Question:

How does MassTransit handle permissions on Mac OS X?

Answer:

Mac OS X uses Unix-style file and folder permissions. Read, write, and execute permissions can be enabled and disabled independently for the owner of the file, the group owner of the file, and for all users.

By default, files on Mac OS X are created so that only the owner of the file has read and write permissions; for all other users the file will be read-only. In the same way, folders on Mac OS X are created so that they are writable only by the owner; other users can view the directory content, but cannot add to or modify the folder.

In order to allow files to be picked up by a variety of users, all files and folders received by MassTransit have their permissions set to be readable and writable by any user. All mailbox folders created by MassTransit are also readable and writable by all users.

Files dropped in the To Send mailboxes for MassTransit must have their permissions set such that the user MassTransit is running under has read and write access to the new files. If MassTransit does not have read and write access, it may not be able to successfully transfer the files. Sharing the User Mailboxes folder using AFP with inherited permissions will ensure that all uploaded files can be properly transferred by MassTransit. The MassTransit installer offers the option to configure this share point automatically when MassTransit is installed.

If you wish to configure more restrictive permissions, you can alter the permissions on the user mailboxes to be more restrictive using the permissions section of Get Info in the Finder or using the chmod command at the terminal. In making these changes, be careful to ensure that the user MassTransit is running under still has read and write permissions to all user mailboxes so files can be transferred properly.