NAME

       dpkg-statoverride - override ownership and mode of files

SYNOPSIS

       dpkg-statoverride [option...] command

DESCRIPTION

       `stat  overrides' are a way to tell dpkg(1) to use a different owner or mode for a path when a package is
       installed (this applies to any filesystem object  that  dpkg  handles,  including  directories,  devices,
       etc.).  This  can be used to force programs that are normally setuid to be install without a setuid flag,
       or only executable by a certain group.

       dpkg-statoverride is a utility to manage the list of  stat  overrides.  It  has  three  basic  functions:
       adding, removing and listing overrides.

COMMANDS

       --add user group mode path
              Add an override for path. path does not need to exist when this command is used; the override will
              be  stored  and  used later.  Users and groups can be specified by their name (for example root or
              nobody), or by their number by prepending the number with a `#' (for example #0  or  #65534).  The
              mode needs to be specified in octal.

              If --update is specified and path exists, it is immediately set to the new owner and mode.

       --remove path
              Remove an override for path, the status of path is left unchanged by this command.

       --list [glob-pattern]
              List  all  overrides.  If a glob pattern is specified restrict the output to overrides which match
              the glob. If there are no overrides or none match the glob dpkg-statoverride  will  exit  with  an
              exitcode of 1.

       --help Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
              Show the version and exit.

OPTIONS

       --admindir directory
              Change  the directory of the dpkg database where the statoverride file is also stored. Defaults to
              /var/lib/dpkg.

       --force
              Force an action, even if a sanity check  would  otherwise  prohibit  it.   This  is  necessary  to
              override an existing override.

       --update
              Immediately try to change the path to the new owner and mode if it exists.

       --quiet
              Be less verbose about what we do.

ENVIRONMENT

       DPKG_ADMINDIR
              If  set  and  the  --admindir  option  has  not  been  specified, it will be used as the dpkg data
              directory.

FILES

       /var/lib/dpkg/statoverride
              File which contains the current list of stat overrides of the system. It is located  in  the  dpkg
              administration  directory,  along  with  other  files  important  to  dpkg,  such  as  `status' or
              `available'.
              Note: dpkg-statoverride preserves the old  copy  of  this  file,  with  extension  "-old",  before
              replacing it with the new one.

SEE ALSO

       dpkg(1).

Debian project                                     2013-04-01                               dpkg-statoverride(8)