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Systems & Data Center · Foundational

chown

The Linux command that changes the user and/or group owner of files and directories.

Definition

The syntax user:group sets both at once; -R recurses. Only root can give away ownership of a file. chgrp changes only the group.

Example

chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html assigns web content to the apache account.

Exam tip

Remember chown user:group file; a regular user cannot chown their file to someone else.

Don't confuse it with

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