Opposite of chown

rn5a · 09-01-2007, 03:58 PM

The chown command is used to change the user & the owner of a directory or file from root to the user so that the directory or file can be accessed or edited.

How do I revert the user & the owner back to root so that the directory or file no longer remains accessible or editable?

pixellany · 09-01-2007, 04:07 PM

The opposite of chown is......(drumroll)...chown

The imprecise syntax is:

chown username:groupname filename
either username or groupname can be omitted:
chown username filename
OR
chown :groupname filename

To go back to having root be the owner:
chown root filename
To have the command apply to **directoryname** + contents:
chown -R root directoryname

rn5a · 09-01-2007, 08:01 PM

Thanks, Pixellany, for your response & help.

Regards,

Ron