File management in UNIX - Essay Example

File management in UNIXA UNIX file system is a method of managing large amounts of data by storing and organizing them in a chronological manner (Pfleeger et al, 2003). Also known as file access rights, file protection on the other hand is a system that allows a user to create a file that has restricted access to only a few selected people. Editing abilities, which involves write and delete privileges are normally the same in a UNIX system since it allows one to overwrite a file with a different one.

An individual who creates a file is considered the owner and thus has the sole permission to manage that file (Garfinkel, et al, 2003). The owner therefore is the only person who can change the protection system of that particular file. However, other individuals often referred to as members, can also access that particular file if only they belong to that particular group. These members can therefore see each other’s file in the system. Groups are generally created for users of a common front, for example a group can be created for staff members of a particular organization.

In order to determine the owner of a particular file, the command ‘Is-I filename’ is typed. This gives the information about the owner and the particular details of the file. These details include; 1) The permission mode2) The links3) The owner4) The group itself5) The size of the group6) The last date of modification7) The file name.The above data will be represented in the following manner;drwxr-xr-x 2 sparks sparks 2033 dec 31 2011 saf. The first column represents the permission mode; the second one is the link, followed by the group owner, then the group name, followed by the last date of modification then lastly the file name.

The permission mode therefore will determine the access rights to the group folder. There are several commands that describe the permission mode and these include:i. d- directoryii. r- readiii. x- executeiv. w- write To create a protection scheme for the 4990 users to use one folder, the file permission can be arranged as follows. d-rwx- r-w - ---From the above we can denote that the file is contained in a directory hence the first‘d’. The owner of the file has the permission to read, write and execute the file or group hence ‘rwx.

The group members, which in this case are the 4990 users, have the permission to only read and write hence the commands ‘r-w’. Lastly, the other users, presumably the remaining 10 users, have no permissions or access to the folder, hence the command ‘---‘. It also important to note that to change the permission of the file, the command ‘chmod’, meaning ‘change mode’ is followed (Jaeger & T., 2008). This can only be used by the owner of the file or group and is used together with the commands ‘ijk’; ‘i’ represents for the users permission, ‘j’ represents thegroups’ permission, while ‘k’ represents the other users permission.

This can be illustrated as such; chmodijk file(s)ReferencesGarfinkel, S., Spafford, G., & Schwartz, A. (2003). Practical UNIX and Internet security. Beijing: O'ReillyPfleeger, C. P., &Pfleeger, S. L. (2003). Security in computing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTRJaeger, T. (2008). Operating system security. San Rafael, CA: Morgan & Claypool Publishers