Microsoft KB Archive/123647

= CACLS Directory Output Defined =

Article ID: 123647

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5

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This article was previously published under Q123647



Administrators and users with the Change Permissions enabled, can use the CACLS command to show or modify Access Control Lists (ACLs) for directories and files.

If you query ACLs for directories the output is a listing of the permissions on the directory and the files inside the directory.

Under File Manager in the Directory Permissions dialog box, the first set of parentheses contain directory permissions and the second set contain file permissions. However, for CACLS it is nearly backwards; the first listing of a group or user contains the file permissions while the second listing contains the directory permissions. The letters in parentheses represent the access control entry (ACE) header inheritance flags set for the object and container:

File Permissions:

  OI = MSG_CACLS_OBJECT_INHERIT

References permissions for files copied to or created in this directory. This ACE is inherited by noncontainer objects, such as files created within the container object to which the ACE is assigned.

IO = MSG_CACLS_INHERIT_ONLY

References permissions for files copied to or created in this directory. This ACE does not apply to the container object, but to objects contained by it.

Normally both references are displayed.

Directory Permissions:

  CI = MSG_CACLS_CONTAINER_INHERIT

References permissions for the directory and directories copied to or  created in this directory. This ACE is inherited by container objects, such as directories.

NP = MSG_CACLS_NO_PROPAGATE_INHERIT

Displayed when a permission is not to be inherited. The MSG_CACLS_OBJECT_INHERIT and MSG_CACLS_CONTAINER_INHERIT bits are not propagated to an inherited ACE.

A directory's ACL will normally contain at least two ACEs. If CACLS output only contains one ACE, then permissions for the other ACE have not been specified. File Manager in this case will display the ACE as "(Not Specified)".

