CHMOD Explained (with Free CHMOD Calculator Tool)

CHMOD Explained (with Free CHMOD Calculator Tool)

Chmod = Change Mode (= Setting or changing the permissions on files or folders)

You can change the CHMOD permissions of any file or directory (folder) within your website. The permissions you set will either allow or prevent various users (or user groups) from doing the following:

• Access (“Read” – “r”)
• Modify / Alter (“Write” – “w”)
• Running scripts or executables etc (“Execute” – “x”)

So for example, you may want to allow the r,w & x permissions for yourself, but for everyone else only want to allow r permissions…….

Importance of Understanding CHMOD:

Correct CHMOD permissions help to secure your site, the wrong CHMOD permissions will make it vulnerable to hackers , so it is important that you learn the basics & also how to change any unsecure permission settings.

There are three types that can get to a file if you allow them to:

• The Owner (You)
• The Group
• Everyone

NOTE: CHMOD permission setting of 777 will allow anyone to access (& do what they want with) your files – therefore it is not recommended.

(Permission settings of 655 or 644 are commonly used by many website components as they provide some security whilst still allowing the component to function properly.)

Default CHMOD Modes / Settings:

Default modes if you upload a file to the server (and have changed nothing) are:

• All Files that are not scripts or directories
  644 (= -rw-r–r– )
• All directories and anything that looks like a script (.cgi and .pl files for example)
  755 (= -rwxr-xr-x )

You can use our CHMOD Calculator to easily & quickly work out what CHMOD Settings you want / need:

CHMOD Calculator Tool

Sorry, but I’ve had to remove the CHMOD calculator for the moment (as it isn’t working). I will try to fix it if/when I can find some time. Regards, Admin (Feb 21, 2012)

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Karen Banting is the primary author for Business-In-Site.com and writes about a variety of topics, including: Online Business, SEO, Marketing, Software and more....
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