GNU/Linux filesystem permissions and rights are the basis of the system’s security, and one of it’s principles is the clear separation of rights to files and folders. In a heavily multiuser environment, such as a school’s server, file rights prevent a user by default to accidentally delete or overwrite another’s documents. However, there are use cases where multiple users need to access (read, write, and even delete) other user’s files – such may be the case in the above mentioned school server, where students work on the same project. In this section of RHCSA exam preparation we will learn how to create an environment for such collaboration, using the setgid (set groupID) technique. Note that while we perform these steps on a recent operating system, the setgid isn’t a new thing, and you will find it in any and all distributions.
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to add users to a supplementary group
- How to use set-GID on a directory
- How to check proper ownership within the set-GID directory
- How to use the special directory as a member of the group