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Forum Discussion
Dropbox files no longer inherit folder permissions
Within my Dropbox folder, I have sub-folders with different Windows ACL permissions. Up until recently, whenever Dropbox synced a file it inherited its folder permissions perfectly.
Now it no longe...
Fiona
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi dmasters,
Thanks for clarifying that.
The new version of the Dropbox desktop application ensures consistent folder icons and Dropbox file/folder permissions for items in the Dropbox folder.
Files or folders in the Dropbox folder with custom permissions (such as custom POSIX permissions or BSD flags), will not maintain them. This works, as discribed, to ensure the file syncs to other devices without any issues.
We understand this is not convenient for you and thank you for reporting your feedback.
I unfortunately have no workaround for the permissions to be maintained.
Hi,
I have been doing some playing around with this.
- When dropbox downloads a file it downloads it initially to a directory in the hidden system folder \Dropbox\.dropbox.cache
- once it is downloaded it performs a MOVE to the actual destination folder.
- When you a MOVE (not copy) a file within the same volume on an NTFS Filesystem, it will retain its permissions rather than inherit the permissions of the destination folder.
So if you set MODIFY permissions for "Users" (Or domain users if on a domain) on the folder \Dropbox\.dropbox.cache then when the file is moved to the true destination folder it will retain the MODIFY rights, and other users on that same machine (Or Domain) will be able to modify/delete the file.
But (I hear you say) what about my permissions stopping people accessing folders that they should not be able to access? Well... these still work. The permissions you have set on the folder will still remain, so you can exclude some users from some folders. The files within that folder however will be modifiable by all, but that does not really matter as other users can't get to them any way.
Clear as mud?
Andy
Very diligent detective work! I understood it on the 3rd reading :-)
I played with the permissions on the dropbox.cache folder and you can definitely work around some of the problems that way, though it's messy!
Thanks for the info - but I am leaving Dropbox for a another product once I've migrated everything across and retrieved my remote users' laptops etc...
> you can definitely work around some of the problems that way, though it's messy!
I never said it was a great solution.... :) :) at least it is one though....
Fantastic!! This solved my issues. Now it keeps my file permissions :-)
Glad I finally found the "master" thread on this dingbat feature, which is not only poorly conceived but not communicated, a deadly combination.
Incidentally, the issue also happens if you create the file on the web, once it syncs down. You don't even need two machines to reproduce the problem.
I'll submit the complaint, implement the workaround, and hope for the best with a future release.
