chown.1 (2010 09)

c
chown(1) chown(1)
NAME
chown, chgrp - change file owner or group
SYNOPSIS
chown [-h][-R
[-H-L-P]]owner[:group ] file ...
chgrp [-h][-R
[-H-L-P]]group file ...
DESCRIPTION
The
chown command changes the owner ID of each specified file to owner and optionally the group ID of
each specified file to group.
The
chgrp command changes the group ID of each specified file to group .
Refer to usergroupname(5) to understand the functionality changes with the Numeric User Group Name
feature.
In order to change the owner or group, you must own the file and have the CHOWN privilege (see
setprivgrp (1M)). If either command is invoked on a regular file by other than the superuser, the set-
user-ID and set-group-ID bits of the file mode (04000 and 02000 respectively) are cleared. Note that a
given user’s or group’s ability to use this command can be restricted by
setprivgrp (see
setprivgrp (1M)).
Options
chown and chgrp recognize the following options:
-h Change the owner or group of a symbolic link.
By default, the owner or group of the target file that a symbolic link points to is changed.
With
-h, the target file that the symbolic link points to is not affected. If the target file is
a directory, and you specify -h and -R, recursion does not take place.
-H If the -R option is specified and a symbolic link referencing a directory is specified on the
command line, the owner or group of the directory referenced by the symbolic link and all
files in the file hierarchy below it are changed.
-L If the -R option is specified and a symbolic link referencing a directory is encountered on
the command line or during the traversal of a file hierarchy, the owner or group of the
directory referenced by the symbolic link and all files in the file hierarchy below it are
changed.
-P If the -R option is specified and a symbolic link is encountered on the command line or
during the traversal of a file hierarchy, the owner or group of the symbolic link are
changed. The chown utility shall not follow the symbolic link to any other part of the file
hierarchy.
-R Recursively change the owner or group. For each file operand that names a directory, the
owner or group of the directory and all files and subdirectories in the file hierarchy below
it are changed.
Operands
chown and chgrp recognize the following operands:
file Target file for which the ownership is changed.
group Either a decimal group ID or a group name found in the
/etc/group file.
owner Either a decimal user ID or a login name found in the
/etc/passwd file.
Access Control Lists - HFS File Systems Only
Users can permit or deny specific individuals and groups to access a file by setting optional ACL entries
in the file’s access control list (see acl (5)). When using
chown in conjunction with HFS ACLs, if the new
owner and/or group of a file does not have an optional ACL entry corresponding to user .% and/or
%.group in the file’s access control list, the file’s access permission bits remain unchanged. However, if
the new owner and/or group is already designated by an optional ACL entry of user.% and/or %.group in
the file’s ACL, chown sets the corresponding file access permission bits (and the corresponding base ACL
entries) to the permissions contained in that entry.
HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 1 − Hewlett-Packard Company 1