Chmod error question

[pablogosse]

Hi all. Quick question about a chmod error I'm getting.

Using the following code:

$file = "phonelist.csv";
chmod("$file",0777);
$deptname = "english";
$newfile = $deptname . "_" . substr($file,0,-4) . ".inc.php";
rename($file,$newfile);

I get the following error:

"chmod failed: Operation not permitted in..."

Now, I assume this is because httpd does not have rights to chmod, but will setting it up such that it does open any security holes?

Can anyone advise how (if) this could be set up such that I can chmod files without exposing security risks?

I really need to have the script able to chmod the files after they've been uploaded by the user so they can be renamed and formatting performed.

Thanks in advance.

Pablo

[pablogosse]

In addition, I just found some documentation on php.net which indicates that chmod will not work if PHP's safe mode is turned on.

The php setup I'm using has the local safe mode value set to off, while the master value is set to on.

Will disabling safe mode cause major problems?

Thanks in advance.

Pablo

[Anon]

You could probably write a shell script that runs under sudo or suexec that has permission to rename files. It would be good to add code into the shell script that restricts the directories in which files can be renamed.