[RESOLVED] .htaccess for writing a new or overwrite file

ingemars

I want info on how to, and what to, put in the .htaccess file to be able for PHP-code (using JPGraph) to be able to write a file to the directory which I have designated as being the cache.

I have a test system: Vista and Apache 2.2.8, and PHP 5.2.8(?) on this local system, of course, it works.

On the ISPs site however JPG teles me that the user haven't the rights (from html or php activated from a browser.

an internet user has 755 rights, on all directories as of now, but at least this cache directory should be writable when user hits page and a graph is to supposed to be created from an uploaded .csv file.

I know on beforehand exact what files are supposed to be there and these files should be able to be overwritten when user hits and its new data from .csv file.

I've checked the PHP.ini and chapter 3 dealing with directives and such for .htaccess, but found no useful info.

Glad for any assistance that minimum points me in the right direction!

Cheers,

IngemarS

bradgrafelman

Security rights have nothing to do with a .htaccess file, they have to do with... security rights on the given folder.

So... make this 'cache' folder writable by whatever account PHP is executed under and that's it.

ingemars

Thanks bradgrafelman so far,

However, I can not set any thing higher than 775 to the folder, by commands even if I try to. It states on the ISP:s page that any settings that can be overridden in Apache/PHP must be done by changing that in .htaccess files.

After having set up permissions for user and group to 775, wich is the highest - I still get the following error from JpGraph:

PHP has not enough permissions to write to the cache file hs/lo/ho/in/web/tmp/cache/seasons.php .

Please make sure that the user running PHP has write permissions for this file if you wan to use the cache system with JpGraph.

I have just abbreviated the path a bit in the text above.

So, I am still stuck.

Any more ideas?

IngemarS

ingemars

http://www.skarpas.se/test/seasons.php

Here's a link that shows the error message.

IngemarS

ingemars

You may have a look at the phpinfo from one of my subdomains http://weather.skarpas.se/phpinfo.php

My ISP says:

Can I change PHP settings with .htaccess?
At PHP.net there is a list which states at what level PHP settings can be changed. Settings, which can be changed at the PHP_INI_ALL or PHP_INI_PERDIR level (stated in the list in the right hand frame), can be set in an .htaccess file or at runtime via ini_set().

Note: safe mode is set at PHP_INI_SYSTEM lelvel, and you cannot change that type of settings.

So does this info give any more clues to how I should circumvent the rights problem? I do not want to alter scripts and use ini_set().

IngemarS

etully

PHP settings are settings for PHP. They have nothing to do with the read/write permissions which are set by the operating system (likely some sort of Unix).

There are a few ways to change the read/write permissions on that directory.

The easiest is to use your FTP client to select the directory and change the permissions from 755 to 777. That is, select read+write+execute for user, group and world. Exactly how to do this depends on which FTP client you are using so you're going to need to play around a little to figure out exactly how to do that.

Another way is to SSH into your server, cd to the directory where your "cache" directory is located (let's pretend it's called "cache"), and type: chmod 777 cache
Many ISP's allow you to SSH into your server. Many don't. This may or may not work for you. You'll need to ask the tech support for your ISP if you can do this.

ingemars

Thanks etully,

I have not been idle while waiting for an answer, and out just minutes before writing this, facts that are in line with what you stated. Well, since the graph produced by the php-script created from .csv, I really hesitate to permanently set the directory, or the file [thinking of creating a graph locally, upload it to the web server, chmod it to 777 and then being able to run the script as needed] to 777.

But I see a lot of input NOT to set files and directories to 777. Probably the only way would be setting and resetting between 7xx and 777 in PHP code, just the thing I did not want to do, having to modify scripts as some of them come from other sources than myself and do not include any fixes for file security.

So, thanks etully, I'll have to do some more thinking, but you have set me off in the right direction!

Cheers,

IngemarS

ingemars

Just tested and verified that your suggestion worked, just had to set both the cache directory and the file to 777, but perhaps I'll just need the directory. I go and do a test with setting the directory and/or file by code!

IngemarS