Linux – Add read permissions to all the directories of a path

0775 is rarely correct for a file. The following will add the appropriate desired permissions to the appropriate type, without disturbing other existing permissions:

find somedir \( -type d -exec chmod u+rwx,g+rwx,o+rx {} \; -o -type f -exec chmod u+rw,g+rw,o+r {} \; \)

See the man page for find to help decipher that.

In order to set permissions on the folder and all sub folders/files you need to use the recursive option in your command:

chmod 777 -R /path/to/directory

For more information using chmod please see here.

UPDATE:

Disclaimer: Using chmod 777 will make your folder executable by everyone. Please see below for a look at setting

Your permissions are set using three numbers.

the 100's are for the owner of the file
400 read
200 write
100 execute

10's are for the group of the file
40 read
20 write
10 execute

1's are for everyone else
4 read
2 write
1 execute

In your example you are giving owner, group and everyone full rights to your file. If, for example, you wish to give owner and group full permissions, but everyone else only read and execute permissions you would use 775.

If you wish to use letter representation instead of numbers please see here