Ubuntu - chmod g+s does not make new files inherit group

Question

I installed a fresh ubuntu with apache2.

I created a new folder "/var/www/foobar" with the following user:group -> black www-data.

I need new files created inside this folder to inherit the user and group of that folder.

So I executed chmod g+s /var/www/foobar

drwxr-xr-t 2 black www-data 4,0K Okt 9 10:12 foobar

But if I create a new file inside this folder, then the user and group is set to black black instead of black www-data.

I also tried to add the user to the group www-data with sudo usermod -a -G www-data black but it made no difference.

What am I missing?

In your listing above, you are missing an s.. it should be drwxr-sr-t so the chmod didn't work. — user10489
– user10489, Commented Oct 12, 2021 at 10:51
There was no error message, it ran through. It just started to work after executing it with sudo. — Black
– Black, Commented Oct 12, 2021 at 11:45
Strange there was no error, but the missing bit change shown by ls is a clue. — user10489
– user10489, Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 11:33

Black · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-09 08:41:01Z

You have to call chmod g+s <target_path> with sudo, otherwise it wont work.

Wrong:

chmod g+s /var/www/foobar

Correct:

sudo chmod g+s /var/www/foobar

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