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Managing File Attributes and Permissions

A firm understanding of how to manage file and directory attributes and permissions is one of the foundations of a being a successful system administrator. This activity will help you reinforce your understanding of key utilities like chmod along with how to apply the desired permissions to users, groups and 'everyone' on the system. Once you complete this learning activity, you will have a firm grasp on how permissions work across files and directories on your system.

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Lab Info
Level
Beginner
Last updated
Sep 22, 2025
Duration
1h 0m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Reset Permissions on /opt/myapp Directory

    In order to allow access to the /opt/myapp directory, the student will need to provide specific permissions to the directory itself so it can be read by users other than the owner.

    Accomplish this task with:

    sudo chmod 755 /opt/myapp
    

    Optionally, although less secure, the following would meet the requirements as well:

    sudo chmod 777 /opt/myapp
    
  2. Challenge

    Permissions on Files and Folders Within /opt/myapp

    The student is asked to allow read and write permissions to all files and folders within the /opt/myapp directory (including files within the subfolders recursively).

    This task can be completed successfully via:

    sudo chmod 666 -R /opt/myapp/*
    

    Note: For users to be able to navigate into directories, the directories must be set as executable. You can do this with:

        sudo find /opt/myapp -type d -exec chmod o+x {} \;
        
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