xref: /openbsd/lib/libc/sys/chmod.2 (revision a74408d8)
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31.\"     @(#)chmod.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
32.\"
33.Dd $Mdocdate: July 19 2011 $
34.Dt CHMOD 2
35.Os
36.Sh NAME
37.Nm chmod ,
38.Nm fchmodat ,
39.Nm fchmod
40.Nd change mode of file
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Fd #include <sys/types.h>
43.Fd #include <sys/stat.h>
44.Fd #include <fcntl.h>
45.Ft int
46.Fn chmod "const char *path" "mode_t mode"
47.Ft int
48.Fn fchmodat "int fd" "const char *path" "mode_t mode" "int flag"
49.Ft int
50.Fn fchmod "int fd" "mode_t mode"
51.Sh DESCRIPTION
52The
53.Fn chmod
54function sets the file permission bits of the file specified by the pathname
55.Fa path
56to
57.Fa mode .
58.Fn chmod
59verifies that the process owner (user) either owns the specified file
60or is the superuser.
61.Pp
62Values for
63.Fa mode
64are constructed by bitwise-inclusive
65.Tn OR Ns ing
66permission bit masks from the following list defined in
67.In sys/stat.h :
68.Bd -literal -offset indent
69#define S_IRWXU 0000700    /* RWX mask for owner */
70#define S_IRUSR 0000400    /* R for owner */
71#define S_IWUSR 0000200    /* W for owner */
72#define S_IXUSR 0000100    /* X for owner */
73
74#define S_IRWXG 0000070    /* RWX mask for group */
75#define S_IRGRP 0000040    /* R for group */
76#define S_IWGRP 0000020    /* W for group */
77#define S_IXGRP 0000010    /* X for group */
78
79#define S_IRWXO 0000007    /* RWX mask for other */
80#define S_IROTH 0000004    /* R for other */
81#define S_IWOTH 0000002    /* W for other */
82#define S_IXOTH 0000001    /* X for other */
83
84#define S_ISUID 0004000    /* set user id on execution */
85#define S_ISGID 0002000    /* set group id on execution */
86#define S_ISVTX 0001000    /* save swapped text even after use */
87.Ed
88.Pp
89If mode
90.Dv ISVTX
91(the
92.Em sticky bit )
93is set on a file, it is ignored.
94.Pp
95If mode
96.Dv ISVTX
97(the
98.Em sticky bit )
99is set on a directory, an unprivileged user may not delete or rename
100files of other users in that directory.
101The sticky bit may be set by any user on a directory which the user owns
102or has appropriate permissions.
103For more details of the properties of the sticky bit, see
104.Xr sticky 8 .
105.Pp
106Writing or changing the owner of a file turns off the set-user-ID and
107set-group-ID bits unless the user is the superuser.
108This makes the system somewhat more secure by protecting
109set-user-ID (set-group-ID) files from remaining set-user-ID (set-group-ID)
110if they are modified, at the expense of a degree of compatibility.
111.Pp
112The
113.Fn fchmodat
114function is equivalent to
115.Fn chmod
116except in the case where
117.Fa path
118specifies a relative path.
119In this case the file to be changed is determined relative to the directory
120associated with the file descriptor
121.Fa fd
122instead of the current working directory.
123.Pp
124If
125.Fn fchmodat
126is passed the special value
127.Dv AT_FDCWD
128(defined in
129.In fcntl.h )
130in the
131.Fa fd
132parameter, the current working directory is used.
133If
134.Fa flag
135is also zero, the behavior is identical to a call to
136.Fn chmod .
137.Pp
138Values for
139.Fa flag
140are constructed by bitwise-inclusive
141.Tn OR Ns ing
142flags from the following list defined in
143.In fcntl.h :
144.Pp
145.Bl -tag -width AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW -offset indent -compact
146.It Dv AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW
147If
148.Fa path
149names a symbolic link, then the mode of the symbolic link is changed.
150.El
151.Pp
152The
153.Fn fchmod
154function is equivalent to
155.Fn chmod
156except that the file whose permissions are changed is specified
157by the file descriptor
158.Fa fd .
159.Sh RETURN VALUES
160Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned.
161Otherwise, a value of \-1 is returned and
162.Va errno
163is set to indicate the error.
164.Sh ERRORS
165The
166.Fn chmod
167and
168.Fn fchmodat
169functions will fail and the file mode will be unchanged if:
170.Bl -tag -width Er
171.It Bq Er ENOTDIR
172A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
173.It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
174A component of a pathname exceeded
175.Dv {NAME_MAX}
176characters, or an entire path name exceeded
177.Dv {PATH_MAX}
178characters.
179.It Bq Er ENOENT
180The named file does not exist.
181.It Bq Er EACCES
182Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
183.It Bq Er EINVAL
184.Fa mode
185contains bits other than the file type and those described above.
186.It Bq Er ELOOP
187Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
188.It Bq Er EPERM
189The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and
190the effective user ID is not the superuser.
191.It Bq Er EROFS
192The named file resides on a read-only file system.
193.It Bq Er EFAULT
194.Fa path
195points outside the process's allocated address space.
196.It Bq Er EIO
197An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
198.El
199.Pp
200Additionally, the
201.Fn fchmodat
202function will fail if:
203.Bl -tag -width Er
204.It Bq Er EBADF
205The
206.Fa path
207argument does not specify an absolute path and the
208.Fa fd
209argument is neither
210.Dv AT_FDCWD
211nor a valid file descriptor open for reading.
212.El
213.Pp
214.Fn fchmod
215will fail and the file mode will be unchanged if:
216.Bl -tag -width Er
217.It Bq Er EBADF
218The descriptor is not valid.
219.It Bq Er EINVAL
220.Fa fd
221refers to a socket, not to a file.
222.It Bq Er EINVAL
223.Fa mode
224contains bits other than the file type and those described above.
225.It Bq Er EROFS
226The file resides on a read-only file system.
227.It Bq Er EIO
228An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
229.El
230.Sh SEE ALSO
231.Xr chmod 1 ,
232.Xr chown 2 ,
233.Xr open 2 ,
234.Xr stat 2 ,
235.Xr sticky 8
236.Sh STANDARDS
237The
238.Fn chmod
239function is expected to conform to
240.St -p1003.1-88 .
241.Sh HISTORY
242The
243.Fn fchmod
244function call appeared in
245.Bx 4.2 .
246