php setup question (easy) *Another Question*

[SuepaFly]

I know this is a pretty lame question, and it basically shows that I know nothing about php. So be kind please. I'm trying to setup this open source php program on my server (linux, mySql, phpMyAdmin) and I get as far in the installation directions as this:

6. You will need to change the permissions of the images/, /pdf and uploadfiles/
directories to 777, this should be done recursively:
chmod -R 777 images
chmod -R 777 uploadfiles
chmod -R 777 newsfeeds
chmod -R 777 pdf
For Windows based servers, make sure that the webserver user account has
Change access to the directories listed above.

Where do I input this on phpMyAdmin? In the Query window of mySQL? Because when I do, I get a syntax error message.

Okay, I changed the above using smartftp. The next step was to change the settings so they fit mine in the congifuration.php file. I swear I did it all correctly but its still giving me this error message.

Warning: Unable to access /var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/version.php in /home/virtual/site36/fst/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/configuration.php on line 49

Warning: Failed opening '/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/version.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/php/includes:/usr/share/php') in /home/virtual/site36/fst/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/configuration.php on line 49

Warning: Unable to access /var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/version.php in /home/virtual/site36/fst/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/configuration.php on line 49

Warning: Failed opening '/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/version.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/php/includes:/usr/share/php') in /home/virtual/site36/fst/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo/configuration.php on line 49

These are the exact directories they are loaded in, and the files are actually there. Line 49 of configuration.php is:

include_once("$absolute_path/version.php");

and the absolute path is correct (/var/www/html/mambo.absurdlogic.com/mambo)... any ideas? Is the mambo.absurdlogic.com throwing it off somehow?

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Ok, I don't understand why they say to make them world-writable under unix and yet just writable by the webserver under windows. Makes it seem like they don't know much about unix.

Anyways, those are shell commands. Login to your server and execute them on the command line.

 

[SuepaFly]

Thanks for your response.

This is what I haven't understood in all the installation notes and all the forum posts. Login to my server using what? Thats what I haven't been able to figure out... FTP? My server doesn't allow telnet I think. Through phpMyAdmin?

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Try ssh. I guess your desktop runs windows? Google for "putty" and download it, it's a free ssh client for windows. Try that out, it should be fairly self-explanatory.

 

[notfred]

Just FTP to the webserver, and right click on the directory and go to "permissions" or "chmod"... whichever your FTP client uses.

 

[hoihtah]

i'm not sure exactly what script you're trying to put on your server...

unless your server is for your personal use and security insensitive,
i'd suggest that you gain some basic understanding of group and user permissions.

there are many places online where you can spend 30min and gain some understanding of such.

but then again what do i know.

 

[SuepaFly]

Originally posted by: hoihtah
i'm not sure exactly what script you're trying to put on your server...

unless your server is for your personal use and security insensitive,
i'd suggest that you gain some basic understanding of group and user permissions.

there are many places online where you can spend 30min and gain some understanding of such.

but then again what do i know.

Its both for personal use and security insensitive, I just want to learn for now.

 

[hoihtah]

Originally posted by: SuepaFly


Its both for personal use and security insensitive, I just want to learn for now.

if that's the case, learn to use ssh... over ftp.

that -R is a directive to set your commands recursive.
meaning all files&folders inside the folder would be set with the same permission setting... in your case 777.

 

[arcain]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Ok, I don't understand why they say to make them world-writable under unix and yet just writable by the webserver under windows. Makes it seem like they don't know much about unix.

Typically on Unix machine's, the webserver user is nobody.. but regardless if you change the ownership of the config file, you'll no longer be able to modify it, unless it is world-writable.

But under Windows, they're aren't limited to user/group/world classifications, they can right click, and just add an additional name to the control list, and check off the appriopate permissions. It doesn't say to make it ONLY writable by the webserver. Multiple users can have various permissions on a file.

 

[manly]

I suspect the missing detail is it's probably not literally her server, but a web host.

If it's a good web host, you login with ssh. Otherwise, you'll have to make do with their control panel of choice + FTP.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: arcain

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Ok, I don't understand why they say to make them world-writable under unix and yet just writable by the webserver under windows. Makes it seem like they don't know much about unix.

Typically on Unix machine's, the webserver user is nobody.. but regardless if you change the ownership of the config file, you'll no longer be able to modify it, unless it is world-writable.

But under Windows, they're aren't limited to user/group/world classifications, they can right click, and just add an additional name to the control list, and check off the appriopate permissions. It doesn't say to make it ONLY writable by the webserver. Multiple users can have various permissions on a file.

chown myuser:webservergroup directory
chmod 775 directory

Then both you and the webserver can write to the directory, yet it is not WORLD writable. Unix permissions aren't quite so limiting. 🙂

 

[SuepaFly]

Originally posted by: manly
I suspect the missing detail is it's probably not literally her server, but a web host.

If it's a good web host, you login with ssh. Otherwise, you'll have to make do with their control panel of choice + FTP.

I found the error...I doubt it works very often, but in this case it did, I deleted line 49 and it everything worked.

 

[arcain]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: arcain

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Ok, I don't understand why they say to make them world-writable under unix and yet just writable by the webserver under windows. Makes it seem like they don't know much about unix.

Typically on Unix machine's, the webserver user is nobody.. but regardless if you change the ownership of the config file, you'll no longer be able to modify it, unless it is world-writable.

But under Windows, they're aren't limited to user/group/world classifications, they can right click, and just add an additional name to the control list, and check off the appriopate permissions. It doesn't say to make it ONLY writable by the webserver. Multiple users can have various permissions on a file.

chown myuser:webservergroup directory
chmod 775 directory

Then both you and the webserver can write to the directory, yet it is not WORLD writable. Unix permissions aren't quite so limiting. 🙂

What if multiple (> 2) people need to be able to write to the directory? Unless you are able to create a new group with all the necessary members, you're out of luck without an Access Control List. Ameesh was trolling about that sometime ago, and it is a limitation on Linux's part (ACL work is being/has been done).

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: arcain

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: arcain

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Ok, I don't understand why they say to make them world-writable under unix and yet just writable by the webserver under windows. Makes it seem like they don't know much about unix.

Typically on Unix machine's, the webserver user is nobody.. but regardless if you change the ownership of the config file, you'll no longer be able to modify it, unless it is world-writable.

But under Windows, they're aren't limited to user/group/world classifications, they can right click, and just add an additional name to the control list, and check off the appriopate permissions. It doesn't say to make it ONLY writable by the webserver. Multiple users can have various permissions on a file.

chown myuser:webservergroup directory
chmod 775 directory

Then both you and the webserver can write to the directory, yet it is not WORLD writable. Unix permissions aren't quite so limiting. 🙂

What if multiple (> 2) people need to be able to write to the directory? Unless you are able to create a new group with all the necessary members, you're out of luck without an Access Control List. Ameesh was trolling about that sometime ago, and it is a limitation on Linux's part (ACL work is being/has been done).

You can have as many groups as you want (well, up to 65535 I believe), and as many people as you want in each group, and each user can be in any number of groups, so what you're proposing can be done with no problem whatsoever.

 

[arcain]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: arcain

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: arcain

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Ok, I don't understand why they say to make them world-writable under unix and yet just writable by the webserver under windows. Makes it seem like they don't know much about unix.

Typically on Unix machine's, the webserver user is nobody.. but regardless if you change the ownership of the config file, you'll no longer be able to modify it, unless it is world-writable.

But under Windows, they're aren't limited to user/group/world classifications, they can right click, and just add an additional name to the control list, and check off the appriopate permissions. It doesn't say to make it ONLY writable by the webserver. Multiple users can have various permissions on a file.

chown myuser:webservergroup directory
chmod 775 directory

Then both you and the webserver can write to the directory, yet it is not WORLD writable. Unix permissions aren't quite so limiting. 🙂

What if multiple (> 2) people need to be able to write to the directory? Unless you are able to create a new group with all the necessary members, you're out of luck without an Access Control List. Ameesh was trolling about that sometime ago, and it is a limitation on Linux's part (ACL work is being/has been done).

You can have as many groups as you want (well, up to 65535 I believe), and as many people as you want in each group, and each user can be in any number of groups, so what you're proposing can be done with no problem whatsoever.

What if the webserver needs write access to that directory (along with yourself), and you want to give somebody else only read access (without giving the world read access)? Poor inital example own my part. I'm not against UNIX/Linux by any means, in fact most of my computers run Linux and all my professional development work has been under a UNIX, but though excellent for many things, it is not without its faults.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: arcain

What if the webserver needs write access to that directory (along with yourself), and you want to give somebody else only read access (without giving the world read access)? Poor inital example own my part. I'm not against UNIX/Linux by any means, in fact most of my computers run Linux and all my professional development work has been under a UNIX, but though excellent for many things, it is not without its faults.

Hm yeah, that's a stumper. Not possible with regular permissions as far as I can see.