xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/sys/chmod.2 (revision 9ddb6ab554e70fb9bbd90c3d96b812bc57755a14)
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30.\"     @(#)chmod.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
31.\"
32.Dd March 3, 2012
33.Dt CHMOD 2
34.Os
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm chmod ,
37.Nm lchmod ,
38.Nm fchmod
39.Nd change mode of file
40.Sh LIBRARY
41.Lb libc
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.In sys/stat.h
44.Ft int
45.Fn chmod "const char *path" "mode_t mode"
46.Ft int
47.Fn lchmod "const char *path" "mode_t mode"
48.Ft int
49.Fn fchmod "int fd" "mode_t mode"
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The function
52.Fn chmod
53sets the file permission bits
54of the file
55specified by the pathname
56.Fa path
57to
58.Fa mode .
59.Fn fchmod
60sets the permission bits of the specified
61file descriptor
62.Fa fd .
63.Fn lchmod
64is like
65.Fn chmod
66except in the case where the named file is a symbolic link,
67in which case
68.Fn lchmod
69sets the permission bits of the link,
70while
71.Fn chmod
72sets the bits of the file the link references.
73.Fn chmod
74verifies that the process owner (user) either owns
75the file specified by
76.Fa path
77(or
78.Fa fd ) ,
79or
80is the super-user.
81A mode is created from
82.Em or'd
83permission bit masks
84defined in
85.In sys/stat.h :
86.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
87#define S_IRWXU 0000700    /* RWX mask for owner */
88#define S_IRUSR 0000400    /* R for owner */
89#define S_IWUSR 0000200    /* W for owner */
90#define S_IXUSR 0000100    /* X for owner */
91
92#define S_IRWXG 0000070    /* RWX mask for group */
93#define S_IRGRP 0000040    /* R for group */
94#define S_IWGRP 0000020    /* W for group */
95#define S_IXGRP 0000010    /* X for group */
96
97#define S_IRWXO 0000007    /* RWX mask for other */
98#define S_IROTH 0000004    /* R for other */
99#define S_IWOTH 0000002    /* W for other */
100#define S_IXOTH 0000001    /* X for other */
101
102#define S_ISUID 0004000    /* set user id on execution */
103#define S_ISGID 0002000    /* set group id on execution */
104#define S_ISVTX 0001000    /* sticky bit */
105.Ed
106.Pp
107The mode
108.Dv ISVTX
109(the
110.Sq sticky bit )
111can be set on regular files, but has no effect.
112For historical reasons this can be done only by the super-user.
113.Pp
114If mode
115.Dv ISVTX
116(the
117.Sq sticky bit )
118is set on a directory,
119an unprivileged user may not delete or rename
120files of other users in that directory.
121The sticky bit may be set by any user on a directory which the user
122owns or has appropriate permissions.
123.Pp
124For more information about the history and properties of the sticky bit, see
125.Xr sticky 7 .
126.Pp
127Changing the owner of a file
128turns off the set-user-id and set-group-id bits;
129writing to a file
130turns off the set-user-id and set-group-id bits
131unless the user is the super-user.
132This makes the system somewhat more secure
133by protecting set-user-id (set-group-id) files
134from remaining set-user-id (set-group-id) if they are modified,
135at the expense of a degree of compatibility.
136.Sh RETURN VALUES
137Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned.
138Otherwise, a value of \-1 is returned and
139.Va errno
140is set to indicate the error.
141.Sh ERRORS
142.Fn chmod
143and
144.Fn lchmod
145will fail and the file mode will be unchanged if:
146.Bl -tag -width Er
147.It Bq Er EACCES
148Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
149.It Bq Er EFAULT
150.Fa path
151points outside the process's allocated address space.
152.It Bq Er EFTYPE
153The effective user ID is not the super-user, the
154.Fa mode
155includes the sticky bit
156.Pq Dv S_ISVTX ,
157and
158.Fa path
159does not refer to a directory.
160.It Bq Er EIO
161An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
162.It Bq Er ELOOP
163Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
164.It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
165A component of a pathname exceeded
166.Brq Dv NAME_MAX
167characters, or an entire path name exceeded
168.Brq Dv PATH_MAX
169characters.
170.It Bq Er ENOENT
171The named file does not exist.
172.It Bq Er ENOTDIR
173A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
174.It Bq Er EPERM
175The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and
176the effective user ID is not the super-user; or
177the mode includes the setgid bit
178.Pq Dv S_ISGID
179but the file's group is neither the effective group ID nor is it in the
180group access list.
181.It Bq Er EROFS
182The named file resides on a read-only file system.
183.El
184.Pp
185.Fn fchmod
186will fail if:
187.Bl -tag -width Er
188.It Bq Er EBADF
189The descriptor is not valid.
190.It Bq Er EFTYPE
191The effective user ID is not the super-user, the
192.Fa mode
193includes the sticky bit
194.Pq Dv S_ISVTX ,
195and
196.Fa fd
197does not refer to a directory.
198.It Bq Er EINVAL
199.Fa fd
200refers to a socket, not to a file.
201.It Bq Er EIO
202An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
203.It Bq Er EPERM
204The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and
205the effective user ID is not the super-user; or
206the mode includes the setgid bit
207.Pq Dv S_ISGID
208but the file's group is neither the effective group ID nor is it in the
209group access list.
210.It Bq Er EROFS
211The file resides on a read-only file system.
212.El
213.Sh SEE ALSO
214.Xr chmod 1 ,
215.Xr chflags 2 ,
216.Xr chown 2 ,
217.Xr open 2 ,
218.Xr stat 2 ,
219.Xr getmode 3 ,
220.Xr setmode 3 ,
221.Xr sticky 7 ,
222.Xr symlink 7
223.Sh STANDARDS
224The
225.Fn chmod
226function conforms to
227.St -p1003.1-90 .
228.Sh HISTORY
229The
230.Fn fchmod
231function call
232appeared in
233.Bx 4.2 .
234The
235.Fn lchmod
236function call appeared in
237.Nx 1.3 .
238