Use
chmod command in linux is used to change permissions of files/directories.
Syntax
chmod [OPTION]… MODE… FILE…
Usage
Before using the command, we need to understand that there are 3 types of members who can access a file/directory: owner(user), group and others. Owner is the user who owns the file or who has created the file. Group means the members of the group to which the owner belongs, and others means all other users in the system. Either it is a file or a directory the method of using chmod remains the same.
There are two ways of using chmod command in linux: relative method and absolute method.
Relative Method
In relative method we consider the existing permissions and either add new permission to them or take back some of the permissions.
chmod command syntax for relative method is
chmod WhoWhatWhich file|directory
where
Who -> u (user), g (group), o (others) or a (all)
What -> + (add) , – (remove) or = (set exactly)
Which -> r (read), w (write) or x (execute)
Example
Consider a file “linux.txt” with existing permissions as shown in figure below. The owner does not have execute permission.
Next, we add execute permission to the user using the relative method.
Similarly, existing permissions can be withdrawn
$chmod g-w linux.txt
Withdraws write permission from the group members.
Absolute Method
In absolute method we focus on the ultimate permissions that are required. In this case a three digit octal number specifies the permissions. Each permission has a fixed number assigned to it – 4 for read, 2 for write and 1 for execute. Add up the numbers corresponding to the permission required thus getting the final value. For example, let us suppose that the permissions required on the file linux.txt are
User – read, write and execute (4 + 2 + 1 = 7)
Group – read and execute (4 + 1 = 5)
Others – only read (4)
Hence the command becomes
Some useful questions
Q1. Create a file “F1.txt”. Change the permissions to read and write for user, write for group and none for others.
Q2. Create a file “DIR”. Change the permissions to read and execute for user, write and execute for group and only read for others.
Q3. Use relative method to assign read permission to user, group and others on the file F1.txt. Use the command only once.