EX200 Manage users and groups Practice Question
A helpdesk ticket states that user 'bob' cannot write to his own home directory. The directory /home/bob has permissions drwxr-xr-x and is owned by root:root. What command will fix this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Red Hat exams often test the distinction between permission bits and ownership; candidates may mistakenly think changing permissions (chmod) will fix a write issue when the real problem is that the user is not the owner.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
chown bob:bob /home/bob
The home directory /home/bob is owned by root:root with permissions drwxr-xr-x, meaning only root can write to it. User 'bob' cannot write because he is not the owner. Option D (chown bob:bob /home/bob) changes the owner and group to bob, granting him write access via the owner 'w' permission.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
setfacl -m u:bob:rwx /home/bob
Why it's wrong here
Granting bob an ACL entry with setfacl does give him rwx access, but it leaves /home/bob owned by root, so the root cause is still present. ACLs are a supplementary permission mechanism layered on top of traditional ownership, and they can be lost when a file or directory is replaced, moved, or replicated to a filesystem that does not support ACLs. The standard administrative fix for a misowned home directory is to change ownership with chown, not to paper over the problem with an ACL.
- ✗
usermod -d /home/bob bob
Why it's wrong here
usermod -d /home/bob only updates the UID's home directory field in /etc/passwd; it does not touch the directory itself. bob already has /home/bob as his home, so this command is a no-op for the reported problem. Even if it did change the path, it would not alter the owner, group, or permission bits, so bob would still be unable to write because root remains the owner.
- ✗
chmod 755 /home/bob
Why it's wrong here
chmod 755 sets the mode to rwxr-xr-x, which gives the owner root full access and everyone else only read and execute. Since bob is not the owner and does not belong to the owning group, he receives no write permission. This command changes only the permission bits, not the ownership record, so root remains the owner and the original problem persists.
- ✓
chown bob:bob /home/bob
Why this is correct
chown bob:bob changes both the user and group ownership of /home/bob to bob, making bob the owner with the rwx bits applying to him. This is the standard fix because each user's home directory should be owned by that user and their primary group, not by root. After this command, bob's existing owner permissions take effect, and he can create, modify, and delete files in his home directory.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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