what is the best way to ensure that all files in a given directory (recursive) are all written, reguardless of the user, with the same group ownership? i've got multiple users writing in a set of directories (recursive down as well) and i need to make sure they can all access these files. any help?


one particular user can't edit any files..yet he can download them, change them and then replace it by deleting the old one. crazy that he can delete a file...but now edit it directly.

I don't know if I understand correctly, but I think you just want to...

chmod -R g+w *

That will change the files/directories to be group writable starting with the current directory all the way down. The -R means recursive.

Is that what you mean?

You can also put the SETGID bit on the directory (chmod g+s directory). This ensures that all files created in that directory belong to the same group as the directory itself.

can that be set recursively? can i set everything in that directory and the subsequent directories under it, and their files...and so on?

Ya, use the -R option when you use chmod and all the existing files/folders will get the permission changes you set.

drwxr-sr-x 2 root web 1024 Jun 4 10:32 test2



explain the "s"....is that just saying that everything that is created under here will have the same group as this directory? what exactly does the "s" mean? just wanted to double check. i've seen the "s" but i didn't ever know what it meant. does it give execute permissions since it's in the "execute" slot instead of the "x"? if i only want someone to be able to rw- but i have the group always set to web with rws...does that mean they have execute permissions. and vis versa what if i want to give them execute permissions and it's set as rws....do they have them?



i've also seen capital s..."S". what does that mean? what's the difference?


drwxr-Sr-x 2 root web 1024 Jun 4 10:32 test2