Git: change only posix permission of file in index

Question

With

git update-index --chmod=+x /path/to/file

I can set (or unset when using -x) the execution bit, but how to set the full permission of the file in the index (e.g. 744)?

Answer 1

It’s not possible. Git only tracks the execution bit for files in the repository, all other permissions are ignored, as there would not be a good way to transfer permissions across different machines and operating systems.