chown(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   chown(1)



NAME
     chown - change file owner

SYNOPSIS
     chown [-R] [-h] owner file ...

DESCRIPTION
     chown changes the owner of the files to  owner.   The  owner
     may  be  either  a  decimal user ID or a login name found in
     /etc/passwd file.

     If chown is invoked by other than the super-user,  the  set-
     user-ID bit of the file mode, 04000, is cleared.

     Only the owner of a file (or the super-user) may change  the
     owner of that file.  Valid options to chown are:

     -R   Recursive.  chown descends through the  directory,  and
          any  subdirectories,  setting  the  ownership  ID as it
          proceeds.  When symbolic links  are  encountered,  they
          are traversed.

     -h   If the file is a symbolic link, change the owner of the
          symbolic  link.   Without this option, the owner of the
          file referenced by the symbolic link is  changed.   The
          operating    system    has   a   configuration   option
          {POSIXCHOWNRESTRICTED},   to   restrict    ownership
          changes.   When  this  option is in effect the owner of
          the file is prevented from changing the owner ID of the
          file.  Only the super-user can arbitrarily change owner
          IDs whether this option is in effect or not.

FILES
     /etc/passwd

SEE ALSO
     chgrp(1), chmod(1) chown(2) in  the  Programmer's  Reference
     Manual  passwd(4)  in  the  System Administrator's Reference
     Manual.

NOTES
     In a Remote File Sharing environment, you may not  have  the
     permissions  that  the output of the ls -l command leads you
     to believe.  For more information see the  ``Mapping  Remote
     Users''  section  of  the Remote File Sharing chapter of the
     System Administrator's Guide.









                                                                1