| --dereference | affect the referent of each symbolic link (this is the default), rather than the symbolic link itself |
| -h--no-dereference | affect symbolic links instead of any referenced file |
| -u--user | set user USER in the target security context |
| -r--role | set role ROLE in the target security context |
| -t--type | set type TYPE in the target security context |
| -l--range | set range RANGE in the target security context |
| --no-preserve-root | do not treat '/' specially (the default) |
| --preserve-root | fail to operate recursively on '/' |
| --reference | use RFILE's security context rather than specifying a CONTEXT value |
| -R--recursive | operate on files and directories recursively |
| -v--verbose | output a diagnostic for every file processed |
| -H | if a command line argument is a symbolic link to a directory, traverse it |
| -L | traverse every symbolic link to a directory encountered |
| -P | do not traverse any symbolic links (default) |
| --help | display this help and exit |
| --version | output version information and exit |
NAME
chcon - change file security context
SYNOPSIS
chcon [OPTION]... CONTEXT FILE... chcon [OPTION]... [-u USER] [-r ROLE] [-l RANGE] [-t TYPE] FILE... chcon [OPTION]... --reference=RFILE FILE...
DESCRIPTION
Change the SELinux security context of each FILE to CONTEXT. With --reference, change the security context of each FILE to that of RFILE.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
- --dereference
affect the referent of each symbolic link (this is the default), rather than the symbolic link itself
- -h, --no-dereference
affect symbolic links instead of any referenced file
- -u, --user=USER
set user USER in the target security context
- -r, --role=ROLE
set role ROLE in the target security context
- -t, --type=TYPE
set type TYPE in the target security context
- -l, --range=RANGE
set range RANGE in the target security context
- --no-preserve-root
do not treat '/' specially (the default)
- --preserve-root
fail to operate recursively on '/'
- --reference=RFILE
use RFILE's security context rather than specifying a CONTEXT value
- -R, --recursive
operate on files and directories recursively
- -v, --verbose
output a diagnostic for every file processed
The following options modify how a hierarchy is traversed when the -R option is also specified. If more than one is specified, only the final one takes effect.
- -H
if a command line argument is a symbolic link to a directory, traverse it
- -L
traverse every symbolic link to a directory encountered
- -P
do not traverse any symbolic links (default)
- --help
display this help and exit
- --version
output version information and exit
AUTHOR
Written by Russell Coker and Jim Meyering.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
SEE ALSO
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/chcon> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) chcon invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3) Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.