What is chmod?

Chmod means to give files or folders permissions. Unix requires it in granting access to read write or execute in a folder or file namely the cgi’s and perl scripts.

The easiest way to give a file permission is to use WS_FTP as outlined in the FTP section of this knowledge base to do it. You can also use control panels like cPanel. We prefer most to use WS_FTP for this function. All you need to do is highlight the file or folder on the server, rightclick, choose chmod(unix), and then check the appropriate check boxes.

read = 4
write = 2
execute = 1

That’s a total of 7. Now you just need to check the boxes. But wait, there are three groups! Owner, Group, and Other, for a total of 777. So when a script says give me chmod 755 we’re checking all the boxes for Owner, and the read and execute boxes for Group and Other.
Pretty easy eh? Its just a numbers racket. 🙂