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SETFACL(1) Access Control Lists SETFACL(1)
NAME
setfacl - set file access control lists
SYNOPSIS
setfacl [-bkndRLPvh] [{-m|-x} acl_spec] [{-M|-X} acl_file] file ...
setfacl --restore=file
DESCRIPTION
This utility sets Access Control Lists (ACLs) of files and directo-
ries. On the command line, a sequence of commands is followed by a
sequence of files (which in turn can be followed by another sequence
of commands, ...).
The options -m, and -x expect an ACL on the command line. Multiple ACL
entries are separated by comma characters (','). The options -M, and
-X read an ACL from a file or from standard input. The ACL entry for-
mat is described in Section ACL ENTRIES.
The --set and --set-file options set the ACL of a file or a directory.
The previous ACL is replaced. ACL entries for this operation must
include permissions.
The -m (--modify) and -M (--modify-file) options modify the ACL of a
file or directory. ACL entries for this operation must include per-
missions.
The -x (--remove) and -X (--remove-file) options remove ACL enries.
Only ACL entries without the perms field are accepted as parameters,
unless POSIXLY_CORRECT is defined.
When reading from files using the -M, and -X options, setfacl accepts
the output getfacl produces. There is at most one ACL entry per line.
After a Pound sign ('#'), everything up to the end of the line is
treated as a comment.
If setfacl is used on a file system which does not support ACLs, set-
facl operates on the file mode permission bits. If the ACL does not
fit completely in the permission bits, setfacl modifies the file mode
permission bits to reflect the ACL as closely as possible, writes an
error message to standard error, and returns with an exit status
greater than 0.
PERMISSIONS
The file owner and processes capable of CAP_FOWNER are granted the
right to modify ACLs of a file. This is analogous to the permissions
required for accessing the file mode. (On current Linux systems, root
is the only user with the CAP_FOWNER capability.)
OPTIONS
-b, --remove-all
Remove all extended ACL entries. The base ACL entries of the
owner, group and others are retained.
-k, --remove-default
Remove the Default ACL. If no Default ACL exists, no warnings are
issued.
-n, --no-mask
Do not recalculate the effective rights mask. The default behavior
of setfacl is to recalculate the ACL mask entry, unless a mask
entry was explicitly given. The mask entry is set to the union of
all permissions of the owning group, and all named user and group
entries. (These are exactly the entries affected by the mask
entry).
--mask
Do recalculate the effective rights mask, even if an ACL mask
entry was explicitly given. (See the -n option.)
-d, --default
All operations apply to the Default ACL. Regular ACL entries in
the input set are promoted to Default ACL entries. Default ACL
entries in the input set are discarded. (A warning is issued if
that happens).
--restore=file
Restore a permission backup created by 'getfacl -R' or similar.
All permissions of a complete directory subtree are restored using
this mechanism. If the input contains owner comments or group com-
ments, and setfacl is run by root, the owner and owning group of
all files are restored as well. This option cannot be mixed with
other options except '--test'.
--test
Test mode. Instead of changing the ACLs of any files, the result-
ing ACLs are listed.
-R, --recursive
Apply operations to all files and directories recursively. This
option cannot be mixed with '--restore'.
-L, --logical
Logical walk, follow symbolic links. The default behavior is to
follow symbolic link arguments, and to skip symbolic links encoun-
tered in subdirectories. This option cannot be mixed with
'--restore'.
-P, --physical
Physical walk, skip all symbolic links. This also skips symbolic
link arguments. This option cannot be mixed with '--restore'.
--version
Print the version of setfacl and exit.
--help
Print help explaining the command line options.
-- End of command line options. All remaining parameters are inter-
preted as file names, even if they start with a dash.
- If the file name parameter is a single dash, setfacl reads a list
of files from standard input.
ACL ENTRIES
The setfacl utility recognizes the following ACL entry formats (blanks
inserted for clarity):
[d[efault]:] [u[ser]:]uid [:perms]
Permissions of a named user. Permissions of the file owner if
uid is empty.
[d[efault]:] g[roup]:gid [:perms]
Permissions of a named group. Permissions of the owning group
if gid is empty.
[d[efault]:] m[ask][:] [:perms]
Effective rights mask
[d[efault]:] o[ther][:] [:perms]
Permissions of others.
Whitespace between delimiter characters and non-delimiter characters
is ignored.
Proper ACL entries including permissions are used in modify and set
operations. (options -m, -M, --set and --set-file). Entries without
the perms field are used for deletion of entries (options -x and -X).
For uid and gid you can specify either a name or a number.
The perms field is a combination of characters that indicate the per-
missions: read (r), write (w), execute (x), execute only if the file
is a directory or already has execute permission for some user (X).
Alternatively, the perms field can be an octal digit (0-7).
AUTOMATICALLY CREATED ENTRIES
Initially, files and directories contain only the three base ACL
entries for the owner, the group, and others. There are some rules
that need to be satisfied in order for an ACL to be valid:
* The three base entries cannot be removed. There must be exactly
one entry of each of these base entry types.
* Whenever an ACL contains named user entries or named group
objects, it must also contain an effective rights mask.
* Whenever an ACL contains any Default ACL entries, the three
Default ACL base entries (default owner, default group, and
default others) must also exist.
* Whenever a Default ACL contains named user entries or named group
objects, it must also contain a default effective rights mask.
To help the user ensure these rules, setfacl creates entries from
existing entries under the following conditions:
* If an ACL contains named user or named group entries, and no mask
entry exists, a mask entry containing the same permissions as the
group entry is created. Unless the -n option is given, the permis-
sions of the mask entry are further adjusted to include the union
of all permissions affected by the mask entry. (See the -n option
description).
* If a Default ACL entry is created, and the Default ACL contains no
owner, owning group, or others entry, a copy of the ACL owner,
owning group, or others entry is added to the Default ACL.
* If a Default ACL contains named user entries or named group
entries, and no mask entry exists, a mask entry containing the
same permissions as the default Default ACL's group entry is
added. Unless the -n option is given, the permissions of the mask
entry are further adjusted to inclu de the union of all permis-
sions affected by the mask entry. (See the -n option description).
EXAMPLES
Granting an additional user read access
setfacl -m u:lisa:r file
Revoking write access from all groups and all named users (using the
effective rights mask)
setfacl -m m::rx file
Removing a named group entry from a file's ACL
setfacl -x g:staff file
Copying the ACL of one file to another
getfacl file1 | setfacl --set-file=- file2
Copying the access ACL into the Default ACL
getfacl --access dir | setfacl -d -M- dir
CONFORMANCE TO POSIX 1003.1e DRAFT STANDARD 17
If the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is defined, the default
behavior of setfacl changes as follows: All non-standard options are
disabled. The ''default:'' prefix is disabled. The -x and -X options
also accept permission fields (and ignore them).
AUTHOR
Andreas Gruenbacher, .
Please send your bug reports, suggested features and comments to the
above address.
SEE ALSO
getfacl(1), chmod(1), umask(1), acl(5)
May 2000 ACL File Utilities SETFACL(1)
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