xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libc/sys/chmod.2 (revision d48f14661dda8638fee055ba15d35bdfb29b9fa8)
1.\"	$NetBSD: chmod.2,v 1.30 2005/01/06 16:30:52 ginsbach Exp $
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30.\"     @(#)chmod.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
31.\"
32.Dd June 4, 1993
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.Aq Pa 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    /* save swapped text even after use */
105.Ed
106.Pp
107The
108.Dv ISVTX
109(the
110.Em sticky bit )
111indicates to the system which executable files are shareable (the
112default) and the system maintains the program text of the files
113in the swap area.
114The sticky bit may only be set by the super user
115on shareable executable files.
116.Pp
117If mode
118.Dv ISVTX
119(the `sticky bit') is set on a directory,
120an unprivileged user may not delete or rename
121files of other users in that directory.
122The sticky bit may be set by any user on a directory which the user
123owns or has appropriate permissions.
124For more details of the 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 ENOTDIR
148A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
149.It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
150A component of a pathname exceeded
151.Dv {NAME_MAX}
152characters, or an entire path name exceeded
153.Dv {PATH_MAX}
154characters.
155.It Bq Er ENOENT
156The named file does not exist.
157.It Bq Er EACCES
158Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
159.It Bq Er ELOOP
160Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
161.It Bq Er EPERM
162The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and
163the effective user ID is not the super-user.
164.It Bq Er EROFS
165The named file resides on a read-only file system.
166.It Bq Er EFAULT
167.Fa path
168points outside the process's allocated address space.
169.It Bq Er EIO
170An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
171.It Bq Er EFTYPE
172The effective user ID is not the super-user, the
173.Fa mode
174includes the sticky bit
175.Pq Dv S_ISVTX ,
176and
177.Fa path
178does not refer to a directory.
179.El
180.Pp
181.Fn fchmod
182will fail if:
183.Bl -tag -width Er
184.It Bq Er EBADF
185The descriptor is not valid.
186.It Bq Er EINVAL
187.Fa fd
188refers to a socket, not to a file.
189.It Bq Er EPERM
190The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and
191the effective user ID is not the super-user.
192.It Bq Er EROFS
193The file resides on a read-only file system.
194.It Bq Er EIO
195An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
196.It Bq Er EFTYPE
197The effective user ID is not the super-user, the
198.Fa mode
199includes the sticky bit
200.Pq Dv S_ISVTX ,
201and
202.Fa fd
203does not refer to a directory.
204.El
205.Sh SEE ALSO
206.Xr chmod 1 ,
207.Xr chflags 2 ,
208.Xr chown 2 ,
209.Xr open 2 ,
210.Xr stat 2 ,
211.Xr sticky 7 ,
212.Xr symlink 7
213.Sh STANDARDS
214The
215.Fn chmod
216function conforms to
217.St -p1003.1-90 .
218.Sh HISTORY
219The
220.Fn fchmod
221function call
222appeared in
223.Bx 4.2 .
224The
225.Fn lchmod
226function call appeared in
227.Nx 1.3 .
228