Sharing files among different user accounts -- file/folder permissions?

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Sharing files among different user accounts -- file/folder permissions?

I have two main user accounts that I switch between during the day (essentially a PERSONAL account and a WORK account). This allows me to keep separate Mail, iCal, etc -- as well as desktop applications and file organization. However, I am having some major issues with sharing data between the user accounts.

WHAT I WANT: A local drop box for shared communal files between these two primary users. Seems simple enough, right?

WHAT I DID: I created a subfolder in /Users/Shared/ called "COMMUNAL DROP BOX" and set the permissions to R/W for both my user accounts, and no access for the other accounts. However, when I copy files into this folder from my PERSONAL account -- it retains the file level permissions. For example, I grabbed some photos from my iPhone that I shot of a display for work -- I grabbed them off the phone and then dragged them into the drop box. They are in the shared folder, but the file perms are set to PERSONAL_ACCOUNT "Read & Write" and Everyone "No Access." There's no way I can continue to individually change every single file's permission -- how do I set it up to automatically match the folder, so that files like this are then readable by my work account?

-Jason M.

Macbook, iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Jan 19, 2009 9:45 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Jan 19, 2009 10:23 AM in response to JasonM.321

Why not use the actual Shared folder in the /Users/ folder? It's a special folder exactly for the need you've described. Select Mac Help from the Finder's Help menu and search for "shared folder." Or simply drop your files into the Shared folder. Files dropped into the Shared folder are accessible and modifiable by all users.

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Answer 2

JasonM.321 Author

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Jan 19, 2009 1:29 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn't thought of this option because my personal user folder permission were changed since a store files in /Users/username/ -- but I quickly changed that and set appropriate permissions for the subfolders.

Question #1: What is it about the /Users/Username/Shared folder that automatically sets file permissions -- and how can I set that for folders of my choosing? (Specifically the /Users/Shared folder)

Question #2: Only one of my users has the /Users/Username/Shared folder -- why is that?

Thanks again for your help! I'm getting a better grip on how permissions work between users on the same machine.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Jan 19, 2009 2:01 PM in response to JasonM.321

The Shared folder is located in the /Users/ folder, not in /Users/username/ folder. There is only one Shared folder. It is for all users.

A single user does not have a /Users/username/Shared/ folder. They may have a /Users/username/Public/ folder or drop box. This folder is "shared" in the sense that other users may gain access to the folder and files only from that user. Every user has a Public folder by default. But the Shared folder I'm referring to is in the /Users/ folder where any user may put files for all other users on the computer.

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Answer 4

JasonM.321 Author

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Jan 19, 2009 3:22 PM in response to Kappy

Ok, I guess we misunderstood each other, I was originally using /Users/Shared -- but it leaves the file permissions intact. If I copy over a file that is set to Everyone - No Access, such as something recently imported from my iPhone, once copied to the /Users/Shared folder it is not accessible by other users.

I have no problems in accessing FOLDERS of other users, but it's the files themselves that, once copied to public/shared folders -- still remain unreadable.

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Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Jan 19, 2009 3:27 PM in response to JasonM.321

Then try setting the privileges for Everyone to read/write. I can't help you on the Windows side. I don't use Windows.

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Answer 6

JasonM.321 Author

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Jan 19, 2009 5:57 PM in response to Kappy

"Then try setting the privileges for Everyone to read/write." -- this was my ORIGINAL question! How can I have files dropped into an Everyone Read/Write folder take on the parent folder permissions, rather than having to manually change permissions on every file that goes into it.

And who said anything about Windows? I'm talking about local machine permissions here in OS X 10.5. Not sure where Windows entered the picture.

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Answer 7

Feb 3, 2009 9:25 PM in response to JasonM.321

Jason,

were you ever able to get this figured out? I'm looking at a very similar issue right now for myself. I use a WORK & PERSONAL account, and constantly access files on that were created by the other user. I use a backup drive that multi purposes as a file repository ... and I keep having to change the permission on newly created files/folders due to only the created of the file/folder having rights to access said content.

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Answer 8

Feb 8, 2009 5:16 AM in response to JasonM.321

On my machine I've created a directory(folder) in the /Users directory called localshare. Since the directory can have just one owner, I've made root own the folder.


sudo mkdir /Users/localshare

Every user on my machine belongs to the group-Staff. I need to change the group class on the localshare directory that I've created.


sudo chown :staff /Users/localshare

As a reference, I changed the traditional permissions to reflect my desired results and lock down the permissions some.


sudo chmod 770 /Users/localshare

I have added an ACL on the localshare directory that allows the group staff to do anything within the directory- make file and directories, modify files that they do not owner, etc.


sudo chmod +ai "staff allow list,addfile,search,delete,add_subdirectory,delete_child,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity,file_inherit,directoryinherit" /Users/localshare

This works well for me with one issue. Files or folders must be copied to the localshare directory. They cannot be moved.

Message was edited by: Mark Jalbert

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Answer 9

Király

Level 6

10,025 points

Feb 8, 2009 2:10 PM in response to Mark Jalbert

To the OP: Mark's suggestion will do what you want. It is exactly what I do to share files between my wife's and my user accounts, and automatically have new files be given write access for both of us.

If you don't want to use the "staff" group, you can make a custom group in System Preferences -> Accounts, and add the users you want to it. Then replace the word "staff" in Mark's terminal command to the name of your custom group.

One more thing to remember: Files you create with some applications, like Apple's TextEdit, won't inherit the group write permission if you save them directly into that folder. You will need to save them in a different location first, and then copy (not move) them there, for the group write permission to be properly inherited.

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Answer 10

Feb 10, 2009 6:35 PM in response to Mark Jalbert

That worked great! Thank You very much.

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Answer 11

Mar 5, 2009 3:50 AM in response to Mark Jalbert

Hi, I'm encountering the same issue. This is what happened with the commands in terminal:

Macintosh-3:~ $ sudo chown :administrators /Users/Shared
Macintosh-3:~ $ sudo chmod 770 /Users/Shared

Macintosh-3:~ $ sudo chmod +ai "administrators allow list,add file,search,delete,add_subdirectory,delete_child,readattr,writeattr,readextattr, writeextattr,readsecurity,file_inherit,directoryinherit" /Users/Shared
Macintosh-3:~ $

Perhaps because I tried to directly change Shared? I really would prefer to apply inherit permissions
to the Shared folder as opposed to migrating to a different folder. Thank you for any advice you may have

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Answer 12

Mar 6, 2009 5:27 PM in response to Don.a.dio

So... what's the problem? After you did the commands in terminal did the Shared folder not work as you hoped? What happens now when you try to copy files between accounts using the new permissions on the Shared folder?

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Answer 13

gh4507

Level 1

9 points

Mar 12, 2009 12:09 AM in response to JasonM.321

i have set my folders up similarly, but have problems with remote access.

on my iMac, i have created /Movies, /Music and /Pictures with rwx perms for me, and r-- for my young daughter. as i drop new tunes etc into these folders, permissions are properly inherited. that is, i have read/write access, and she only has read, recursively. goal mostly achieved.

however, when trying to access these iMac folders remotely from my second 10.5 machine, the / directory (and hence /Movies, /Music and /Pictures) are only visible to users with admin privileges. hence my daughter cannot get access to any data here.

if i use /Users/Shared area, we can all see it, but all new files dropped into this area have rwxrwxrwx permissions, meaning i'm not protecting the data from accidental deletion by my daughter.

any ideas as to how to configure this?

--gary

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Answer 14

Mar 13, 2009 9:29 PM in response to Mark Jalbert

Why must files be copied to the shared folder and not moved?

I'm trying to solve a similar problem (see http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9155116#9155116 )
and I think the problem might be that I (we) are always trying to directly create new files in the shared directory.

I'm trying to avoid having lots of extra copies around of the files in the different user accounts and avoid lots of extra manual steps to get the right access to the files.

I will try your solution tomorrow and see if that gets me closer to the goal.

Thanks for the post,
Steve

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Answer 15

Király

Level 6

10,025 points

Mar 13, 2009 11:56 PM in response to steve@wickwoodonline

steve@wickwoodonline wrote:
Why must files be copied to the shared folder and not moved?

Because that's how Apple has implemented ACLs with the HFS+ filesystem. Details are here. I think it is poorly implemented myself; hopefully a filesystem overhaul someday in the future will address this issue.

I'm trying to solve a similar problem (see http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9155116#9155116 )

Did you follow the instructions in Mark's post in this thread?

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