`stat overrides' are a way to tell dpkg to use a different owner
or mode for a file when a package is installed. (note: I use the word
`file' here, but in reality this can be any filesystem object that dpkg
handles, including directories, devices, etc.). This can be used to
force programs that are normall setuid to be install without a setuid
flag, or only executable by a certain group.
dpkg-statoverride is a utility to manage the list of stat
overrides. It has three basic functions: adding, removing and listing
overrides.
OPTIONS
--add <user> <group> <mode> <file>
Add an override for <file>. <file> does not need to exist
when this command is used; the override will be stored and used later.
Users and groups can be specified by their name (for example root
or nobody), or by their number by prepending the number with a
`#' (for example #0 or #65534).
--remove <file>
Remove an override for <file>.
--list [<glob-pattern>]
List all overrides. If a glob pattern is specified restrict the output
to overrides which match the glob. If there are no overrides or none
match the glob dpkg-statoverride will exit with an exitcode of 1.
--force
Force an action, even if a sanity check would otherwise prohibit it.
This is necessary to override an existing override.
--update
Immediately try to change the file to the new owner and mode if it
exists. This is only done for --add.
--quiet
Be less verbose about what we do.
--help
Show version, copyright and usage information.
--admindir
Change the directory of the dpkg database where the statoverride file is
also stored. Defaults to /var/lib/dpkg.
FILES
/var/lib/dpkg/statoverride
File which contains the current list of stat overrides of the system. It
is located in the dpkg administration directory, along with other files
important to dpkg, such as `status' or `available'.
Note: dpkg-statoverride preserves the old copy of this file, with
extension "-old", before replacing it with the new one.