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What does -rw-r--r-- mean?

Every time I run the chmod command and then run ls -al, it always gives me information about the file that I have specified in Terminal and one of the things is the -rw-r--r--+ or -rwxr--r--+ or things like that and I have always wondered what they all mean.


Could somebody please give me a brief overview of what all the letters mean and the dashes (e.g.. rw-r-r--+ has lots of dashes)?

Also, if there are any others, could you tell me what they mean aswell?


Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4), Late 2013 13 inch MacBookPro11,1

Posted on Jul 23, 2014 11:42 AM

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9 replies

Jul 23, 2014 3:04 PM in response to iMacApplpro7

So does the file Niel linked to.


The next three fields are three characters each: owner permissions, group permissions, and other permissions. Each field has three character positions:
1. If r, the file is readable; if -, it is not readable.
2. If w, the file is writable; if -, it is not writable.
3. The first of the following that applies:
S If in the owner permissions, the file is not executable and set-user-ID mode is set. If in the group permissions, the file is not executable and set-group-ID mode is set.
s If in the owner permissions, the file is executable and set-user-ID mode is set. If in the group permissions, the file is executable and setgroup-ID mode is set.
x The file is executable or the directory is searchable.
- The file is neither readable, writable, executable, nor set-user-ID nor set-group-ID mode, nor sticky. (See below.)
These next two apply only to the third character in the last group (other permissions).
T The sticky bit is set (mode 1000), but not execute or search permission. (See chmod(1) or sticky(8).)
t The sticky bit is set (mode 1000), and is searchable or executable. (See chmod(1) or sticky(8).)

What does -rw-r--r-- mean?

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