[prev] 27 [next]

Default file permissions

The permissions given to newly created files and directories depend upon the default permissions and the current umask.

The default permissions in octal for

  • files is 0666
  • directories is 0777

To find out your umask type 

$ umask

The umask has the effect of disabling certain permissions

When you create a file or directory on linux, the actual permission given to it will be 

(default permissions) & ~(umask)

For example, if your umask is 0027, then if you create a file it will have permissions 

0666 & ~(0027) = 0666 & (0750) = 0650