We have our work drive (let's call it Drive2014) and we have our archive drive (Drive2013). Every file on Drive2013 is read-only and must remain that way. When I drag a file from Drive2013 to Drive2014, I need the file to inherit the permissions from it's new home on Drive2014.
I tried How do I use chmod on a Mac to make new files inherit parent directory permissions? but this is only applicable after the file has been copied.
Someone mentioned that what I want to do is feasible through Apple's Server Admin Tools. I'm running the latest version of OS X Mavericks Server all up to date.
Best Answer
What you need to use is ACLs (instead of POSIX) permissions. Luckily, you don't need Mac OS server to use ACLs. They are available right from the Terminal of any recent Mac OS X version. From Terminal, you will simply use the "chmod" command to apply ACLs to your Drive2014. The ACL command you will use should include ",file_inherit,directory_inherit,".
Full details of the "chmod" command are available here: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/chmod.1.html
And, the perfect solution to your question (with command examples) has already been answered well here: How do I use chmod on a Mac to make new files inherit parent directory permissions?
Make sure to read that post to the end as they have made a few corrections along the way.