chmod always gives "illegal option" error

Asked Oct 16 '19 at 16:12

Active Oct 16 '19 at 16:12

Viewed 1,945 times

No matter what chmod command I run, I am always getting

chmod: illegal option -- -
usage:  chmod [-fhv] [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-a | +a | =a  [i][# [ n]]] mode|entry file ...
    chmod [-fhv] [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-E | -C | -N | -i | -I] file ...

I am on macOS Sierra and I get the same issue on both "Terminal" as well as "iTerm2".

I have also been able to use chmod without issues on this machine in the past 2 years.

asked Oct 16 '19 at 16:12

masterpiece

6

Do you have chmod aliased to something? what does type chmod say? – steeldriver Oct 16 '19 at 16:27
@steeldriver chmod is aliased to `chmod --preserve-root' – masterpiece Oct 17 '19 at 08:00
1

So this is possibly related: Why does my ls --help not work? - I don't think OSX chmod supports long options such as --preserve-root – steeldriver Oct 17 '19 at 11:37
1

that was it! perfect. thanks. Can u pls add this as an answer so i can accept. – masterpiece Oct 17 '19 at 12:53

chmod always gives "illegal option" error

0 Answers0