Ubuntu – How to recursively change the permissions of files and directories

permissions

I have ubuntu installed on my local computer with apache / php / mysql.

I now have a directory at /var/www – inside which I have several of my ongoing projects. I also work with opensource ( drupal, magento, sugarcrm ).

The problem I am facing is changing file permission with terminal. Sometime I need to change the permission of entire folder and its subsequent sub-folders and files. I have to individually change using 

sudo chmod 777 foldername

How can I do this recursively.

Also why do I have to always do it 777, I tried 755 for folders and 644 for files, but that won't work.

Best Answer

Just add the -R option to recursively change the permissions of files. An example, recursively add read and write permissions for the owner and group on foldername:

chmod -R ug+rw foldername

Permissions will be like 664 or 775.

Setting the permissions to 777 is highly discouraged. You get errors in either Apache or your editor regarding permissions because apache runs under a different user (www-data) than you.

If you want to write to /var/www, add yourself to the www-data group and set umask+permissions accordingly.

  • Add yourself to the www-data group: sudo adduser $USER www-data
  • Change the ownership of the files in /var/www: sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www
  • Change the umask, so newly created files by Apache grants write permissions to the group too. Add umask 007 to /etc/apache2/envvars.
  • Grant yourself (technically, the group www-data) write permissions: sudo chmod -R g+w /var/www.
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