While learning about Linux you will come across the term called Sticky Bit, let’s see How to Use Sticky Bit on Directory and File.
You would set the sticky bit primarily on directories in UNIX / Linux. If you set the sticky bit to a directory, other users cannot delete or rename the files (or sub-directories) within that directory. When the sticky bit is set on a directory, only the owner and the root user can delete/rename the files or directories within that directory
01. Set the sticky bit on Directory
The example below enables the sticky bit on a directory. Use chmod command to set the sticky bit. If you are using the octal numbers in chmod, give 1 before you specify other numbered privileges, as shown below. The example below gives rwx permission to a user, group, and others (and also adds the sticky bit to the directory).
$ chmod 1777 dir
Or, you can assign only a sticky bit to an existing directory (without touching any other user, group, and other privileges) using chmod command as shown below.
$ chmod +t dir
Once the sticky bit is assigned to a directory, you’ll see (t) as the last character in the permission ( as shown in the image above). In this example, it is drwxrwxrwt.
$ ls -ld /home/justgeek/dir
drwxrwxrwt 2 justgeek justgeek 4096 2011-01-28 14:09 /home/justgeek/dir
$ ls -l dir
total 8
-rwxrwxrwx 1 justgeek justgeek 20 2011-01-28 14:12 justgeek.txt
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest guest 41 2011-01-28 14:13 guest.txt
In the above example, as dir has rwx permission for everybody, all other users are allowed to create their files or directories under this directory. However, even when the sub-directories or files under dir is having rwx permission to everybody, only the owner of those can delete or rename those files and directory. Other users cannot delete or rename it because of the sticky bit.
In the above example, as dir has rwx permission for everybody, all other users are allowed to create their files or directories under this directory. However, even when the sub-directories or files under dir is having rwx permission to everybody, only the owner of those can delete or rename those files and directory. Other users cannot delete or rename it because of the sticky bit.
In the above example, justgeek.txt has rwx to users, groups, and others. But, when the guest user is trying to delete the file justgeek.txt, he’ll see the “Operation not permission” message as shown below. when the guest user is trying to delete the file justgeek.txt, he’ll see the “Operation not permission” message as shown below.
$ su guest
Password:
$ cd /home/justgeek/dir1
$ rm justgeek.txt
rm: cannot remove `justgeek.txt': Operation not permitted
Hopefully today you know, How to Use Sticky Bit on Directory and File. If you want to learn more about Linux basics, then you can check here