[Resolved] Chmod

Hamsterpants

Hi All,

Some advise again please. I need to change to permissions on the .htaccess file in my root dir so that I can add info to it and then change the permissions back, but I don't think that the server I host my site on allows scripts to change permissions. Is there another way to go about this like run the script as a user or something?

Thanks
Dill

Roger_Ramjet

If your server is a shared server run by a web hosting co then it is probably 'locked down'. I doubt you can change the .htaccess in your root dir, that will be a major part of how they seperate and control the multiple virtual sites on the same box. If you can then your server is not configured very well and all sites on it are open to attack (I'd change hosts if I found that was the case on my site's server). You will of course be able to create sub dirs with .htaccess so go that route.

By 'locked down' I mean this. Your host should have set your root .htaccess so that only the supreuser can edit it, and should have set up the server so that remote access is not possible for the supreuser.

all about htaccess

Hamsterpants

Two issues here then now, firstly the one you mentioned with regards to the way the server is set up. I can edit the root .htaccess file (and maybe I am wrong in thinking it is the root .htaccess file, is the .htaccess file in the dir which serves my web pages, in my case the www dir) If I log in as root and only then, so that's ok right?

The issue is though is that the way the server is set up I think, is that it wont allow scripts to change permissions on files, so even if I create a new file called test.txt for eg, and I use chmod in a script, it doesn't change the permission of the file.

Dill

Roger_Ramjet

So its a *nix box and you think you are logging in as the superuser 'root'. I doubt it.

The only answer to this one is to talk to your host's tech support. They have quite rightly set it up so that random users cannot mess with your files, thank god. You will have to get them to agree to modify the security settings such that you can chmod specific files. Really all depends on their attitude and cooperation, and possibly on how much you can pay for custom services.

Hamsterpants

Hi Roger,

Thanks for your reply, not sure if you remember, but you suggested that I handle the problem that I had which was to offer users the option of a friendly url, which you said I could just use htaccess to redirect to the dynamic page. I thought that was a great option, but it now seems that isn't an option anymore.

I mean I can manually edit the file no prob, but from the sounds of it I cant edit the file with a script, so when a user signs up the script would edit the htaccess with the url as they request?

Sorry to be a pain, but I am no programmer, and as far as server admin gos, well 🙂

Thanks again Dill

Hamsterpants

All I want to know really, is it going to be possible for me to edit the .htaccess file with a php script without compromising security?

Roger_Ramjet

Yep, I remember. Trouble with serever config, it's alwasy a trade-off between security and functionality.

There is a work around that you can use, mod_rewrite(), if it's Apache. I did not suggest this first because it is a complex thing to use, even for experts, because it uses regular expressions.

Here are some links from a Google search

http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/misc/rewriteguide.html
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/mod_rewrite.html
http://www.apacheref.com/ref/mod_rewrite.html
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/guide-url-rewriting
http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/mod_rewrite-rewriterule-generator.shtml

Finally, speak to your host. Yes, they can set up this for you, just depends on how much they will charge and what solution they prefer; custom script, mod_rewrite() etc. Thing is they should have someone with the skills already in place: I'll bet they are doing mod_rewrites on their servers already.

Hamsterpants

ok thanks very much, will have a read and see how I get on. I got really excited about the redirect useing htaccess, but owell, it sounded to easy to be true 🙂

Thanks
Dill

Hamsterpants

Hi Roger,

Just noticed something interesting. The guys that I host with offer a web bassed controll panel system, and in there, there is an option to set up reditects. So I set one up and I see that this writes the redirects to the htaccess file. Do you think it would be worth my while to ask them if I can use that script that they allready have in place?

DIll

Roger_Ramjet

Certainly. The other option is to view the page source of the control panel and then see if you can post to their target script from one of your own. That sort of thing often works. Biggest problem is handling the return, since there is no browser to return to and the server will know that.

And yes, I can remember when I first started to realise the power of .htaccess, wonderfull thing in it's own right and well worth gaining expertise in. Especially as it has been around so long and will be around for a long time still. Not like some stuff which is out of date almost before you finish learning it.

Hamsterpants

the control panel requires me to log in first, is there a way for me to pass my log in details in a script?

Dill

Hamsterpants

Ok,

Just in case anyone else is having the same problems I was having, this is how I got around it.

I still used Rogers suggestions about using the .htaccess file, but instead of using the one in the root, because php scripts cannot chmod because a php script when it runs, runs as user "nobody", and user "nobody" does not have the right permissions to chmod. I instead used php to create a folder and a htaccess file within that folder. That now meant that that folder and htaccess file belong to the group "nobody", I think. Well anyway, now I could chmod with a php script.

Hope that helps someone, only taken me like a week, no more hair man.

Dill

Roger_Ramjet

Hamsterpants, sorry, I assumed that you already knew that and therefore was looking for a diff problem. Oh well, you'll remember it forever now. It is http.conf and the .htaccess in each doc root that enables your host to share 60 or so domains on the same server.

I'm sure you now realise that you can set an .htaccess in every sub-folder you create, allowing you to create subdomains and virtual sites under your own.