Permission Definitions

Owner = the files users (you)
Group = the files group
Others = others

Permissions Definitions:

r = read access
x = execute access
w = write access

Numerical Definitions:

r = 4
x = 2
w = 1

You will come to recognize, if you do not already, Chmod as a word used for changing
Permissions from within Telnet or your FTP client.

Most scripts will tell you to chmod 775. When using the numeric system, the code for permissions is as follows:

4 + 2 + 1 (rwx) = 7

The first number applies to Owner, the second number applies to Group, and the third number applies to Others. Therefore the first 7 of the chmod 775 tells Unix to change the Owner's permissions to rxw (because r=4 + w=2 + x=1 adds up to 7, this giving the Owner Read, Write, and Execute Permission. The second 7 applies to the group, this giving the Group Read, Write, and Execute Permission, and the last number 5, refers to Others (4 + 1= 5), giving Others only Read and Execute Permission. The permissions for chmod 775 look like this: rwx rwx -rx.

Permissions are always broken up into three groups of letters, however if there is a dash, this dash simply means that Permission wasn't given for that particular function, for example in the chmod 775, Permission to Write was not given to Others.

Remember: the first 3 letters always apply to Owner, the second 3 apply to Group, and the third 3 apply to Others.

Note: If you are in a hurry, simply give executable, read and write permission to the owner and executable and read permission to the group and other. This will work for most scripts.

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Setting Permissions Using CuteFTP for Windows:

Highlight the file you want to check, and right-click on it. A menu will pop up, then select CHMOD. You will see the window as shown below in the screenshot we've provided. Click on the appropriate settings as needed. (Refer to the Permission Definitions for an explanation of settings.

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Setting Permissions Using WS_FTP for Windows:

This is similar to using CuteFTP. Highlight the file you want to check, and right-click on it. A menu will pop up, then select CHMOD. You will see the window as shown below in the screenshot we've provided. Click on the appropriate settings as needed. (Refer to the Permission Definitions for an explanation of settings)

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Setting Permissions using Fetch for MAC:

Go to the file you want to change the permissions on, and highlight it. Under the Remote menu, select Change Permissions. A window will pop up showing the current permissions for the file you had highlighted, as shown in the screenshot below. Click on the boxes to change permissions as needed. (Refer to the Permission Definitions for an explanation of settings)

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