775

Permission Code**

Permission Code: 775 Owner & Group Full, Public Read/Execute

775 grants full access to **owner and group, and read/execute to others:

rwxrwxr-x

This is a collaborative permission mode, useful in controlled Linux environments where the site user and web server group must both manage content.

Technical Definition

No	Role	Permission Bits	Access	Notes
1	Owner	rwx	✓ full	site administrator user
2	Group	rwx	✓ full	www-data / lsadm / devs
3	Others	r-x	✓ read/execute only	no write

Practical Behavior

• Owner can read/write/execute
• Web server group can read/write/execute
• Public can only read & traverse folders
• Prevents unauthorized public write access
• Allows multi-user development workflows

WordPress Use Cases

No	Use Case	Suitability	Notes
1	Multi-developer VPS	✅ recommended	when multiple system users maintain WP
2	CI/CD deployment environments	✅ recommended	shared between deploy tool & web server
3	Single-user WP VPS	⚠ optional	755 is simpler and safer
4	Shared hosting	❌ avoid	group may include other tenants
5	Production WP with strict access	✅ if properly configured	must isolate site group

Why Choose 775 Instead of 755

755

Only owner has write access

Group has read-only access

775

Group also has write access

Used when **developer + server both must write files

Example scenario:

• You create a system user for site (wpuser)
• Web server runs as www-data
• Both need write access for deployments, updates, cache, uploads

Required Ownership Pattern

To safely use 775, directory must be owned like this:

owner:group  =  site-user:www-data

Example:

chown -R wpuser:www-data /var/www/your-site
chmod -R 775 wp-content

This ensures only the site user and web server can write.

Commands for WordPress Directory Setup

Set ownership

chown -R wpuser:www-data /var/www/your-site

Apply 775 to directories only (not files)

find wp-content/ -type d -exec chmod 775 {} ;

Ensure files remain 664 or 644

find wp-content/ -type f -exec chmod 664 {} ;

or stricter:

find wp-content/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} ;

Reality Check Table (Benefits & Risks)

No	Factor	775 Outcome	Symbol
1	Owner write	allowed	✅
2	Group write	allowed	✅
3	Public write	denied	✅
4	Multi-user dev	supported	👨‍💻
5	Risk if group misconfigured	high	⚠️
6	Hardening requirement	strict group control	🔒

When to Use vs Avoid

Recommended When

• Dedicated VPS
• You assign a unique group for the website
• Team/deploy tools handle WordPress files
• Git or automation writes into wp-content

Avoid When

• Shared hosting
• Unknown group membership
• You do not control server users

If unsure, default to:

755 for directories
644 for files
600 wp-config.php

Example WordPress Environment Using 775

Scenario

You deploy updates via Git or CI pipeline user, not wp-admin.

Workflow:

groupadd wpdeploy
usermod -aG wpdeploy wpuser
usermod -aG wpdeploy www-data

chown -R wpuser:wpdeploy /var/www/your-site
find . -type d -exec chmod 775 {} ;
find . -type f -exec chmod 664 {} ;

Effect:

• Developer + webserver share controlled access
• Public still restricted

Testing Exercise (Safe Environment)

1. Assign group to web server user

chown -R wpuser:www-data /var/www/your-site

1. Apply 775 to folders

find . -type d -exec chmod 775 {} ;

1. Apply 664 or 644 to files

find . -type f -exec chmod 664 {} ;

1. Verify access

stat wp-content
stat wp-content/uploads

Key Takeaways

No	Principle	Value
1	775 = owner & group full access	✓
2	Requires correct ownership	✓
3	Safer than 777	✓
4	More flexible than 755	✓
5	Use only when group trust exists	✓
6	Default for most WP servers still 755	✓