OSX server 10.6 and umask

file-sharingosx-serverpermission

I'm trying to set up our server so that file permissions make sense. We have a mac mini running OSX 10.6.7. Through our desktop Macs, we connect to shared folders on that server and save files on it, in Finder, TextEdit, etc.

I've set up a umask, as documented here. However, this only works from terminal/finder directly on the server. If I save a file to the server using a connected desktop, it doesn't work.

Any ideas on how I can resolve this?

Best Answer

umask is a user- and process-specific setting and can be overridden. Setting a umask on the server does not affect any clients that accessing the shared folder - each of them will use their own default file creation permissions.

If you want to set default permissions on a shared folder, the answer is to use Access Control Lists (ACLs), which are much more flexible.

Here's a somewhat terse support article from Apple on setting up ACLs in Snow Leopard Server.
And here's a slightly friendlier guide.

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MacOS – Problems saving changes to /etc/sshd_config

Using sudo on the open command doesn't do anything particularly useful -- the actual program still gets run under the user's regular identity. To solve this, make sure TextEdit isn't running, then do:

sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit &
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The first command runs TextEdit as root; the second tells it to open the file. After this, you should be able to edit & save changes. When you're done, be sure to quit TextEdit (or it'll keep editing files as root).

Alternately, use TextWrangler (or its even-more-capable-but-not-free sibling, BBEdit). It handles saving files as root automatically, as well as having easy ways to edit invisible files. I much prefer it for editing config files and the like.

EDIT: Be sure to get the version of TextWrangler from the Bare Bones Software web site, not the version from the Mac App Store -- the App Store version has the save-as-root feature removed to comply with Apple's rules.

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There are Apple-created bugs in OS X 10.5 "Leopard" client & server when copying files to/from AFP shared volumes.

See more detail in this answer:

No right to open file once copied on the desktop

Best Answer

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