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xphorm
Asked: 2024-11-08 14:51:22 +0800 CST

Issued chmod -x on directory with -R option, and now I can't even change to that directory

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find . -type d -exec chmod +x {} \\;

I found out that the above command is not the solution.

I can't change to a directory, but I can list its contents with ls -la, and it looks like this.

d????????? ? ? ? ?            ?  .
d????????? ? ? ? ?            ?  ..
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? '30drop - Tools For The Dimensional Step [2015] [FLAC]'
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 'Ada Kaleh - Zâna Zorilor'
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 'Aes Dana - Perimeters [2011] [FLAC]'
?????????? ? ? ? ?            ? 'After Hour - Feel It & Waterfalls [1991] [FLAC]'

I tried changing the owner and tried setting permissions to 777, but neither one works. It's either permission denied or operation not permitted. The files are definitely there and they are not deleted, but how do I regain access to them?

I really did not have any idea why a chmod -x recursive command would be dangerous like this, but it definitely is.

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1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    When you ran chmod -x on the directory with the -R (recursive) option, it removed the execute permission on the directory itself and all its subdirectories. This was wrong because:

    • Execute permission (x) on a directory is essential for accessing it using cd and listing its contents correctly.
    • Without execute permission you cannot enter the directory or access its metadata, resulting in the ls -la output showing the d????????? entries and series of question marks for owner, group, and permissions.

    Use the chmod u+rx,go-w <directory name> command to modify the permissions of a specific directory.

    Explanation of chmod u+rx,go-w:

    • chmod modifies the permissions and access mode of files and directories.
    • u stands for the user (the owner of the directory).
    • +r gives read permission to the user.
    • +x gives execute permission to the user.
    • g stands for the group (users who are in the same group as the owner).
    • o stands for others.
    • -w removes the write permission for both group members and others.
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