How do you change the permissions of a file exactly?

I am trying to read the boot log file and I don't have permission.
I have read several "manuals" and they are VERY vague as to how to write the line Exactly.
So, I tried to use chmod but messed up some how.

The file in question is /var/log/boot.log.
I tried "sudo chmod -rw-r--r-- /var/log/boot.log" and ended up making the file ----------
next I tried "sudo chmod +rw-r--r-- /var/log/boot.log" and ended up with --w-------
after more reading I tried "sudo chmod a=rw-r--r-- /var/log/boot.log" and ended up with --w--w--w-

What is the correct line to get it to be -rw-r--r--?
If I can't do that, how do I get it back to the original -rw-------?
Thanks.

Statistics: Posted by Noidly1 — 2025-01-11 01:39 — Replies 4 — Views 104

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