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kolypto
Asked: 2012-05-05 09:56:34 +0800 CST

Correct recursive chmod, separate for files & dirs

  • 772

I'd like to recursively chmod a directory so that:

  • Files are 0664
  • Directories are 0775

How to do it better, shorter, fancier? :) Maybe, use umask somehow?

All find solutions are too long: I always end with Copy-Paste :)

linux permissions web chmod

6 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Depending on your version of chmod, you may be able to do this:

    chmod -R . ug+rwX,o+rX,o-w

    Note the capital X. This sets the executable bit on directories and files that already have any of the execute bit already set.

    Note that you can only use capital X with '+', not '=' or '-'.

    • 15

  2. Better, shorter, fancier than what ?

    cd /directory
find . -type d -exec chmod 0755 {} +
find . -type f -exec chmod 0664 {} +
    • 7

  3. Adding a oneliner to the mix

    find -type f -exec chmod 0644 {} + -o -type d -exec chmod 0755 {} +
    • 4 
  4. find /dir -type f -print0 |xargs -0 chmod 0644
find /dir -type d -print0 |xargs -0 chmod 0775

    Test it before use it in real environment

    • 3

  5. I am using this for anything copied from FAT filesystems:

    chmod -R a-x+X .

    If it does not work, for example on Mac OS X, try the GNU version of the command chmod:

    gchmod -R a-x+X .
    • 1

  6. Without knowing more about why you're trying to do this, the most common reasons people tend to use are either:

    • Files and directories are other-writeable

      chmod -R o-w /path/to/dir

    • Files and directories are not group-writeable

      chmod -R g+w /path/to/dir

    Or, combine the two:

    chmod -R o-w,g+w /path/to/dir

    Alternately, if you want files and directories to the correct permissions by default, modify the creating process's umask.

    Basically, it's a rare day that it's correct to use numeric modes with chmod; typically, directories already have the executable bit set and files that don't need it lack it, so why muck around with it at all when the + and - operators obviate the need to do so?

    • 1