Folder Privileges and ACL confusion

  • Is there a simple mans explanation for this.

    The more I read, the less it makes any sense.


    I have OMV6 with a number of Shared Folders.


    Under the USERS section of OMV6 :

    I have Users for 4 family members ( parent1, parent2, child1, child2 - let's call them P1, P2, C1, C2 )

    I have 2 Groups - GroupParents ( GP ) ( with P1 and P2 ) and GroupKids ( GK ) ( with C1 and C2 )


    The Storage > Shared Folders > ACL page has the settings for Admin / Users / Other.

    If I understand correctly, these are 'general overall default' settings. So if the Folder ACL is set to 'Users = Read/Write/Execute' ( R/W/X ) then all users ( P1, P2, C1, C2 ) will have R/W/X for this Folder, UNLESS the Privileges for the User is set otherwise.


    Through experimentation, it appears that any changes I make to the "R/W - W - No Access" settings in OMV6 > Users > Users > C1 ( or any specific user ) are also shown in OMV6 > Shared Folders > Privileges for the Folder.


    So my understanding (?) is that :

    if I'm adding a new User, and want to set Privileges for each folder, it would be easiest to do this using the OMV6 > Users > Users > 'new user name'.
    or

    if adding a new Folder, then use OMV6 > Storage > Shared Folders > Privileges to set access for all the known users for the new folder.


    I still don't understand the point of having all the "R/W - W - No Access" settings in the ACL of each Shared Folder ? Isn't this going to contradict / clash / override the settings already created in the Privileges ?


    Then with Groups, if a Group is set to 'no access' to a Folder, but one of the Group members ( as a User ) is set to "Read/Write' for the same folder, which setting takes preference ?

    Likewise if a Group is set to 'Read/Write' but a group member is ( as a user ) set to 'No Access' then does that user get access to that folder ?

  • DaveOB

    Changed the title of the thread from “Folder Priveleges and ACL confusion” to “Folder Privileges and ACL confusion”.
  • user(owner of file)-group(many owners of files)-other

    It can be roughly understood this way.


    If you want to set permissions for an individual user, then only set the user.

    If you want to set permissions for multiple users, add the users to the user group and then set the group.

    If you want to set permissions for other users, then set other.

    Life is a boring and troublesome thing, it is annoying and stupid.

    • Official Post

    I think this can be helpful.

    misc_docs:nas_permissions [omv-extras.org]

  • Thank You for the link. It was a very interesting and informative read.


    Unfortunately, I am still left with the basic question of WHY do we have Permissions ( R/W, R, No Access ) in both the Privileges screen AND on the ACL screen. From what I understand in the linked explanation, Privileges should be used, ACL should not be used, yet the examples in the document show the use of the ACL permissions, without mentioning if the exact same thing can be done using the Privileges Permissions.

    • Official Post

    Using ACL permissions in general causes problems. You should only use them in certain situations where there is no alternative to achieve what you need. In most cases you don't need them.

    I have published the long explanation of this several times in different threads. I guess if you do a search you should find one of those threads.

  • Using ACL permissions in general causes problems. You should only use them in certain situations where there is no alternative to achieve what you need. In most cases you don't need them.

    I have published the long explanation of this several times in different threads. I guess if you do a search you should find one of those threads.

    Thank You. I'm just going to run with your statement "In most cases you don't need them." as it appears the Permissions on the Privilege screen does the job.

    • Official Post

    Understanding how permissions work is essential to understanding how Linux works. If you want to dig a little deeper, Google it a bit, there is a lot of information available. This has nothing to do with OMV. It's just how linux works.

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