FileSecurity Class (System.Security.AccessControl)

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

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.NET Framework Class Library

FileSecurity Class

Represents the access control and audit security for a file. This class cannot be inherited.

Namespace: System.Security.AccessControl
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public NotInheritable Class FileSecurity _
    Inherits FileSystemSecurity

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As FileSecurity

public sealed class FileSecurity : FileSystemSecurity

Visual C++

public ref class FileSecurity sealed : public FileSystemSecurity

JScript

public final class FileSecurity extends FileSystemSecurity

Remarks

The FileSecurity class specifies the access rights for a system file and how access attempts are audited. This class represents access and audit rights as a set of rules. Each access rule is represented by a FileSystemAccessRule object, while each audit rule is represented by a FileSystemAuditRule object.

The FileSecurity class is an abstraction of the underlying Microsoft Windows file security system. In this system, each file has a discretionary access control list (DACL), which controls access to the file, and a system access control list (SACL), which specifies the access control attempts that are audited. The FileSystemAccessRule and FileSystemAuditRule classes are abstractions of the access control entries (ACEs) that comprise DACLs and SACLs.

The FileSecurity class hides many of the details of DACLs and SACLs; you do not have to worry about ACE ordering or null DACLS.

Use the FileSecurity class to retrieve, add, or change the access rules that represent the DACL and SACL of a file.

To persist new or changed access or audit rules to a file, use the SetAccessControl method. To retrieve access or audit rules from an existing file, use the GetAccessControl method.

Examples

The following code example uses the FileSecurity class to add and then remove an access control list (ACL) entry from a file. You must supply a valid user or group account to run this example.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Security.AccessControl



Module FileExample

    Sub Main()
        Try
            Dim fileName As String = "test.xml"

            Console.WriteLine("Adding access control entry for " & fileName)

            ' Add the access control entry to the file.
            AddFileSecurity(fileName, "DomainName\AccountName", _
                FileSystemRights.ReadData, AccessControlType.Allow)

            Console.WriteLine("Removing access control entry from " & fileName)

            ' Remove the access control entry from the file.
            RemoveFileSecurity(fileName, "DomainName\AccountName", _
                FileSystemRights.ReadData, AccessControlType.Allow)

            Console.WriteLine("Done.")
        Catch e As Exception
            Console.WriteLine(e)
        End Try

    End Sub


    ' Adds an ACL entry on the specified file for the specified account.
    Sub AddFileSecurity(ByVal fileName As String, ByVal account As String, _
        ByVal rights As FileSystemRights, ByVal controlType As AccessControlType)

        ' Get a FileSecurity object that represents the 
        ' current security settings.
        Dim fSecurity As FileSecurity = File.GetAccessControl(fileName)

        ' Add the FileSystemAccessRule to the security settings. 
        Dim accessRule As FileSystemAccessRule = _
            New FileSystemAccessRule(account, rights, controlType)

        fSecurity.AddAccessRule(accessRule)

        ' Set the new access settings.
        File.SetAccessControl(fileName, fSecurity)

    End Sub


    ' Removes an ACL entry on the specified file for the specified account.
    Sub RemoveFileSecurity(ByVal fileName As String, ByVal account As String, _
        ByVal rights As FileSystemRights, ByVal controlType As AccessControlType)

        ' Get a FileSecurity object that represents the 
        ' current security settings.
        Dim fSecurity As FileSecurity = File.GetAccessControl(fileName)

        ' Remove the FileSystemAccessRule from the security settings. 
        fSecurity.RemoveAccessRule(New FileSystemAccessRule(account, _
            rights, controlType))

        ' Set the new access settings.
        File.SetAccessControl(fileName, fSecurity)

    End Sub
End Module

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.AccessControl;

namespace FileSystemExample
{
    class FileExample
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            try
            {
                string fileName = "test.xml";

                Console.WriteLine("Adding access control entry for "
                    + fileName);

                // Add the access control entry to the file.
                AddFileSecurity(fileName, @"DomainName\AccountName",
                    FileSystemRights.ReadData, AccessControlType.Allow);

                Console.WriteLine("Removing access control entry from "
                    + fileName);

                // Remove the access control entry from the file.
                RemoveFileSecurity(fileName, @"DomainName\AccountName",
                    FileSystemRights.ReadData, AccessControlType.Allow);

                Console.WriteLine("Done.");
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e);
            }
        }

        // Adds an ACL entry on the specified file for the specified account.
        public static void AddFileSecurity(string fileName, string account,
            FileSystemRights rights, AccessControlType controlType)
        {


            // Get a FileSecurity object that represents the
            // current security settings.
            FileSecurity fSecurity = File.GetAccessControl(fileName);

            // Add the FileSystemAccessRule to the security settings.
            fSecurity.AddAccessRule(new FileSystemAccessRule(account,
                rights, controlType));

            // Set the new access settings.
            File.SetAccessControl(fileName, fSecurity);

        }

        // Removes an ACL entry on the specified file for the specified account.
        public static void RemoveFileSecurity(string fileName, string account,
            FileSystemRights rights, AccessControlType controlType)
        {

            // Get a FileSecurity object that represents the
            // current security settings.
            FileSecurity fSecurity = File.GetAccessControl(fileName);

            // Remove the FileSystemAccessRule from the security settings.
            fSecurity.RemoveAccessRule(new FileSystemAccessRule(account,
                rights, controlType));

            // Set the new access settings.
            File.SetAccessControl(fileName, fSecurity);

        }
    }
}

Visual C++

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Security::AccessControl;

// Adds an ACL entry on the specified file for the specified account.

void AddFileSecurity(String^ fileName, String^ account, 
                        FileSystemRights rights, AccessControlType controlType)
{
    // Get a FileSecurity object that represents the 
    // current security settings.
    FileSecurity^ fSecurity = File::GetAccessControl(fileName);

    // Add the FileSystemAccessRule to the security settings. 
    fSecurity->AddAccessRule(gcnew FileSystemAccessRule
                                   (account,rights, controlType));

    // Set the new access settings.
    File::SetAccessControl(fileName, fSecurity);
}

// Removes an ACL entry on the specified file for the specified account.

void RemoveFileSecurity(String^ fileName, String^ account, 
                        FileSystemRights rights, AccessControlType controlType)
{

    // Get a FileSecurity object that represents the 
    // current security settings.
    FileSecurity^ fSecurity = File::GetAccessControl(fileName);

    // Remove the FileSystemAccessRule from the security settings. 
    fSecurity->RemoveAccessRule(gcnew FileSystemAccessRule
                                      (account,rights, controlType));

    // Set the new access settings.
    File::SetAccessControl(fileName, fSecurity);
}

int main()
{
    try
    {
        String^ fileName = "test.xml";

        Console::WriteLine("Adding access control entry for " + fileName);

        // Add the access control entry to the file.
        AddFileSecurity(fileName, "MYDOMAIN\\MyAccount", 
            FileSystemRights::ReadData, AccessControlType::Allow);

        Console::WriteLine("Removing access control entry from " + fileName);

        // Remove the access control entry from the file.
        RemoveFileSecurity(fileName, "MYDOMAIN\\MyAccount", 
            FileSystemRights::ReadData, AccessControlType::Allow);

        Console::WriteLine("Done.");
    }
    catch (Exception^ ex)
    {
        Console::WriteLine(ex->Message);
    }
}

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
  System.Security.AccessControl..::.ObjectSecurity
    System.Security.AccessControl..::.CommonObjectSecurity
      System.Security.AccessControl..::.NativeObjectSecurity
        System.Security.AccessControl..::.FileSystemSecurity
          System.Security.AccessControl..::.FileSecurity

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0

Reference

FileSecurity Members

System.Security.AccessControl Namespace