# Construct XML to Update Access Control Lists

To update the Access Control Lists of files in a file system, you must construct some XML that specifies the identifiers of the files to update, and provides information about how to change the ACL.

    <identifiersXML>
       <identifier value="...">
         <acl_update>
           ...
         </acl_update>
       </identifier>
     </identifiersXML>

In the identifier `value` attribute, replace "..." with the document identifier of the file that you want to update. A document identifier can be found in the `AUTN_IDENTIFIER` field of an indexed document.

You can update the ACLs of several files by including more than one `identifier` element in your XML:

    <identifiersXML>
       <identifier value="...">
          <acl_update>
             ...
          </acl_update>
       </identifier>
       <identifier value="...">
          <acl_update>
             ...
          </acl_update>
       </identifier>
    </identifiersXML>

The following table describes the XML elements that you can use in the `acl_update` element to specify how to change the ACL:

XML Element | Description | Permitted Occurrences
--- | --- | ---
<break_inheritance/> | Add this element to your XML to prevent ACL settings being inherited from the parent object in the file system. If specified, this element must be the first child of `acl_update`. | 0 or 1
<enable_inheritance/> | Add this element to your XML to inherit ACL settings from the parent object in the file system. If specified, this element must be the first child of `acl_update`. This element accepts an optional `revert_acl` attribute that specifies whether to remove all non-inherited entries in the ACL. Set this attribute to `true` or `false` (which is the default). For example: `<enable_inheritance revert_acl="true" />` | 0 or 1
<ace action="..."> | Add or remove an entry from the ACL. The `action` attribute must be specified and accepts the value `add` or `remove`. The following child elements must all appear exactly once: `principal` - the user or group whose permissions you want to modify in the ACL. You can specify a domain user name or an SID. `principalType` - the type of principal specified by the `principal` element `DomainUser` `SID` `level` - a comma-separated list of permissions to add or remove. `All` (equivalent to "full control") `Read` `Write` `Execute` `Delete` `DenyAll` `DenyRead` `DenyWrite` `DenyExecute` `DenyDelete` | 0 or more

The following example demonstrates how to change the ACL for a file:

- grant read permission to `MYDOMAIN\user1`
- grant read, write, execute, and delete permissions to `MYDOMAIN\user2`
- remove all "allow" permissions from `MYDOMAIN\user3`

    <identifiersXML>
       <identifier value="...">
         <acl_update>
           <break_inheritance/>
           <ace action="add">
             <principal>MYDOMAIN\user1</principal>
             <principalType>DomainUser</principalType>
             <level>Read</level>
           </ace>
           <ace action="add">
             <principal>MYDOMAIN\user2</principal>
             <principalType>DomainUser</principalType>
             <level>Read, Write, Execute, Delete</level>
           </ace>
           <ace action="remove">
             <principal>MYDOMAIN\user3</principal>
             <principalType>DomainUser</principalType>
             <level>All</level>
           </ace>
         </acl_update>
       </identifier>
     </identifiersXML>

The following example demonstrates how to change the ACL for a file, so that ACL entries are inherited from the parent object in the file system and all non-inherited entries are removed:

    <identifiersXML>
       <identifier value="...">
         <acl_update>
           <enable_inheritance revert_acl="true"/>
         </acl_update>
       </identifier>
     </identifiersXML>

NOTE: When you update an ACL the file's last change time is updated to the current time (unless you provide a value for the `LASTCHANGED` metadata field, in which case that value is used instead). For more information about changing the last change time, see Construct XML to Update Dates.

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