Take Control of Permissions in Leopard
Solve quirky problems, increase privacy, and share files better by managing permissions in Leopard.
Permissions problems got you down? Turn to Unix expert Brian Tanaka's unique guide to the permissions in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that control access to your files, folders, and disks. You'll learn how to keep files private, when to set Ignore Permissions, what happens when you repair permissions, how to delete stuck files, and the best ways to solve permissions-related problems. Advanced concepts include the sticky bit, Leopard's more-important access control lists, bit masks, and symbolic versus absolute ways to set permissions. The book covers how to take control of permissions via the Finder, with Mac utilities, and using the command line.
10.6 Snow Leopard? Take Control of Permissions in Snow Leopard is available.
- More Info
- Contents & Intro
- FAQ
- Blog
Read this ebook to learn the answers to questions like:
- Why do so many problem-solving sites suggest that I repair permissions?
- Why can anyone with an external drive access my account?
- Why can't I always access my own files when I boot from an external drive?
- What should I do if someone tells me to "set the permissions to -rw-r--r--"?
- What are promiscuous permissions, and should I be informing the vice squad?
- What are access control lists (ACLs), and what's new about them in Leopard?
- How do I use the Unix command line to control permissions?
- What Mac utilities can change permissions, if I don't want to learn Unix?
- How do I set up and manipulate account groups from System Preferences?
- Now that the NetInfo database is gone in Leopard, how do I edit account settings such as numeric UID?
Book Info
- 86 pages
- Version 1.1
- Updated Oct 06, 2008
- 1.7 MB download
- ISBN: 9781933671369
- Free sample with Table of Contents, Intro, Quick Start, and section starts.
iPad & Kindle
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About the Author
Brian Tanaka has worked for a variety of companies including the Well, SGI, Intuit, Nintendo, and RealNetworks. Today, his own company, Martingale-Oak LLC, provides Unix and open source technologies consulting. His articles have appeared in Linux Journal and Sysadmin Magazine.
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Book Reviews
Author Interviews
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Table of Contents
- Read Me First
- Introduction
- Permissions Quick Start
- Problems and Solutions
- About Permissions
- The Anatomy of Permissions
- Choose a Method of Setting Permissions
- Set Permissions Using the Info Window
- Set Permissions Using Third-Party Tools
- Use Access Control Lists
- Understand Default Permissions
- Work with User Names, UIDs, and GIDs
- Understand Ignore Ownership
- Repair Permissions with Disk Utility
- Learn Advanced Unix Techniques
- Learn More
- Appendix A: Fixes for Common Problems
- Appendix B: Converting To Octal
- Appendix C: Use the man Command
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Read Me First
This book helps you control the often-perplexing world of permissions in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. It explains how permissions work, how to resolve common problems, and how to best control access to your files in a variety of situations. Although this book has a different title, it is effectively the second edition of Take Control of Permissions in Mac OS X. This book was written by Brian Tanaka, edited by Tonya Engst (with help from Sandro Menzel), and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.
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Introduction
Even if you don't know a thing about permissions, if you're using Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, you're using them right now. Every file and folder on your computer carries permissions from the moment it's created until the moment it's deleted. Because permissions are literally everywhere on your computer and because they control who can access what, it's tremendously advantageous to understand them. You'll have better control over your Mac, and you'll be able to share items and access shared items with greater ease.
Problems arising from improperly set permissions are common and can be frustrating: Sharing files among users on one computer can be problematic if you don't understand permissions, and sharing items on a network raises yet another set of potential problems.
In this book I teach you how to prevent and fix permissions problems with ease and much more. You'll learn how to interpret and manipulate permissions with the Info window in the Finder, Disk Utility, third-party tools, and Unix commands. You'll learn about accounts and groups, and how permissions control them; how default permissions work; how to repair permissions; and how to ignore permissions on an attached volume.
Equipped with this expertise, you'll be able to handle permissions problems when sharing files locally or across networks, booting from multiple volumes, exchanging files with other users, running FTP and Web servers, and much more.
Quick Start
The first sections of this book teach the basics of permissions and how to set them. The remaining sections explore more advanced techniques and concepts that help you solve problems.
Learn about permissions:
- Find out what permissions are, and why you need them. See About Permissions.
- Permissions are composed of simple interrelated parts. Discover how they work together. See The Anatomy of Permissions.
- If you already know a bit about permissions and want an overview of what's new in Leopard, read What's New.
Set permissions:
- There's more than one way to set permissions. See Choose a Method of Setting Permissions.
- Learn to Set Permissions Using the Info Window and to Set Permissions Using Third-Party Tools. And, if you need more fine-grained tools for controlling permissions, read Use Access Control Lists.
- To solve a permissions-related problem, see Problems and Solutions (next page), for a quick index to helpful info.
- If you enjoy working in Unix or need the fine-grained control that Unix can provide, Learn Advanced Unix Techniques.
Delve deeper into permissions:
- Discover how your Mac assigns default permissions in Understand Default Permissions, and increase your permissions IQ by reading Work with User Names, UIDs, and GIDs.
- Learn to use two important Mac OS X features in Understand Ignore Ownership, and Repair Permissions with Disk Utility.
- Unix commands empower you to do things you can't do from the graphical user interface, which you'll see when you Learn Advanced Unix Techniques.
Problems and Solutions
I discuss a variety of common problems in Appendix A: Fixes For Common Problems, but you will find help with solving other problems throughout the book. Use the links below to navigate to info that will help you with specific problems:
- I'm having trouble with The Shared Folder.
- The Info window doesn't show permissions settings I know exist. See Set Permissions Using Third-Party Tools and Learn Advanced Unix Techniques.
- I don't own my own files! See Work with User Names, UIDs, and GIDs.
- I am concerned about the privacy of files and folders that I created and saved in my user account, and I want to make sure that others on the computer cannot access them in any way. Read The Case of the Promiscuous Folder.
- When do I use Ignore Ownership on This Volume? See Understand Ignore Ownership.
- Everyone tells me to use Repair Permissions but I don't understand what it does. Learn the real story in Repair Permissions with Disk Utility.
- I can see why understanding octal is useful when setting permissions, but I can't seem to get my head around it. See Appendix B: Converting To Octal.
- When I copy or create items, I can't predict what the permissions will be. It's driving me batty! Find help in Understand Default Permissions.

Do you have an ebook that covers permissions in older versions of Mac OS X?
Yes, we do. See Take Control of Permissions in Mac OS X, which covers permissions in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and earlier.
Is there an edition that covers permissions in 10.6 Snow Leopard?
Yes, there is! Take Control of Permissions in Snow Leopard
Do you explain the correct permissions for the WebServer/Documents folders?
Brian's answer: The ebook explains permissions so thoroughly that I feel confident you'll have no problem at all setting and maintaining the permissions on the Webserver/Documents folders (and all the other folders on your Mac). That said, if you have specific questions that aren't covered by the ebook, I'd be glad to help to the degree I'm able.
Can I read this ebook on an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or Kindle?
There are lots of great ways to read our ebooks on these devices. For more details, please read our latest Device Advice.
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Update Plans
April 2010 -- It is unlikely that we'll update this Leopard ebook again. A Snow Leopard edition—Take Control of Permissions in Snow Leopard—is available.
—Tonya J Engst
November 19, 2009 --
This ebook discusses three third-party tools: FileXaminer, Super Get Info, and XRay/XRay II. Today, only FileXaminer remains. Super Get Info has been discontinued. XRay has Leopard and Snow Leopard issues the author is not intending to address. The sole survivor, FileXaminer, now has a 14-day trial. (The previous trial period was 7 days.)
—Tonya J Engst
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