From owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Jun 19 11:59:18 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E289D37B401; Thu, 19 Jun 2003 11:59:17 -0700 (PDT) Received: from pittgoth.com (14.zlnp1.xdsl.nauticom.net [209.195.149.111]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E5AA243F3F; Thu, 19 Jun 2003 11:59:16 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from trhodes@FreeBSD.org) Received: from mobile.pittgoth.com (acs-24-154-229-196.zoominternet.net [24.154.229.196]) by pittgoth.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with SMTP id h5JIxFkR009368; Thu, 19 Jun 2003 14:59:15 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from trhodes@FreeBSD.org) Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 14:44:21 -0400 From: Tom Rhodes To: FreeBSD-doc@FreeBSD.org Message-Id: <20030619144421.4edd2826.trhodes@FreeBSD.org> X-Mailer: Sylpheed version 0.8.10claws (GTK+ 1.2.10; i386-portbld-freebsd5.1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit cc: jim@FreeBSD.org Subject: RFC: New section for the Unix Basics chapter. X-BeenThere: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Documentation project List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 18:59:18 -0000 Hey, In this email I have a patch to add information on symbolic permissions to the Unix Basics chapter of our handbook. Now I'm a little wierd on the table output and I know that it could use a few more tags, but I wanted to get a general idea before I put more work into it. Comments, suggestions, death threats welcome. Thanks! -- Tom Rhodes --- chapter.sgml Thu Jun 19 14:39:43 2003 +++ chapter.sgml.new Thu Jun 19 14:07:59 2003 @@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ Permissions - Unix + permissionsoctal FreeBSD, being a direct descendant of BSD Unix, is based on several key Unix concepts. The first, and @@ -198,6 +198,135 @@ directories. If you want more information on file permissions and how to set them, be sure to look at the &man.chmod.1; manual page. + + + + + Tom + Rhodes + Contributed by + + + Symbolic Permissions + permissionssymbolic + + Symbolic permissions, sometimes refereed to as symbolic expressions, + uses characters in place of octal values to assign permissions to files + or directories. Symbolic expressions use the syntax of (who) (action) + (permissions), where the following values are available: + + + + + + Option + Letter + Represents + + + + + + (who) + u + File Owner + + + + (who) + g + Group owner + + + + (who) + o + Other + + + + (who) + a + All + + + + (action) + + + Adding permissions + + + + (action) + - + Removing permissions + + + + (action) + = + Explicitly set permissions + + + + (permissions) + r + Read + + + + (permissions) + w + Write + + + + (permissions) + x + Execute + + + + (permissions) + t + Sticky bit + + + + (permissions) + s + SUID or SGID + + + + + + These values are used with the chmod command + just like before, but with letters. For an example, you could use + the following command to block other users from accessing the files + in your home directory: + + &prompt.user;chmod go= * + + A comma separated list can be provided when more than one set + of changes to a file must be made. For example the following command + will remove the groups and world write permission + on FILE, then it adds the execute + permissions for everyone: + + &prompt.user;chmod go-w,a+x FILE + + + Most users will do not notice this, but it should be pointed out + that using the octal method will only set or assign permissions to + a file; it does not add or delete them. This means that the octal + method does not have an equivalent option to the following command: + + &prompt.root; chmod u+rw FILE + + The closest octal value would be 0600 and it would not + be the same. +