xref: /original-bsd/lib/libc/sys/chmod.2 (revision 3588a932)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
5.\"
6.\"     @(#)chmod.2	6.6 (Berkeley) 03/10/91
7.\"
8.Dd
9.Dt CHMOD 2
10.Os BSD 4
11.Sh NAME
12.Nm chmod ,
13.Nm fchmod
14.Nd change mode of file
15.Sh SYNOPSIS
16.Fd #include <sys/stat.h>
17.Ft int
18.Fn chmod "const char *path" "mode_t mode"
19.Ft int
20.Fn fchmod "int fd" "mode_t mode"
21.Sh DESCRIPTION
22The function
23.Fn chmod
24sets the file permission bits
25of the file
26specified by the pathname
27.Fa path
28to
29.Fa mode .
30.Fn Fchmod
31sets the permission bits of the specified
32file descriptor
33.Fa fd .
34.Fn Chmod
35verifies that the process owner (user) either owns
36the file specified by
37.Fa path
38(or
39.Fa fd ) ,
40or
41is the super-user.
42A mode is created from
43.Em or'd
44permission bit masks
45defined in
46.Aq Pa sys/stat.h :
47.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
48#define S_IRWXU 0000700    /* RWX mask for owner */
49#define S_IRUSR 0000400    /* R for owner */
50#define S_IWUSR 0000200    /* W for owner */
51#define S_IXUSR 0000100    /* X for owner */
52
53#define S_IRWXG 0000070    /* RWX mask for group */
54#define S_IRGRP 0000040    /* R for group */
55#define S_IWGRP 0000020    /* W for group */
56#define S_IXGRP 0000010    /* X for group */
57
58#define S_IRWXO 0000007    /* RWX mask for other */
59#define S_IROTH 0000004    /* R for other */
60#define S_IWOTH 0000002    /* W for other */
61#define S_IXOTH 0000001    /* X for other */
62
63#define S_ISUID 0004000    /* set user id on execution */
64#define S_ISGID 0002000    /* set group id on execution */
65#define S_ISVTX 0001000    /* save swapped text even after use */
66.Ed
67.Pp
68The
69.Dv ISVTX
70(the
71.Em sticky bit )
72indicates to the system which executable files are shareable (the
73default) and the system maintains the program text of the files
74in the swap area. The sticky bit may only be set by the super user
75on shareable executable files.
76.Pp
77If mode
78.Dv ISVTX
79(the `sticky bit') is set on a directory,
80an unprivileged user may not delete or rename
81files of other users in that directory. The sticky bit may be
82set by any user on a directory which the user owns or has appropriate
83permissions.
84For more details of the properties of the sticky bit, see
85.Xr sticky 8 .
86.Pp
87Writing or changing the owner of a file
88turns off the set-user-id and set-group-id bits
89unless the user is the super-user.
90This makes the system somewhat more secure
91by protecting set-user-id (set-group-id) files
92from remaining set-user-id (set-group-id) if they are modified,
93at the expense of a degree of compatibility.
94.Sh RETURN VALUES
95Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned.
96Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and
97.Va errno
98is set to indicate the error.
99.Sh ERRORS
100.Fn Chmod
101will fail and the file mode will be unchanged if:
102.Bl -tag -width Er
103.It Bq Er ENOTDIR
104A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
105.It Bq Er EINVAL
106The pathname contains a character with the high-order bit set.
107.It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
108A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters,
109or an entire path name exceeded 1023 characters.
110.It Bq Er ENOENT
111The named file does not exist.
112.It Bq Er EACCES
113Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
114.It Bq Er ELOOP
115Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
116.It Bq Er EPERM
117The effective user ID does not match the owner of the file and
118the effective user ID is not the super-user.
119.It Bq Er EROFS
120The named file resides on a read-only file system.
121.It Bq Er EFAULT
122.Fa Path
123points outside the process's allocated address space.
124.It Bq Er EIO
125An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
126.El
127.Pp
128.Fn Fchmod
129will fail if:
130.Bl -tag -width Er
131.It Bq Er EBADF
132The descriptor is not valid.
133.It Bq Er EINVAL
134.Fa Fd
135refers to a socket, not to a file.
136.It Bq Er EROFS
137The file resides on a read-only file system.
138.It Bq Er EIO
139An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
140.El
141.Sh SEE ALSO
142.Xr chmod 1 ,
143.Xr open 2 ,
144.Xr chown 2 ,
145.Xr stat 2 ,
146.Xr sticky 8
147.Sh STANDARDS
148.Fn Chmod
149is expected to conform to IEEE Std 1003.1-1988
150.Pq Dq Tn POSIX .
151.Sh HISTORY
152The
153.Fn fchmod
154function call
155appeared in
156.Bx 4.2 .
157