Mac How-to Set-Change Permissions on Files and Directories by Command-Line

Setting Permissions on Mac OS X

Hello Mac User! This is Tutorial Shows You Step-by-step How-to Setup or Change the Permissions over Files and Directories on Mac OS X BSD/Unix.

To Follow the Tutorial You will Need to have a Little Practice to Work on the Mac Console Terminal Command Line.

Included in the Article Links to Guides on Getting-Started with Command Line on Mac and to Setting Ownership over Mac File System.

1. To

   Open a Terminal Shell emulator window
   Launch Finder:

   

   
   
   
   

   Select Applications:

   

   
   
   
   

   Double-Click on Utilities:

   

   
   
   
   

   Double-Click over Terminal:

   

2. Switch to the Bash Shell
   (Press “Enter” to Execute Commands)

   bash

How-to Quick-Start with Command Line on Mac:

Mac Console Quick-Start
Getting-Started with Terminal on Mac.

3. Who Can Set/Change the Permissions?

   • You Can Freely Set/Change the Permissions Only on Files/Directories You Hold.
   • You Need Admin Super-Powers to Set/Change the Permissions on Entities You Do Not Hold!

4. Setting Up Permissions on Files and Directories

   Basic Building Blocks for the Permission Command

   Ownership Types:

   • Use ‘u‘ to Setup Permissions for the User Owner
   • Use ‘g‘ to Setup Permissions for the Group Owner
   • Use ‘u+g‘ to Setup Permissions for the User and Group Owner
   • Use ‘a‘ to Setup Permissions for All (World)
   • Use ‘o‘ for Revoking Actual Permissions and Giving Permissions to the Others (the Before Disabled ones)

   Permission Types:

   • Use ‘x‘ to Setup Execution Permission
   • Use ‘w‘ to Setup Write/Delete Permission
   • Use ‘r‘ to Setup Read Permission

   Giving/Removing Permissions:

   • Use ‘+‘ to Give Permission
   • Use ‘–‘ to Remove Permission

   Generic Permission Command Form:

   chmod ownershipSubject[+/-]r/w/x myEntity

   For Instance :

   mkdir $HOME/world

   To Give ‘All’ (read,write/delete,execute) Permissions on the ‘world’ Directory to the ‘World’:

   chmod a+rwx $HOME/world

   (Normally Take Care Before to Open a Directory to the World Because this is Can Compromise Your System Security!)
   Now to Check Permissions Setup:

   ls -l $HOME

   To Remove the ‘Write/Delete’ Permission to the ‘World’:

   chmod a-w $HOME/world

   To Give the ‘Write/Delete’ Permission the ‘world’ Only to the Owner:

   chmod u+w $HOME/world

   To Give the ‘Write/Delete’ Permission the ‘world’ Also to the Owner’s Group:

   chmod g+w $HOME/world

   To Remove the ‘Execution’ Permission to the ‘World’:

   chmod a-x $HOME/world

   To Give the ‘Execution’ Permission to the ‘world’ to the Owner:

   chmod u+x $HOME/world

   To Give the ‘Execution’ Permission to the ‘world’ Also to the Owner’s Group:

   chmod g+x $HOME/world

   (After Only You and Your Group will be Able to Access the ‘world’ Directory Directory on Shell!)

5. How-to Set Ownership on Mac File System:

   Mac Setting Ownership Quick-Start

   Setting Up Ownership on Mac.