CHOWN

Section: Maintenance Commands (8)
Updated: May 22, 1986
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NAME

chown - change owner

SYNOPSIS

/usr/etc/chown [ -f -R ] owner[.group] file ...

DESCRIPTION

Chown changes the owner of the files to owner. The owner may be either a decimal UID or a login name found in the password file. An optional group may also be specified. The group may be either a decimal GID or a group name found in the group-ID file.

Only the super-user can change owner, in order to simplify accounting procedures. No errors are reported when the -f (force) option is given.

When the -R option is given, chown recursively descends its directory arguments setting the specified owner. When symbolic links are encountered, their ownership is changed, but they are not traversed.

FILES

/etc/passwd