freebsd-dev/usr.sbin/chown/chown.8

.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\"    without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"     @(#)chown.8	8.3 (Berkeley) 3/31/94
.\" $FreeBSD$
.\"
.Dd April 25, 2003
.Dt CHOWN 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm chown
.Nd change file owner and group
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl fhv
.Oo
.Fl R
.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
.Oc
.Ar owner Ns Op : Ns Ar group
.Ar
.Nm
.Op Fl fhv
.Oo
.Fl R
.Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
.Oc
.No : Ns Ar group
.Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility changes the user ID and/or the group ID of the specified files.
Symbolic links named by arguments are silently left unchanged unless
.Fl h
is used.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl H
If the
.Fl R
option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.
(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)
.It Fl L
If the
.Fl R
option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
.It Fl P
If the
.Fl R
option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
This is the default.
.It Fl R
Change the user ID and/or the group ID of the specified directory trees
(recursively, including their contents) and files.
Beware of unintentionally matching the
.Dq Pa ".."
hard link to the parent directory when using wildcards like
.Dq Li ".*" .
.It Fl f
Do not report any failure to change file owner or group, nor modify
the exit status to reflect such failures.
.It Fl h
If the file is a symbolic link, change the user ID and/or the
group ID of the link itself.
.It Fl v
Cause
.Nm
to be verbose, showing files as the owner is modified.
If the
.Fl v
flag is specified more than once,
.Nm
will print the filename, followed by the old and new numeric user/group ID.
.El
.Pp
The
.Fl H ,
.Fl L
and
.Fl P
options are ignored unless the
.Fl R
option is specified.
In addition, these options override each other and the
command's actions are determined by the last one specified.
.Pp
The
.Ar owner
and
.Ar group
operands are both optional, however, one must be specified.
If the
.Ar group
operand is specified, it must be preceded by a colon (``:'') character.
.Pp
The
.Ar owner
may be either a numeric user ID or a user name.
If a user name is also a numeric user ID, the operand is used as a
user name.
The
.Ar group
may be either a numeric group ID or a group name.
If a group name is also a numeric group ID, the operand is used as a
group name.
.Pp
The ownership of a file may only be altered by a super-user for
obvious security reasons.
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std
.Sh COMPATIBILITY
Previous versions of the
.Nm
utility used the dot (``.'') character to distinguish the group name.
This has been changed to be a colon (``:'') character so that user and
group names may contain the dot character.
.Pp
On previous versions of this system, symbolic links did not have
owners.
.Pp
The
.Fl v
option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr chgrp 1 ,
.Xr find 1 ,
.Xr chown 2 ,
.Xr fts 3 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is expected to be
.St -p1003.2
compliant.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
utility appeared in
.At v1 .
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994`
			`.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.`
			`.\"`
			`.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without`
			`.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions`
			`.\" are met:`
			`.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright`
			`.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.`
			`.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright`
			`.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the`
			`.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.`
			`.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors`
			`.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software`
			`.\" without specific prior written permission.`
			`.\"`
			.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
			`.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE`
			`.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE`
			`.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE`
			`.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL`
			`.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS`
			`.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)`
			`.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT`
			`.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY`
			`.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF`
			`.\" SUCH DAMAGE.`
			`.\"`
			`.\" @(#)chown.8 8.3 (Berkeley) 3/31/94`
$Id$ -> $FreeBSD$ 1999-08-28 01:35:59 +00:00			`.\" $FreeBSD$`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.\"`
Similar to chmod(1); make -v -v mean very verbose and show the old and new uid/gid. PR: 41341 Submitted by: Edward Brocklesby <nighthawk@unrealircd.com> Reviewed by: bde@ (an older version) 2003-04-25 08:57:55 +00:00			`.Dd April 25, 2003`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Dt CHOWN 8`
mdoc(7) police: removed HISTORY info from the .Os call. 2001-07-10 15:12:08 +00:00			`.Os`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Sh NAME`
			`.Nm chown`
			`.Nd change file owner and group`
			`.Sh SYNOPSIS`
mdoc(7) police: use the new features of the Nm macro. 2000-11-20 20:10:44 +00:00			`.Nm`
Somehow I didn't get all the "-v" code commited. Submitted by: Arindum Mukerji <rmukerji@execpc.com> Approved by: JKH Make the manpage more style(9) complient. 2000-03-08 16:31:42 +00:00			`.Op Fl fhv`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Oo`
			`.Fl R`
			`.Op Fl H \| Fl L \| Fl P`
			`.Oc`
mdoc(7) police: split punctuation characters + misc fixes. 2001-02-01 16:44:04 +00:00			`.Ar owner Ns Op : Ns Ar group`
mdoc(7) police: use the default ``file ...'' feature of the .Ar macro. 2001-02-13 09:56:35 +00:00			`.Ar`
mdoc(7) police: use the new features of the Nm macro. 2000-11-20 20:10:44 +00:00			`.Nm`
Somehow I didn't get all the "-v" code commited. Submitted by: Arindum Mukerji <rmukerji@execpc.com> Approved by: JKH Make the manpage more style(9) complient. 2000-03-08 16:31:42 +00:00			`.Op Fl fhv`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Oo`
			`.Fl R`
			`.Op Fl H \| Fl L \| Fl P`
			`.Oc`
mdoc(7) police: split punctuation characters + misc fixes. 2001-02-01 16:44:04 +00:00			`.No : Ns Ar group`
Cosmetic in man page. Sync usage() with man page. 1997-09-04 11:55:45 +00:00			`.Ar`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Sh DESCRIPTION`
The .Nm utility 2002-07-14 14:47:15 +00:00			`The`
			`.Nm`
			`utility changes the user ID and/or the group ID of the specified files.`
chown(8) was not describing symlinks correctly, fixed. PR: 36447 No objections from: ru MFC after: 3 days 2002-04-09 20:24:23 +00:00			`Symbolic links named by arguments are silently left unchanged unless`
mdoc(7) police: removed an extra .Op call. 2002-05-30 07:48:01 +00:00			`.Fl h`
chown(8) was not describing symlinks correctly, fixed. PR: 36447 No objections from: ru MFC after: 3 days 2002-04-09 20:24:23 +00:00			`is used.`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Pp`
			`The options are as follows:`
			`.Bl -tag -width Ds`
			`.It Fl H`
			`If the`
			`.Fl R`
			`option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed.`
If a sentence starts inside parenthesis, it should end inside parenthesis. 2001-09-11 13:07:03 +00:00			`(Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal are not followed.)`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.It Fl L`
			`If the`
			`.Fl R`
			`option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.`
			`.It Fl P`
			`If the`
			`.Fl R`
			`option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.`
Make it clear that -P is the default. PR: docs/27629 2001-05-25 07:32:58 +00:00			`This is the default.`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.It Fl R`
Reword the description of -R a bit and add a note about being careful when -R is combined with patterns that might match ".." (like ".*"). PR: 46415 Submitted by: Gary W. Swearingen <swear@attbi.com> 2003-01-26 02:40:23 +00:00			`Change the user ID and/or the group ID of the specified directory trees`
			`(recursively, including their contents) and files.`
			`Beware of unintentionally matching the`
			`.Dq Pa ".."`
			`hard link to the parent directory when using wildcards like`
			`.Dq Li ".*" .`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.It Fl f`
Expand *n't contractions. 2005-02-13 22:25:33 +00:00			`Do not report any failure to change file owner or group, nor modify`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`the exit status to reflect such failures.`
Activate the -h flag which tells chown/chgrp to work on the symlink itself using lchown(). Most of the code was already here, the option was recognised but ignored for SYSV/POSIX.2(?) compatability. 1997-03-31 13:03:49 +00:00			`.It Fl h`
chown(8) was not describing symlinks correctly, fixed. PR: 36447 No objections from: ru MFC after: 3 days 2002-04-09 20:24:23 +00:00			`If the file is a symbolic link, change the user ID and/or the`
			`group ID of the link itself.`
Add "-v". 1999-11-27 19:25:08 +00:00			`.It Fl v`
			`Cause`
			`.Nm`
			`to be verbose, showing files as the owner is modified.`
Similar to chmod(1); make -v -v mean very verbose and show the old and new uid/gid. PR: 41341 Submitted by: Edward Brocklesby <nighthawk@unrealircd.com> Reviewed by: bde@ (an older version) 2003-04-25 08:57:55 +00:00			`If the`
			`.Fl v`
			`flag is specified more than once,`
			`.Nm`
			`will print the filename, followed by the old and new numeric user/group ID.`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.El`
			`.Pp`
			`The`
			`.Fl H ,`
			`.Fl L`
			`and`
			`.Fl P`
			`options are ignored unless the`
			`.Fl R`
			`option is specified.`
			`In addition, these options override each other and the`
			`command's actions are determined by the last one specified.`
			`.Pp`
			`The`
			`.Ar owner`
			`and`
			`.Ar group`
			`operands are both optional, however, one must be specified.`
			`If the`
			`.Ar group`
			operand is specified, it must be preceded by a colon (``:'') character.
			`.Pp`
			`The`
			`.Ar owner`
			`may be either a numeric user ID or a user name.`
			`If a user name is also a numeric user ID, the operand is used as a`
			`user name.`
			`The`
			`.Ar group`
			`may be either a numeric group ID or a group name.`
			`If a group name is also a numeric group ID, the operand is used as a`
			`group name.`
			`.Pp`
			`The ownership of a file may only be altered by a super-user for`
			`obvious security reasons.`
Added the EXIT STATUS section where appropriate. 2005-01-17 07:44:44 +00:00			`.Sh EXIT STATUS`
mdoc(7) police: utilize the new .Ex macro. 2001-08-15 09:09:47 +00:00			`.Ex -std`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Sh COMPATIBILITY`
			`Previous versions of the`
Cosmetic in man page. Sync usage() with man page. 1997-09-04 11:55:45 +00:00			`.Nm`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			utility used the dot (``.'') character to distinguish the group name.
			This has been changed to be a colon (``:'') character so that user and
			`group names may contain the dot character.`
			`.Pp`
Activate the -h flag which tells chown/chgrp to work on the symlink itself using lchown(). Most of the code was already here, the option was recognised but ignored for SYSV/POSIX.2(?) compatability. 1997-03-31 13:03:49 +00:00			`On previous versions of this system, symbolic links did not have`
			`owners.`
Add "-v". 1999-11-27 19:25:08 +00:00			`.Pp`
			`The`
			`.Fl v`
			`option is non-standard and its use in scripts is not recommended.`
BSD 4.4 Lite usr.sbin Sources 1994-05-26 05:23:31 +00:00			`.Sh SEE ALSO`
			`.Xr chgrp 1 ,`
			`.Xr find 1 ,`
			`.Xr chown 2 ,`
			`.Xr fts 3 ,`
			`.Xr symlink 7`
			`.Sh STANDARDS`
			`The`
Cosmetic in man page. Sync usage() with man page. 1997-09-04 11:55:45 +00:00			`.Nm`
The .Nm utility 2002-07-14 14:47:15 +00:00			`utility is expected to be`
Cosmetic in man page. Sync usage() with man page. 1997-09-04 11:55:45 +00:00			`.St -p1003.2`
			`compliant.`
[HISTORY] command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX Obtained from: A Quarter Century of UNIX, Peter H. Salus, page 41 1996-08-29 18:06:19 +00:00			`.Sh HISTORY`
			`A`
			`.Nm`
The .Nm utility 2002-07-14 14:47:15 +00:00			`utility appeared in`
[HISTORY] command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX Obtained from: A Quarter Century of UNIX, Peter H. Salus, page 41 1996-08-29 18:06:19 +00:00			`.At v1 .`