Node.JS: Alternative to chown string

Question

At this time, fs.chown requires int values for uid and gid.

So, what is the recommended way to get these int values from a UNIX-like system?

Should I read /etc/passwd and /etc/group directly?
That does not seem like the right way to do it...

The answer for this is going to be OS and even distro-specific. In machines running the GNU userland, `/usr/bin/getent` is going to be the best way to get user and group info, as it will properly read from external authentication sources, for example. If you ever find yourself on a BSD or a Solaris, the answer may well be very different... — Charles, Jan 23 '13 at 18:49

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 22 '13 at 12:01

2

You've probably solved it by now, but for future reference: the uid-number package is used by npm, so I think it can be safely assumed that it works (and it does for me).

answered Oct 22 '13 at 12:01

Victor Welling

1,867
12
14

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 08 '15 at 17:56

2

Just call chown directly:

var exec = require( "child_process" ).exec;
exec( "chown user:group filename" );

answered Jun 08 '15 at 17:56

Oliver Salzburg

21,652
20
93
138

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 11 '13 at 00:35

0

I checked and found this: https://npmjs.org/package/getuid I haven't used it. caveat emptor.

Personally, I like looking these up in a configuration file that the user supplies :)

-daniel

answered Jul 11 '13 at 00:35

Daniel

7,006
7
43
49

Node.JS: Alternative to chown string

3 Answers3