chmod
clearstatcache
Filesystem Functions
PHP Manual

# chown

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

chown — Changes file owner

### Description

bool chown ( string `$filename` , mixed `$user` )

Attempts to change the owner of the file `filename` to user `user` . Only the superuser may change the owner of a file.

### Parameters

`filename`

  Path to the file.

`user`

  A user name or number.

### Return Values

Returns `TRUE` on success or `FALSE` on failure.

### Examples

Example #1 Simple chown() usage

`<?php
// File name and username to use
$file_name= "foo.php";
$path = "/home/sites/php.net/public_html/sandbox" . $file_name ;
$user_name = "root";
// Set the user
chown($path, $user_name);
// Check the result
$stat = stat($path);
print_r(posix_getpwuid($stat['uid']));
?>`

The above example will output something similar to:

    array(7) {
      ["name"]=>
      string(13) "php.net"
      ["passwd"]=>
      string(1) "x"
      ["uid"]=>
      int(148864)
      ["gid"]=>
      int(148910)
      ["gecos"]=>
      string(13) "php.net"
      ["dir"]=>
      string(25) "/home/sites/php.net"
      ["shell"]=>
      string(13) "/sbin/nologin"
    }

### Notes

> Note: This function will not work on remote files as the file to be examined must be accessible via the server's filesystem.

> Note: When safe mode is enabled, PHP checks whether the files or directories being operated upon have the same UID (owner) as the script that is being executed.

### See Also

- chmod()

chmod
clearstatcache
Filesystem Functions
PHP Manual