What is Reading A File: Permission Denied on Linux?

“Reading a file: Permission denied” on Linux is an error message that indicates the user or process attempting to read a file does not have the necessary permissions to do so. In Linux and Unix-based systems, file permissions are controlled through the file’s permission settings, which include read, write, and execute permissions for the file owner, group, and others.

Here are some common scenarios where you might encounter the “Permission denied” error while trying to read a file:

1. Insufficient Permissions: If the file you are trying to read does not have read permissions set for your user or group, you will encounter a “Permission denied” error. You can check the file’s permissions using the ls -l command in the terminal.
2. Ownership: If the file is owned by another user or group, and you do not belong to that user or group, you may not have permission to read the file. Only the file owner or users with appropriate permissions can access the file.
3. File Location: If the file is located in a directory where you do not have read permissions, you will not be able to access the file even if the file itself has the correct permissions set.

In this article, we will see how to fix when a permission error occurs while reading any file in Linux. We’ll see how to fix that and also why that error occurs, and its common causes so that in future you will be able to solve those kinds of errors yourself. We’ll learn various methods to solve this error allowing you to choose the approach that best suits your preferences.