File permissions are used to control who can access and modify files. In the Unix-like operating systems, file permissions are set using a combination of three-digit numbers and associated letters. These permissions can be set individually or in sets.
A file’s permissions are determined by the owner of the file, which is usually the user who created it. By default, the owner has full control over their files – they can view, edit and delete them. The three-digit code associated with a file helps you understand who has access to the file and what type of access they have.
The first digit in the code represents read (4), write (2), and execute (1) permissions for the owner. The second and third digits are for the group and everyone else (other users) respectively.
When all three digits are set to 4 (read), 2 (write) and 1 (execute), the file’s permissions are set to read, write and execute, meaning that the owner has full control over the file, while members of the group and other users can only view the content of the file.
When setting the file permissions, you can also specify who can access the contents of the file without being able to change it. This is done by setting the second and third digits to 4 (read) and leaving the first digit as 0 (no permission).
To change the permission settings of a file, you can use the chmod command in the terminal. The command takes a three-digit code as an argument, followed by the file or directory name.
For example, to give the owner full control over a text file named ‘example.txt’, you would enter the following command in the terminal:
chmod 755 example.txt
This command would give the owner full control over the file while restricting members of the group and other users to only reading its contents.
You can also use octal notation to set file permissions. Octal notation is a more concise way of representing file permissions using a three-digit number. The leftmost digit represents the owner, the middle one the group, and the rightmost one other users.
Each of these digits can range from 0 to 7, where 0 stands for no access, and 7 represents full control (read, write, execute). For example, the command ‘chmod 755’ sets the file’s permissions to rwxr-xr–, which means that the owner has full control, while group and other users can only read and execute the file (but not modify it).
If you want to set the same permissions for multiple files or directories at once, you can use the -R (recursive) option when using the chmod command. This will apply the given permissions to all files and subdirectories within the specified directory.
It is important to note that you should always use caution when setting file permissions. Giving too much access to a file can potentially be dangerous if it contains sensitive information. On the other hand, too little access could prevent people from accessing a file that they need to.
In summary, setting file permissions is a crucial part of managing data security on Unix-like systems. Through the three-digit code and associated letters, users can determine who has access to a file and what type of access they have. The chmod command can be used to set file permissions manually, or to use octal notation to make it easier to set the same permissions for multiple files. Always use caution when setting permissions and make sure that everyone who needs access has the appropriate level of permissions to do so.