What does the permission string lrwxrwxrwx mean?

The leading l indicates that this file is a symlink, in contrast to - which indicates a regular file, d which indicates a directory, and other less common prefixes.

A symlink is type of file which only contains a link to another file. Reading a symlink reads the real file. Writing to a symlink writes to the real file. cding to a symlink that is to a directory results in behaviour almost identical to what would happen if you had cd'd into the real directory.

The permission bits are displayed as rwxrwxrwx. All symlinks show these bits, but they are "dummy permissions". The actual (or effective) permissions of a symlink are the permissions of the real file it links to. You can get the real permissions (and file type) by running stat on the symlink, for example:

$ stat -Lc '%a %A' /initrd.img
644 -rw-r--r--

• stat read file metadata
• -L dereference (follow) symlinks
• -c select output according to specified string
• %a octal permissions
• %A "human readable" permissions

The ls -sl command

The Linux command ls = List of files in the directory you are in

The added switch -sl = print short list

The resulting this example part of the output: lrwxrwxrwx

In my shortest explanation would be: The first letter will usually be either: l, d, or -:

l = Link to another file

d = a directory

- = file

r = read permission - Read the file

w = write permission - Write or edit the file

x = execute permission He can execute the file

- = no permission

Number  Permission Type            `Symbol`
0         No Permission             `---`
1         Execute                   `--x`
2         Write                     `-w-`
3         Execute + Write           `-wx`
4         Read                      `r--`
5         Read + Execute            `r-x`
6         Read + Write              `rw-`
7         Read + Write + Execute    `rwx`

In Summary: The file type and access and Permissions the Ownership, and User; privileges such as Read and/or Write for each directory or file that is listed in the output.

a l for a link , d for a directory or - for a file and these are set by the Linux operating system. You can not manually change these letters (unless you change the file type of course). (ie... lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1024 Feb 13 09:45 myfile3)

Please refer to: http://earthen.tripod.com/linuxper.htmPermissions (Setting up the modes)

~ Samuel F Campbell