Chown
| chown | |
|---|---|
Example usage of chown command | |
| Original author(s) | Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie |
| Developer(s) | AT&T Bell Laboratories |
| Initial release | November 3, 1971 |
| Operating system | Unix and Unix-like, IBM i |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Command |
chown /ˈtʃoʊn/, short for change owner, is a shell command for changing the owning user of Unix-based file system files – including special files such as directories.
The ownership of a file may only be altered by a super-user (such as via sudo). A regular user cannot give away their ownership of a file.
The version of chown bundled in GNU coreutils was written by David MacKenzie and Jim Meyering.
The command is available for Windows via UnxUtils. The command was ported to IBM i.