We started by explaining the method involving the Command Terminal and followed up with the method to achieve the same with the help of the Graphical User Interface(GUI). We also covered additional uses of the $chmod command and the different permissions.

With this, we wish you all the best in your journey to master Linux.

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How to Make a File Executable in Linux

Making bash script files executable is an efficient way to run your bash programs because by default the scripts are not executable. This is useful mainly for system administrators, as they need to develop several bash scripts daily to automate their tasks. For example, you might wish to run bash scripts to back up your work or log certain events on your server. So this article will guide you on how you can make your bash scripts executable, and for that, there are two main ways:

• Make a bash file executable using the CHMOD command
• Make a bash file executable using file properties

How to make a file executable using the chmod command

The “chmod” command stands for change mode, and this command can be used to make changes in the file permissions, such as you can make a file writable, readable, and executable. To see these permissions for any file, first, let’s create a bash script file in nano editor:

Then we have written some text and saved the file as shown below:

echo ”This is a test file to make it executable.”

Use the below-mentioned command to check whether the file is executable or not:

In the above image, the letter ‘r’ shows that the file is readable, and ‘w’ shows that the file is writeable and ‘x’ shows that the file is executable, which is currently missing on the above output, and that means you cannot execute this file for now. To verify this, you can execute this file by following the general syntax shown below.

As you can see, it shows an error after trying to execute the text file, and this is where the chmod command comes in handy. To make this file executable, all you need to do is to follow the general syntax shown below:

In the above image, ‘u+x’ shows that you are giving permission to the user to execute a specific file, and you can see that it added a letter ‘x’ in the image and after that, you need to run this bash file by typing.

It can be seen that the content of the bash file is now executed without any error.

How to make a file executable using file properties

You can also make a file executable by right-clicking on the bash file and selecting its ‘Properties’ as shown below:

The next step is to select the ‘Permissions’ tab and then check the option of ‘Allow executing file as program’.

This will also allow you to execute the bash file for which you have selected this option, upon double clicking the file, you will get the prompt as shown below:

You can either get output in the terminal or directly run the script for the desired result.

Conclusion

Making a bash script executable allows you to execute your bash scripts without having to type bash in the terminal. This is especially useful for system administrators, who need to write several bash scripts every day to automate their jobs. So in this article, we have taught you how you can make any bash file executable, and there are two ways for doing this. One is by using the “chmod” command, and the other is by using the file properties.

About the author

Taimoor Mohsin

Hi there! I’m an avid writer who loves to help others in finding solutions by writing high-quality content about technology and gaming. In my spare time, I enjoy reading books and watching movies.

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