linux: share directory between different users

Question

i need to have this directory, which is created under FTP User1:

/home/User1/public_html/jobs_html

readable by a different FTP user, call them User2 ...

ie, when logged in thru SSH under User2, 'ls -l /home/User1/public_html/jobs_html' needs to display files

thanks!

Answer 1

Create a new group, add both of these users to that group, set group rw on the common directory and make that group owner of the directory.

Answer 2

In addition to setting group ownership and group rw on the directory, I would also suggest setting the setgid bit on the directory so subdirectories created retain the same correct group ownership rather than being owned by the user who created them.

# EDIT: Make sure user2 can list files in user1's home dir
chmod o+x /home/user1

# Set ownership
chown -R user1.sharedgroup /path/to/shared
chmod -R g+rw /path/to/shared
chmod g+s /path/to/shared

# Or if subdirectories already exist, setgid for all subdirectories
find /path/to/shared -type d -exec chmod g+s {} \;