Difference between Chmod and Chown?

Cheerag Nundlall · Sep 13, 2020

Can you guys tell me what is the difference between Chmod and Chown? I am learning Linux and see these commands, its a bit hard to understand for me

Efe Agbontaen · Sep 13, 2020

chmod is used to modify the permissions of a file or folder. Syntax is like chmod 664 filename. This will give Read&Write permissions to the owner and group of the filename and only Read permissions to other users
In order to Modify the permissions of a file, you have to either own that file or be an admin.

Now if for example, you are logged in as root and you want to give userA the ability to use chmod command on a file, then you should use the Chang Owner (chown) command.

Syntax is like chown userA:groupA filename. This will change the filename owner and group to userA and groupA respectively

tuxandrew · Sep 15, 2020

Chmod used to change the permission of a file or a directory.
Chown used to change the ownership of a file or a directory .

read-4
write-2
execute -1

chmod 644 <file name> # example

- assign what kind of permissions for the users to have on this file.

Here,
- owner of the file has 4+2 =6 [ read and write] permission.
- users in a group which the file belongs and other users in the system has 4 [read] only permission

chown user:user <file name> #example
The chown command stands for "change owner"

- Can assign ownership for user and group to have the privileges to access the file for operations.

Efe Agbontaen · Sep 22, 2020

fiz said:
Folders should have 0755 and files should have 0644 permissions mostly.

fiz said:
Folders should have 0755 and files should have 0644 permissions mostly

I think it is important to mention particularly that files with config information like database details should have 600. Especially when in a shared environment.

Short story:
I was contacted to cleanup a hacked WordPress website. Hacked due to an unsecure WordPress plugin. The hacker then uploaded what I consider a "beautiful script". What the script does is to bruteforce the config location of popular webapps in the /var/www directory...Some of them includes:

WordPress
Joomla
WHMCS and many more

It then created a symlink to these files. And just like that almost all the websites were hacked.

Now the ones that survived the attack are the ones that set their config files to 600 which was about 1 or 2 websites.

Think about it. 644 means:

I can read and write to this file
Anyone in my group can read this file but not write
All other people including an hacker can read this file but not write

hostguy · May 28, 2021

with Chmod command you can change only file permission and give your file Read, write and execute permission. You can also set users with chmod command. I would recommend to check Chmod command.

On the other hand you can change file ownership and permission with Chown command. I would recommend to check Chown command.

etechsupport · Jun 24, 2021

The acronym chown stands for "changing owner," which is self-explanatory. While chmod controls what users can do with a file after they get it, chown determines who owns it.

sam@12 · Jul 11, 2021

chown is to change ownership of the user and group and chmod is for changing permission assigning to user and group

sam@12 · Nov 2, 2021

chmod ( change mode ) allows you to control exactly who is able to read, edit, or run your files.
chown ( change owner ) chown command is used to change the file Owner or group. Whenever you want to change ownership you can use chown command.

jhonalbert · Apr 26, 2022

The chmod command stands for “change mode”, and allows changing permissions of files and folders.
The chown command stands for “change owner”, and allows changing the owner of a given file or folder, which can be a user and a group.
That's the difference between them in a nutshell.

myresellerhome · Apr 26, 2022

The acronym chown stands for "changing owner," which is self-explanatory. While chmod controls what users may do with a file once they have access to it, chown determines who owns it.

Difference between Chmod and Chown?

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