using php to create folders on server

Paul_Ferrie

Hi guys, bit of a strange one maybe i am missing sometinh stupid.
I am using this code to create folder on the server as part of a image gallery admin upload.

if(is_dir("../images/gallery/" . $folder_id) == false){
	mkdir("../images/gallery/" . $folder_id, 0777);
	mkdir("../images/gallery/". $folder_id."/thumbs", 0777);
	mkdir("../images/gallery/". $folder_id."/images", 0777);

Now for some reason i am unable to delete the folders from the server via ftp. Keep getting error permission denied :S

Anyone
Thanks Paul

bpat1434

Yeah, when you do that, the "user" that creates the folders is either "nobody", "noone", or "root". So you as a user "someoneelse" can't modify the folders.

Here's what I used to create folders on a server. It uses FTP:

$error_font = "<font style=\"color: #f00;\">";
$success_font = "<font style=\"color: #090;\">";
$_font = "</font>";

$server='ftp.domain.com';
$conn = ftp_connect($server);

$user = "username";
$pass = "password";
$result = ftp_login($conn, $user, $pass);

if((!$conn) || (!$result)) {
	return false;
	exit();
}
else{
	$main = split("/", $_thedir);
	$path = "";
	$ret = true;

for($i=1; $i<count($main); $i++){
	$path .= "/".$main[$i];

	if(!@ftp_chdir($conn, $path)){
		@ftp_chdir($conn, "/");
		if(!@ftp_mkdir($conn, $path)){
			echo $error_font.$path."<br />Directory creation failed.".$_font."<br /><br />";
		}
	}
}
}

Oh, and I set $_thedir in a different script that starts in my root_directory (/public_html/), and include this script after I declare that variable.

~Brett

Paul_Ferrie

Hi m8,
thanks but that still does not help my situation. How do i delete these folders?
I want to be able to use the could i submitted with the first post to create the folders. When i referred to ftp i meant the ftp prog that i use to upload the normal stuff to the server. when i access these folders via my ftp prog i am um able to delete them.

Can u help?

Thanks
Paul

bannister

Hi Paul,

This has to do with the rights that apache has created for you. You don't have sufficient rights to remove or change something. I just posted a question myself about it. Hope someone can help us out 😉

Kind regards BAnnister

Paul_Ferrie

I have posted on several forums so hopfully this one will be sorted soon. Must be a common problem!

bpat1434

The problem is this:

When using the PHP built in create functions, Apache gives the folder/files to the user "noone" or "none". The only way to delete them is to use the root account (if you have access) or ask your host to delete them for you.

I ran into this problem as well, but my host was nice enough to delete the proper folders/files.

~Brett

dalecosp

Originally posted by bpat1434
The problem is this:

When using the PHP built in create functions, Apache gives the folder/files to the user "noone" or "none". The only way to delete them is to use the root account (if you have access) or ask your host to delete them for you.

I ran into this problem as well, but my host was nice enough to delete the proper folders/files.

~Brett

Bah! Surely if apache creates them, it can delete 'em too... 🙂

[man]unlink/man......

bpat1434

That's great for deleting files, but what about directories? rmdir() doesn't work unless permissions are set to allow the current user to delete it. So, I still keep that my previous response is correct.

~Brett

dalecosp

Given that at some point everthing is under /, your point is correct...at the top level of your environment, at the very least, you probably won't have complete control on a shared box.

Nothing I can think of that we can do on a PHP forum is going to cause your sysadmins to set up permissions/ownership properly, though.

So, everybody get your own boxen, and cheer up? 😃

Seriously, it should be possible for the system admin to set up the box so this would work, but I've not fully considered nor even Googled (and contrary to your .sig, I'm there all the time) the implications that this might have for the an*l-retentive sysadmins out there. Putting everyone in the apache group would do (BTW, "nobody" and "www" are very, very common, too; "noone" sounds kinda dumb, like a radical Linuxism to me), but with the usual umasks, then you'd have everybody looking at each other's folders on a shared box, and that's not too kosher (AAMOF, it's one of the reasons jails were invented [take as you will, that 😉]). Of course, the public stuff is, well, public anyway....

FWIW, I have had one of our PHPBuilder regulars in "collaboration" (or more like contract work) on one of my servers, and it took us a while just to get him shelled in (three or four layers on that onion), so I guess I'm a case in point of the an*l-retentive sysadmin archtype....

bpat1434

Yeah, I couldn't think in nix what the default anonymous users were (nobody and www). So they were my own nixisms.

But everyone can't have thier own box, too costly (unless you want to pay for mine 🙂). But for those that do use shared hosting, it would be beneficial to stay away from generic php functions to create folders/files until PHP allows setting who the owner is during creation.

The problem I see of setting up permissions on the system is security. I don't want people changing my code, or documents. And I don't want people taking my code without my permission/authorization either. And being able to let anyone see it, that's just wrong. That's probably why most hosts/admins don't allow it. Now, if *nix were to allow folder based permissions (like I can only view/edit/delete files under /home/users/bpat1434) and not anything else, that would be HOT!! But until that time, you live with what you got.

~Brett

Paul_Ferrie

Ok all fair points, i didnt really take into consideration of security since it is an image gallery that i am working on.

There is still the underlying point of how to delete these folders?

I have cms admin for the gallery to delete and upload new images this is why i wanted the option top creat folders through the admin area. Gallery title would be the folder to be created to store the images.

So do i know i have to create a secondery function in the admin to delete the folders as well? since i still cant delete via ftp prog?

Thanks again
Paul

bpat1434

Ask your host (as I said in my previous topic) or gain root level access to your server and delete them that way. It's the only way to do it that I know of at this time.

Then, when you've delete that folders, use the FTP function I showed you to create your folders from now on.

~Brett

Paul_Ferrie

K thanks very much