Change Permissions Based On File Or Directory

The following bash commands can be used to change permissions based on whether the resource is a file or directory.

Recursively Set Permissions on Files Only

Starting with ./target_dir, change permissions to 644 on files only.

find ./target_dir -type f -exec chmod u=rw,g=r,o=r {} \;

Recursivey Set Permission on Directories Only

Starting with ./target_dir, change permissions to 755 on 'directories only.

find ./target_dir -type d -exec chmod u=rwx,g=r,o=r {} \;

References

Securing File Permissions, http://drupal.org/node/244924