10.3 Changing Permissions From the Command Line
10.3.2 Symbolic (relative) mode
When using symbolic mode to set permission, you typically work with one category of users, although you can give all categories the same permissions simultaneously. The mode is referred to as relative since you are assigning or removing permissions relative to the ones that are already there. You can add one or more permissions to a specific group or take them away. The command format for symbolic mode uses letters and symbols. Roll your mouse over Figure for additional information.
Command Format:
chmod mode filename

The mode portion of the command format is made up of three parts:

  1. Who - Category of users you are working with (u, g, o or a)
  2. Op - Operator or what you are going to do, set (=), remove (-), give (+)
  3. Permissions - Permission(s) assigned - Read (r), Write (w) or Execute (x)

Changing Permissions With Symbolic (Relative) Mode
Figure shows several examples of assigning permissions with Symbolic mode:
Interactive Media Activity (Flash, 104 kB)
  Changing Permission (Symbolic)

In this media activity, you are logged in as user2 and your current working directory is /home/user2/dir2. Type the commands that would accomplish the following objectives.
Note: Be sure to press enter after each one. Click on step 1 to begin.