Question

I created a user using the useradd command. I’m attempting to give user2 (newly created) access to user1’s folder. I added user2 to the same group as user1 (using usermod -g), but when I attempt to change the home directory or open the directory, I get a “permission denied” message. This is my first attempt in trying this, so I assume I’m missing a step. What do I need to do to change a user’s home directory and gain permissions?

Answer 1

Groups are only an “abstract concept” for create a set of permissions on a certain resource.
If you want to give user2 read permission above user1 home directory, and if you want to do this with groups, you have also to give at the whole group the +x permission on that directory.

So, you could do something like this: chmod g+x /homeDirectoryOfUserA