NAME

       setfacl - set file access control lists

SYNOPSIS

       setfacl [-bkndRLPvh] [{-m|-x} acl_spec] [{-M|-X} acl_file] file ...

       setfacl --restore=file

DESCRIPTION

       This  utility  sets  Access Control Lists (ACLs) of files and directories.  On the command
       line, a sequence of commands is followed by a sequence of files  (which  in  turn  can  be
       followed by another sequence of commands, ...).

       The  options  -m,  and  -x  expect  an  ACL  on the command line. Multiple ACL entries are
       separated by comma characters (`,'). The options -M, and -X read an ACL  from  a  file  or
       from standard input. The ACL entry format is described in Section ACL ENTRIES.

       The --set and --set-file options set the ACL of a file or a directory. The previous ACL is
       replaced.  ACL entries for this operation must include permissions.

       The -m (--modify) and -M (--modify-file) options modify the ACL of a  file  or  directory.
       ACL entries for this operation must include permissions.

       The -x (--remove) and -X (--remove-file) options remove ACL entries. It is not an error to
       remove an entry which does not exist.  Only  ACL  entries  without  the  perms  field  are
       accepted as parameters, unless POSIXLY_CORRECT is defined.

       When  reading  from files using the -M, and -X options, setfacl accepts the output getfacl
       produces.  There is at most one ACL entry per line. After a Pound sign  (`#'),  everything
       up to the end of the line is treated as a comment.

       If  setfacl  is used on a file system which does not support ACLs, setfacl operates on the
       file mode permission bits. If the ACL does not fit  completely  in  the  permission  bits,
       setfacl  modifies the file mode permission bits to reflect the ACL as closely as possible,
       writes an error message to standard error, and returns with an exit status greater than 0.

   PERMISSIONS
       The file owner and processes capable of CAP_FOWNER are granted the right to modify ACLs of
       a  file.  This  is  analogous to the permissions required for accessing the file mode. (On
       current Linux systems, root is the only user with the CAP_FOWNER capability.)

OPTIONS

       -b, --remove-all
           Remove all extended ACL entries. The base ACL entries of the owner, group  and  others
           are retained.

       -k, --remove-default
           Remove the Default ACL. If no Default ACL exists, no warnings are issued.

       -n, --no-mask
           Do  not  recalculate  the effective rights mask. The default behavior of setfacl is to
           recalculate the ACL mask entry, unless a mask entry was explicitly  given.   The  mask
           entry  is  set to the union of all permissions of the owning group, and all named user
           and group entries. (These are exactly the entries affected by the mask entry).

       --mask
           Do recalculate the effective rights mask, even if an ACL  mask  entry  was  explicitly
           given. (See the -n option.)

       -d, --default
           All  operations  apply  to  the  Default ACL. Regular ACL entries in the input set are
           promoted to Default ACL entries. Default ACL entries in the input set  are  discarded.
           (A warning is issued if that happens).

       --restore=file
           Restore  a  permission backup created by `getfacl -R' or similar. All permissions of a
           complete directory subtree are restored using this mechanism. If  the  input  contains
           owner  comments  or  group  comments, setfacl attempts to restore the owner and owning
           group. If the input contains flags comments (which  define  the  setuid,  setgid,  and
           sticky  bits),  setfacl  sets those three bits accordingly; otherwise, it clears them.
           This option cannot be mixed with other options except `--test'.

       --test
           Test mode. Instead of changing the ACLs of any files, the resulting ACLs are listed.

       -R, --recursive
           Apply operations to all files and directories recursively. This option cannot be mixed
           with `--restore'.

       -L, --logical
           Logical  walk, follow symbolic links to directories. The default behavior is to follow
           symbolic link arguments, and skip symbolic links encountered in subdirectories.   Only
           effective in combination with -R.  This option cannot be mixed with `--restore'.

       -P, --physical
           Physical  walk, do not follow symbolic links to directories.  This also skips symbolic
           link arguments.  Only effective in combination with -R.  This option cannot  be  mixed
           with `--restore'.

       -v, --version
           Print the version of setfacl and exit.

       -h, --help
           Print help explaining the command line options.

       --  End  of  command line options. All remaining parameters are interpreted as file names,
           even if they start with a dash.

       -   If the file name parameter is a single dash,  setfacl  reads  a  list  of  files  from
           standard input.

   ACL ENTRIES
       The  setfacl  utility  recognizes  the  following  ACL  entry formats (blanks inserted for
       clarity):

       [d[efault]:] [u[ser]:]uid [:perms]
              Permissions of a named user. Permissions of the file owner if uid is empty.

       [d[efault]:] g[roup]:gid [:perms]
              Permissions of a named group. Permissions of the owning group if gid is empty.

       [d[efault]:] m[ask][:] [:perms]
              Effective rights mask

       [d[efault]:] o[ther][:] [:perms]
              Permissions of others.

       Whitespace between delimiter characters and non-delimiter characters is ignored.

       Proper ACL entries including permissions are used in modify and set  operations.  (options
       -m,  -M,  --set and --set-file).  Entries without the perms field are used for deletion of
       entries (options -x and -X).

       For uid and gid you can specify either a name or a number.

       The perms field is a combination of characters that indicate the  permissions:  read  (r),
       write  (w),  execute  (x),  execute only if the file is a directory or already has execute
       permission for some user (X).  Alternatively, the perms field can be an octal digit (0-7).

   AUTOMATICALLY CREATED ENTRIES
       Initially, files and directories contain only the three base ACL entries  for  the  owner,
       the  group, and others. There are some rules that need to be satisfied in order for an ACL
       to be valid:

       *   The three base entries cannot be removed. There must be exactly one entry of  each  of
           these base entry types.

       *   Whenever  an  ACL  contains  named  user  entries or named group objects, it must also
           contain an effective rights mask.

       *   Whenever an ACL contains any Default ACL entries, the three Default ACL  base  entries
           (default owner, default group, and default others) must also exist.

       *   Whenever  a  Default  ACL  contains named user entries or named group objects, it must
           also contain a default effective rights mask.

       To help the user ensure these rules, setfacl creates entries from existing  entries  under
       the following conditions:

       *   If an ACL contains named user or named group entries, and no mask entry exists, a mask
           entry containing the same permissions as the group entry is  created.  Unless  the  -n
           option is given, the permissions of the mask entry are further adjusted to include the
           union of all permissions affected by the mask entry. (See the -n option description).

       *   If a Default ACL entry is created, and the  Default  ACL  contains  no  owner,  owning
           group,  or  others  entry,  a  copy of the ACL owner, owning group, or others entry is
           added to the Default ACL.

       *   If a Default ACL contains named user entries or named group entries, and no mask entry
           exists,  a  mask  entry  containing  the same permissions as the default Default ACL's
           group entry is added. Unless the -n option is given, the permissions of the mask entry
           are  further  adjusted  to  inclu de the union of all permissions affected by the mask
           entry. (See the -n option description).

EXAMPLES

       Granting an additional user read access
              setfacl -m u:lisa:r file

       Revoking write access from all groups and all named  users  (using  the  effective  rights
       mask)
              setfacl -m m::rx file

       Removing a named group entry from a file's ACL
              setfacl -x g:staff file

       Copying the ACL of one file to another
              getfacl file1 | setfacl --set-file=- file2

       Copying the access ACL into the Default ACL
              getfacl --access dir | setfacl -d -M- dir

CONFORMANCE TO POSIX 1003.1e DRAFT STANDARD 17

       If  the  environment  variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is defined, the default behavior of setfacl
       changes as follows: All non-standard options are disabled.   The  ``default:''  prefix  is
       disabled.  The -x and -X options also accept permission fields (and ignore them).

AUTHOR

       Andreas Gruenbacher, <a.gruenbacher@bestbits.at>.

       Please send your bug reports, suggested features and comments to the above address.

SEE ALSO

       getfacl(1), chmod(1), umask(1), acl(5)