Lecture 5

Managing files and folder

permission

CoSc2043 – Network and System Administration

Lecture Overview
Types of Files (Regular files,
directories)
Character and block files
File attributes and ownership
Link Files (Hard links, symbolic links)
Changing access permissions
Special attributes
Searching the filesystem
Types of Files
Linux defines seven types of files.
No File type Symbol Created by Removed by
1 Regular file - editors, cp, etc. rm
2 Directory d mkdir rmdir, rm -r
Character device
3 c mknod rm
file
4 Block device file b mknod rm
Local domain
5 s socket(2) rm
socket
6 Named pipe p mknod rm
7 Symbolic link l In -s rm
Types of Files (Cont’d)
Regular Files :- Most files used directly by a human
user are regular files. For example, executable
files, text files, and image files are regular files.
Directories:- organize folders and files into a
hierarchical structure.
Devices
 Character Devices
 Block Devices
Sockets and Named Pipes
Symbolic Links : is a pointer or an alias to another
file.
Files and Directories
Everything is referenced via a file
Directories
 List of files & inodes
 “.” – Reference to the current directory
 “..” – Reference to parent directory
 Root (/) – “.” and “..” are the same
Inodes (index node) :- contains details
about each file, such as the node,
owner, file, location of file
Standard directories and their
contents

Pathname Contents
/bin Commands needed for minimal system operability
/boot Kernel and files needed to load the kernel
/dev Device entries for disks, printers, pseudo terminals, etc.
/etc Critical startup and configuration files
/home Home directories for users
/lib Libraries and parts of the C compiler
/media Mount points for filesystems on removable media
/opt Optional application software packages (not yet widely used)
/proc Information about all running processes
/root Home directory of the superuser (often just /)
/sbin Commands for booting, repairing, and recovering the system
/tmp Temporary files that may disappear between reboots
/usr Hierarchy of secondary files and commands
/usr/bin Most commands and executable files
/usr/include Header files for compiling C programs
/usr/lib Libraries; also, support files for standard programs
/usr/local Local software (software you write or install)
/usr/local/bin Local executables
/usr/local/etc Local system configuration files and commands
Standard directories and their contents
(Cont’d)

Pathname Contents
/usr/local/bb Local support files
/usr/local/sbin Statically linked local system maintenance commands
/usr/local/src Source code for /usr/local/*
/usr/man On-line manual pages
/usr/sbin Less essential commands for system administration and repair
/usr/share Items that might be common to multiple systems (read-only)
/usr/share/man On-line manual pages
/usr/src Source code for nonlocal software packages (not widely used)
/var System-specific data and configuration files
/var/adm Varies: logs, system setup records, strange administrative bits
/var/log Various system log files
/var/spool Spooling directories for printers, mail, etc.
/var/tmp More temporary space (preserved between reboots)
Device Files
Character Devices
 Transfer unit: byte
 Example: /dev/console
Block Devices
 Transfer unit: Group of bytes (block)
 Examples: /dev/hda
Device Numbers
 Major – Type of device
 Minor – Device number
Device Files (Cont’d)
Character Driver Block Driver
Character devices are accessed as a
Block Device are hardware devices which randomly
stream of sequential data, one byte after
access fixed-sized chunks of data.
another.
No buffering is required. Accessed through a cache so buffering is required.
Seeking is not allowed. Seeking is possible.
Managing char driver within a kernel
Managing block driver within a kernel requires more
require less care, preparation and work
care, preparation and work done.
done.
Character driver has only one position Block driver navigates back and forth between any
current one. It can’t move back and forth. location on media.
Reads and write done by buffer cache mechanism
The read() and write() calls do not return
by bread(), bwrite().These request may be
until the operation is complete.
asynchronous.
The kernel doesn’t have to provide an The kernel does have to provide an entire
entire subsystem to the character device. subsystem to block device.
sources for character devices are kept in Sources for block devices are kept in
…/kernel/chr_drv/ …/kernel/blk_drv/
Less complex. More complex.
Eg: Keyboard device, serial port. Eg: Hard disk, Pen drive, Blue-rays.
Sockets & Named Pipes
Enables communication between
processes
Socket
 Processed must have a connection first
 Example: X Windows
Named Pipe
 Communication between unrelated processes
 FIFO
 Not used very often
Link Files
Multiple names for same file
Hard Link
 Pointer to Inode
 Can’t cross partitions
 Equivalent to the original file reference
 File removed when all links deleted
Symbolic (Soft) Links
 Pointer to file path name
 Dangling symlink – Real file which no longer
exists
ln [-s] <real_file> <link_file>
Magic Numbers
Byte pattern at beginning of file
Patterns listed in file called magic
RedHat: /usr/share/magic
file – Tests a file to determine type
 Filesystem Test
 Magic Number Test
 Language Test
MS File/Directory
Attributes

Read-Only

Hidden

System

Archive
UNIX/Linux File Attributes
Inode
Permissions
Ownership
Time Stamps
Change
Modification
Access

File Size
Link Count
Pointers to data
Viewing File Attributes
ls –l: Long listing (includes attributes)
File Type File Size/Device #
Permissions Modification Date
Link Count File Name
Ownership

stat: Lists all attributes

File Type Attribute
# ls -ld /home /etc/passwd /dev/console
crw--w--w- 1 root root 5, 1 Sep 27 11:27 /dev/console
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 559 Sep 22 13:14 /etc/passwd
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 0 Sep 26 10:42 /home

File Type Meaning

- Regular File
d Directory
l Symbolic Link
b Block Device
c Character
Device
p Named Pipe
s Domain Socket
Ownership
# ls -ld /home /etc/passwd /dev/console
crw--w--w- 1 root root 5, 1 Sep 27 11:27 /dev/console
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 559 Sep 22 13:14 /etc/passwd
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 0 Sep 26 10:42 /home

User
 Owner of file
 User names/UIDs defined in /etc/passwd
Group
 Organization of users accessing the file
 Group names/GIDs defined in /etc/group
Permissions
# ls -ld /home /etc/passwd /dev/console
crw--w--w- 1 root root 5, 1 Sep 27 11:27 /dev/console
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 559 Sep 22 13:14 /etc/passwd
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 0 Sep 26 10:42 /home

Operatio File Directory

n
Read Read file List files
Write Delete/Modify Create/Delete
file file
3Execute
levels of Run program
access Access
– Owner, file Other
Group,
Changing Access
Users & Groups
 chown [-R] user file…
 chgrp [-R] group file
Permissions
 chmod [-R] <op> file…
 Numeric: <op> = [#]###
 Symbolic: <op> = <who op perm>
 Who: (u)ser (g)roup (o)ther (a)ll
 op: (+)add (-)remove (=)set
 Perm: (r)ead (w)rite e(x)ecute
Numeric/Symbolic
Permissions
Octal Binary Symbolic
0 000 ---
1 001 --x
2 010 -w-
3 011 -wx
4 100 r--
5 101 r-x
6 110 rw-
7 111 rwx
Default Permissions
umask Shell Environment Variable
Defines permissions to remove
Numeric Binary Effective
Perms
0 000 rwx
1 001 rw-
2 010 r-w
3 011 r--
4 100 -wx
5 101 -w-
6 110 --x
7 111 ---
Special Attributes
Setuid (SUID) Bit
 Run program with access of owner
 Symbolic: s
 Numeric: 4000
Setgid (SGID) Bit
 Run program with access of owner
group
 Symbolic: s
 Numeric: 2000
Sticky Bit
Purpose
 File: Force program to stay in RAM
(obsolete)
 Directory: Cannot remove file unless
you own the file or directory
Symbolic: t
Numeric: 1000
Example: /tmp
 Microsoft Permissions
Read Execute
Create Search
Write Ownership
Append Access Control
Delete

GUI and Command Line (cacls) tools to manage

Searching the Filesystem
find: Command line search tool
Searches through directory hierarchy
Search by any combination of file names
and attributes
Display files or perform operations on
them
Examples:
 find /var –mtime -1
 find / -name core –exec rm –f {} \;