Allowing only one file to be viewed in a folder of files

paperbagperson · 04-01-2016, 10:42 AM

How can I make it so that a certain group can only read (cat/less) one file in a folder of many files? I want to do this without changing file permissions

tshikose · 04-01-2016, 10:59 AM

Hi,

Why are avoiding just giving that group r-- permission on that file?

offgridguy · 04-01-2016, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperbagperson

How can I make it so that a certain group can only read (cat/less) one file in a folder of many files? I want to do this without changing file permissions

You could hide the file, although this is not a perfect solution.
http://ccm.net/faq/812-hiding-a-file...ry-under-linux

astrogeek · 04-01-2016, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paperbagperson

How can I make it so that a certain group can only read (cat/less) one file in a folder of many files? I want to do this without changing file permissions

I read your question as asking...

Quote:

How can I change access permissions on a file without changing access permissions?

I find that a very confusing, circular question with no clear end point (aka answer).

Perhaps a more complete description of what you are trying to do, and the reasons you think that file permissions should not be changed, would help me understand it better.

Also, some context would help, such as distro, use case, etc.

grail · 04-01-2016, 12:19 PM

I'm with astrogeek, as it stands the question makes little to no sense??

John VV · 04-01-2016, 02:03 PM

please restate

without changing the permissions you can not change the group or owner

one way very outside the box

encrypt it
and only give the key to the people who you want to read it

pan64 · 04-01-2016, 02:18 PM

I think this question should be formulated like:
How can I make it so that a certain group can only open/access one file in a folder of many files?
Probably you can do that, but they can cat file > /tmp/newfile and open /tmp/newfile, and also there are a lot of other tricks to think about. So as far as I see you cannot restrict users to view several files in the same time.
But probably you can specify your issue better and we can give you a better answer.