CHMOD(2) BSD System Calls Manual CHMOD(2)NAME
chmod, lchmod, fchmod — change mode of file
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/stat.h>
int
chmod(const char *path, mode_t mode);
int
lchmod(const char *path, mode_t mode);
int
fchmod(int fd, mode_t mode);
DESCRIPTION
The function chmod() sets the file permission bits of the file specified
by the pathname path to mode. fchmod() sets the permission bits of the
specified file descriptor fd. lchmod() is like chmod() except in the
case where the named file is a symbolic link, in which case lchmod() sets
the permission bits of the link, while chmod() sets the bits of the file
the link references. chmod() verifies that the process owner (user)
either owns the file specified by path (or fd), or is the super-user. A
mode is created from or'd permission bit masks defined in <sys/stat.h>:
#define S_IRWXU 0000700 /* RWX mask for owner */
#define S_IRUSR 0000400 /* R for owner */
#define S_IWUSR 0000200 /* W for owner */
#define S_IXUSR 0000100 /* X for owner */
#define S_IRWXG 0000070 /* RWX mask for group */
#define S_IRGRP 0000040 /* R for group */
#define S_IWGRP 0000020 /* W for group */
#define S_IXGRP 0000010 /* X for group */
#define S_IRWXO 0000007 /* RWX mask for other */
#define S_IROTH 0000004 /* R for other */
#define S_IWOTH 0000002 /* W for other */
#define S_IXOTH 0000001 /* X for other */
#define S_ISUID 0004000 /* set user id on execution */
#define S_ISGID 0002000 /* set group id on execution */
#define S_ISVTX 0001000 /* sticky bit */
The mode ISVTX (the ‘sticky bit’) can be set on a regular file by the
super-user, but has no effect.
If mode ISVTX (the ‘sticky bit’) is set on a directory, an unprivileged
user may not delete or rename files of other users in that directory.
The sticky bit may be set by any user on a directory which the user owns
or has appropriate permissions.
For more information about the history and properties of the sticky bit,
see sticky(7).
Changing the owner of a file turns off the set-user-id and set-group-id
bits; writing to a file turns off the set-user-id and set-group-id bits
unless the user is the super-user. This makes the system somewhat more
secure by protecting set-user-id (set-group-id) files from remaining set-
user-id (set-group-id) if they are modified, at the expense of a degree
of compatibility.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned. Otherwise, a value
of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.
ERRORSchmod() and lchmod() will fail and the file mode will be unchanged if:
[ENOTDIR] A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
[ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeded {NAME_MAX} charac‐
ters, or an entire path name exceeded {PATH_MAX} char‐
acters.
[ENOENT] The named file does not exist.
[EACCES] Search permission is denied for a component of the
path prefix.
[ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translat‐
ing the pathname.
[EPERM] The effective user ID does not match the owner of the
file and the effective user ID is not the super-user.
[EPERM] The mode includes the setgid bit (S_ISGID) but the
file's group is neither the effective group ID nor is
it in the group access list.
[EROFS] The named file resides on a read-only file system.
[EFAULT] path points outside the process's allocated address
space.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to
the file system.
[EFTYPE] The effective user ID is not the super-user, the mode
includes the sticky bit (S_ISVTX), and path does not
refer to a directory.
fchmod() will fail if:
[EBADF] The descriptor is not valid.
[EINVAL] fd refers to a socket, not to a file.
[EPERM] The effective user ID does not match the owner of the
file and the effective user ID is not the super-user.
[EPERM] The mode includes the setgid bit (S_ISGID) but the
file's group is neither the effective group ID nor is
it in the group access list.
[EROFS] The file resides on a read-only file system.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to
the file system.
[EFTYPE] The effective user ID is not the super-user, the mode
includes the sticky bit (S_ISVTX), and fd does not
refer to a directory.
SEE ALSOchmod(1), chflags(2), chown(2), open(2), stat(2), getmode(3), setmode(3),
sticky(7), symlink(7)STANDARDS
The chmod() function conforms to ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990 (“POSIX.1”).
HISTORY
The fchmod() function call appeared in 4.2BSD. The lchmod() function
call appeared in NetBSD 1.3.
BSD October 11, 2011 BSD
