[SOLVED] chmod/chown always writing updates even if not required

Issue

Whenever I do a "zfs diff" on certain zfs file systems, the output is cluttered by "modified" user files that get "changed" by running chmod over them (in a cron, to ensure some security aspects).

Question: is there an easy way that I missed to force (POSIX) permissions and ownership on file hierarchies without chmod/chown touching them when the permissions are already as I want them to be?

Solution

You could do something like

find dir/ -type f -perm /0111 -exec chmod a-x {} +

instead of an unconditional chmod to remove the permissions. (all the x permissions here.)

Answered By - ilkkachu

Answer Checked By - Willingham (WPSolving Volunteer)