chown(8)chown(8)Namechown - change owner and, optionally, group
Syntax
/etc/chown [ -fR ] owner[.group] file...
Description
The command changes the owner and, optionally, group for one or more
files and directories. The value for file can be a full or partial
path. The value for owner can be either a decimal UID or a login name
found in the password file. The value for group can be either a deci‐
mal GID or a group name found in the group file.
Only the superuser can change the ownership of a file. The superuser
can also change the group of a file. The owner of a file can only
change the group, but the owner must be a member of any group speci‐
fied.
Options-f Inhibits display of errors that are returned when cannot change
the owner or group of the specified files.
-R Causes to recursively descend any directories subordinate to file
and to set the owner, group, or both for each file encountered.
When symbolic links are encountered, changes the owner and group
for the link file itself but does not traverse the path associated
with the link. The option is useful only when file is a directory
that is not empty.
Examples
Change the owner of to ecbell:
/etc/chown ecbell myfile
Change the owner of to craig and group of to admin:
/etc/chown craig.admin myfile
Change the owner to richart and group to eng for the directories and
and for all files and directories on any levels subordinate to and
/etc/chown -R richart.eng projecta projectb
Files
See Also
chgrp(1), chown(2), group(5), group(5yp),
passwd(5), passwd(5yp)chown(8)
