File Systems

You can use Cacls to display or modify access control lists (ACLs) of files or folders. The syntax of Cacls is:

cacls filename | folder [/t] [/e] [/c] [/g user : right ] [/r user [...]]

[/p user : right [...]] [/d user [...]]

Table 17.12 follows the command syntax and describes the command switches.

Table 17.12 Cacls Switches

Wildcard characters can be used to specify more than one file in a command. You can also specify more than one user in a command, separating the user account listings with spaces.

If you already have permissions set for multiple users on a folder or file and do not use the /e switch, all existing user permissions are removed and replaced by the user and permissions specified at the command line. Use the following syntax when modifying user permissions to include read, change, and full control:

cacls filename | folder /e /r user

cacls filename | folder /e /g user : right

cacls filename | folder /e /p user : right

The Cacls tool does not provide a /y switch that answers automatically with Y to the Are you sure? Y/N prompt. However, you can use the echo command to pipe the character Y as input to the prompt when you are running Cacls in a batch file. Use the following syntax to automatically answer Y :

echo y|cacls filename | folder /e /g user : right

Important

Do not enter a space between the Y and the pipe symbol ( | ), or Cacls cannot make the permissions change.