chmod 211 Permission Explained

Notice: This is an unusual permission set: some classes have more access than the class above them. It is rarely correct in practice.

Octal

211

Symbolic

-w---x--x

Binary

010 001 001

Risk Level

Low Risk

Summary: chmod 211 gives the owner write, the group execute, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				2
Group (g)				1
Others (o)				1

setuid (4) setgid (2) sticky bit (1)

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

211

-w---x--x

Owner: write · Group: execute · Others: execute

chmod 211 filename

Low Risk Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

View the full chmod 211 guide →

chmod 211 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Group (g)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 211 Safe?

Low Risk

Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

211 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 711.

chmod 211 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 211 filename

# Apply using equivalent symbolic mode
chmod u=w,g=x,o=x filename

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 211 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type f -exec chmod 211 {} +

# Verify permissions
stat -c '%a %A %n' filename    # Linux
stat -f '%Lp %Sp %N' filename   # macOS

# Example ls -l output:
--w---x--x 1 alice staff 1024 Jan 15 10:00 example.txt

umask Relationship

A umask of 566 makes new directories 211. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 211 mean?

chmod 211 gives the owner write, the group execute, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 2 (write), the group receives 1 (execute), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 211 safe?

chmod 211 is classified as Low Risk. Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

What is chmod 211 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 211 is represented as -w---x--x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=w,g=x,o=x filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 611 add owner read chmod 011 remove owner write chmod 311 add owner execute chmod 251 add group read chmod 231 add group write chmod 201 remove group execute chmod 215 add others read chmod 213 add others write chmod 210 remove others execute

← chmod 210 chmod 212 →

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