Prior to Windows Vista, CACLS (Change Access Control Lists) is used to manage to complicated NTFS permissions, complement the Folder Options’ Security tab which offers an easy way to make minor permissions tweaks. Beginning from Windows Vista, including in Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and later Windows OS versions, CACLS which has drawback of difficult to use to set inherited permissions on a folder is been deprecated and been replaced with iCACLS. iCACLS expands the capabilities of CACLS to be able to display, modify, backup or restore contents of discretionary ACLs for files and directories. iCACLS command line utility also able to show and set mandatory labels of an object for interaction with WIC (Windows Integrity Control) which most noticeable in the Internet Explorer Protected Mode which automatically Low integrity to Internet objects to protect the operating system from malicious web content in Internet Explorer.
iCACLS syntaxes, parameters or switches list
ICACLS name /save aclfile [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] store the the acls for the all matching names into aclfile for later use with /restore.
ICACLS directory [/substitute SidOld SidNew […]] /restore aclfile [/C] [/L] [/Q] applies the stored acls to files in directory.
ICACLS name /setowner user [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] changes the owner of all matching names.
ICACLS name /findsid Sid [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] finds all matching names that contain an ACL explicitly mentioning Sid.
ICACLS name /verify [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] finds all files whose ACL is not in canonical for or whose lengths are inconsistent with ACE counts.
ICACLS name /reset [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q] replaces acls with default inherited acls for all matching files
/grant[:r] Sid:perm grants the specified user access rights. With :r, the permissions replace any previouly granted explicit permissions. Without :r, the permissions are added to any previously granted explicit permissions.
/deny Sid:perm explicitly denies the specified user access rights. An explicit deny ACE is added for the stated permissions and the same permissions in any explicit grant are removed.
/remove[:[g|d]] Sid removes all occurrences of Sid in the acl. With :g, it removes all occurrences of granted rights to that Sid. With :d, it removes all occurrences of denied rights to that Sid.
/setintegritylevel [(CI)(OI)]Level explicitly adds an integrity ACE to all matching files. The level is to be specified as one of: L[ow] M[edium] H[igh] Inheritance options for the integrity ACE may precede the level and are applied only to directories.
Note: Sids may be in either numerical or friendly name form. If a numerical form is given, affix a * to the start of the SID.
/T indicates that this operation is performed on all matching files/directories below the directories specified in the name.
/C indicates that this operation will continue on all file errors. Error messages will still be displayed.
/L indicates that this operation is performed on a symbolic link itself versus its target.
/Q indicates that icacls should supress success messages.
ICACLS preserves the canonical ordering of ACE entries: Explicit denials Explicit grants Inherited denials Inherited grants
perm is a permission mask and can be specified in one of two forms:
a sequence of simple rights: F – full access M – modify access RX – read and execute access R – read-only access W – write-only access
a comma-separated list in parenthesis of specific rights: D – delete RC – read control WDAC – write DAC WO – write owner S – synchronize AS – access system security MA – maximum allowed GR – generic read GW – generic write GE – generic execute GA – generic all RD – read data/list directory WD – write data/add file AD – append data/add subdirectory REA – read extended attributes WEA – write extended attributes X – execute/traverse DC – delete child RA – read attributes WA – write attributes
inheritance rights may precede either form and are applied only to directories: (OI) – object inherit (CI) – container inherit (IO) – inherit only (NP) – don’t propagate inherit
Examples:
icacls c:\windows\* /save AclFile /T – Will save the ACLs for all files under c:\windows and its subdirectories to AclFile.
icacls c:\windows\ /restore AclFile – Will restore the Acls for every file within AclFile that exists in c:\windows and its subdirectories
icacls file /grant Administrator:(D,WDAC) – Will grant the user Administrator Delete and Write DAC permissions to file
icacls file /grant *S-1-1-0:(D,WDAC) – Will grant the user defined by sid S-1-1-0 Delete and Write DAC permissions to file
icacls c:\windows\explorer.exe – View the discretionary access list and integrity level
icacls file /setintegritylevel H – Modify mandatory integrity level of an object to High
LK is a technology writer for Tech Journey with background of system and network administrator. He has be documenting his experiences in digital and technology world for over 15 years.Connect with LK through Tech Journey on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
