how to use XCACLS command

Display or modify Access Control Lists (ACLs) for files and folders. For Vista and greater use icacls.

Syntax
      XCACLS filename [options]

      XCACLS filename

Key
   If no options are specified XCACLS will display the ACLs for the file(s)

   options can be any combination of:

   /T       Traverse all subfolders and change all matching files found. 

   /E       Edit ACL instead of replacing it. 

   /x       Edit ACL instead of replacing it; affect only ACEs that this user already owns*

   /R user  Revoke all access rights from the given user.

   /D user  Deny specified user access, this will over-ride
            all other permissions the user has.

   /C       Continue on access denied errors. 
   /Y       Replace user's rights without verify

   /P user:permision[;FolderSpec]
       Replace user's rights. see /G option below

   /G user:permision[;FolderSpec]
       Grant specified user access rights, permision can be: 
         r  Read 
         c  Change (write) 
         f  Full control
         p  Change Permissions (Special access)
         o  Take Ownership (Special access)
         x  EXecute (Special access)
         e  REad (Special access)
         w  Write (Special access)
         d  Delete (Special access)
         t  Used only by FolderSpec. see below

* Option only valid in Windows 2003

FolderSpec is a permission applied to a folder. If FolderSpec is not specified then permission will apply to both files and folders.
This allows you to set different permissions that will apply (through inheritance) when new files are added to the folder.

FolderSpec = ;T@ where @ is one of the rights above, when this is specified new files will inherit FolderSpec instead ofpermission. At least one folder access right must follow the T For example ;TF will apply full control (but ;FT is not valid)

Wildcards can be used to specify more that one file in a command. You can specify more than one user in a command. You can combine access rights.

Although taking ownership is listed as an option it does not work, use SUBINACL for this.

Inheritance Errors

"Permissions incorrectly ordered" - the quickest way to resolve or avoid these errors is to use the newer iCACLS command instead of XCACLS.

Inherited folder permissions are displayed as:

 OI - Object inherit    - This folder and files. (no inheritance to subfolders)
 CI - Container inherit - This folder and subfolders.
 IO - Inherit only      - The ACE does not apply to the current file/directory

These can be combined as folllows:
 (OI)(CI)     This folder, subfolders, and files.
 (OI)(CI)(IO) Subfolders and files only.
     (CI)(IO)  Subfolders only.
 (OI)    (IO) Files only. 

So BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)F means that both files and Subdirectories will inherit 'F' (Fullcontrol)
similarly (CI)R means Directories will inherit 'R' (Read folders only = List permission)

When xcacls is applied to the current folder only there is no inheritance and so no output.

Versions:
NTFS standards have changed with different versions of Windows and XCACLS has been updated to suit, early versions of Xcacls may give unpredictable results against an NTFS v5 partition.

xcacls.vbs is described in Q825751 and can be downloaded here - xcacls.vbs is an unsupported utility released in 2004 that addresses a limitation with the original xcacls.exe, specifically the inability to append permissions to a folder whose child objects have the inheritance flag set. The .vbs version does not suppport unc paths and is very slow to update multiple ACLs.
xcacls.vbs includes a version check function "IsOsSupported()" and so will not run under Windows 2008.

Examples:

Allow guests the right to read and execute in MyFolder
XCACLS MyFolder /E /G guests:rx

Allow guests the Full Control permission in MyFolder and all subfolders
XCACLS MyFolder /T /E /G guests:f

Grant guests only read access to all files in and below MyFolder,
new folders created will be Read Access only, new files will not inherit any rights.
XCACLS MyFolder /T /P guests:R;Tr 

Grant guests only execute access to all files in and below MyFolder
XCACLS MyFolder /T /P guests:x

“I spent most of the eighties, most of my life, riding around in somebody else's car, in possession of, or ingested of, something illegal, on my way from something illegal to something illegal with many illegal things happening all around me” - Iggy Pop