Type: 

ls  l filename

and you will see what the current permission settings are for that file, along with a bunch of other stuff.

Examples of using chmod:

PEOPLE

PERMISSIONS

u = the file s user (you)

r = read access

g = the file s group

x = execute access

o = others

w = write access

a = the user, the group, and others

To change permissions for a file named filename.cgi, you need to chmod the file (change mode). For

example, when you type this:

chmod u=rwx,g=rx,o=rx filename.cgi

you ve given:

read, execute, and write access to the user (that s you)

read and execute access to the group and

read and execute access to others

Some scripts will tell you to 

chmod 775

 (for example). Doing the above is the same thing as typing chmod

775. You can use either method with our Unix servers. Let me explain:

When using the numeric system, the code for permissions is as follows:

r = 4 w = 2 x = 1 rwx = 7

The first 7 of our chmod775 tells Unix to change the user s permissions to rxw (because r=4 + w=2 + x=1

adds up to 7. The second 7 applies to the group, and the last number 5, refers to others (4+1=5).

When doing an 

ls  l

 on the file, telnet always shows the permissions this way:

 rwxr xr x

Ignore the first dash, then break up the above into three groups of letters. If there s a dash where a letter

should be, it means that there is no permission for those people.

Remember: the first 3 apply to user, the second 3 apply to group, and the third 3 apply to others.

Some FTP clients support changing permissions in a more graphical way. If you have Fetch for the Mac, you

have an easy way to change permissions. Go to the file you want to change the permissions on, and highlight

it. Under the Remote menu, select Change Permissions. A window will pop up showing the current

permissions for the file you had highlighted, as in 

Figure 3A

 below. Click on the boxes to change

permissions as needed.