How do I use 'chmod' on an NTFS (or FAT32) partition?

Contrary to what most people believe, NTFS is a POSIX-compatible¹ filesystem, and it is possible to use permissions on NTFS.

To enable this, you need a "User Mapping File" or just give the permissions option when mounting (when no compatibility with Windows is needed). This maps linux users on your system with the user IDs like NTFS/Windows use them internally.

See the ntfs-3g manpage for some info and some examples. If you need more information, see the ntfs-3g advanced documentation about ownership and permissions.

(Note that this does not work on FAT filesystems.)

¹ Yes, it can also store filenames that are valid in linux/unix but not under Windows, supports symlinks & hardlinks, etc.

The mode is determined by the partition's mount options (you cannot change it via chmod).

For '755' on files and '777' on directories you would use something like

sudo mount -t ntfs -o rw,auto,user,fmask=0022,dmask=0000 /dev/whatever /mnt/whatever

For NTFS partitions, use the permissions option in fstab.

First unmount the ntfs partition.

Identify your partition UUID with blkid

sudo blkid

Then edit /etc/fstab

# Graphical 
gksu gedit /etc/fstab

# Command line
sudo -e /etc/fstab

And add or edit a line for the ntfs partition

# change the "UUID" to your partition UUID
UUID=12102C02102CEB83 /media/windows ntfs-3g auto,users,permissions 0 0

Make a mount point (if needed)

sudo mkdir /media/windows

Now mount the partition

mount /media/windows

The options I gave you, auto, will automatically mount the partition when you boot and users allows users to mount and umount .

You can then use chown and chmod on the ntfs partition.