) The chown command | |
| Original author(s) | Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | AT&T Bell Laboratories |
| Initial release | November 3, 1971 |
| Operating system | Unix and Unix-like, IBM i |
| Type | Command |
The command chown /ˈtʃoʊn/, an abbreviation of change owner, is used on Unix and Unix-like operating systems to change the owner of file system files, directories. Unprivileged (regular) users who wish to change the group membership of a file that they own may use chgrp.
The ownership of any file in the system may only be altered by a super-user. A user cannot give away ownership of a file, even when the user owns it. Similarly, only a member of a group can change a file's group ID to that group.[1]
The chown command has also been ported to the IBM i operating system.[2]
Syntax
chown name_of_new_owner file_name
chown newuser:newgroup file_name
See also
References
- ^ BSD Man page for chown, March 31, 1994
- ^ IBM. "IBM System i Version 7.2 Programming Qshell" (PDF). Retrieved 2020-09-05.
External links
- – Commands & Utilities Reference, The Single UNIX Specification, Issue 7 from The Open Group
- chown manual page
- The chown Command by The Linux Information Project (LINFO)