Path to my usb harddrive?

vigour

I am working on a website where people can upload there pictures. I have a usb harddrive attached to my mac mini webserver where all the pictures are uploaded. But I can't figure out the path I must use to show the pictures on my website. I tried this path with no result.

ip_number/Volumes/harddrive_name/picture_folder/file.jpg

The error message I got is this:

Not Found
The requested /Volumes/harddrive_name/picture_folder/file.jpg was not found on this server.

What am I doing wrong here?

bradgrafelman

What you're doing wrong is not understanding how webservers function in the basic sense.

The document root (e.g. "/") of your website is anchored in some folder somewhere (e.g. /var/www/). Any URL that Apache needs to resolve to a local file will begin in that directory. In other words, URLs have nothing to do with file paths (and vice versa).

One possible solution might be to use Apache's ScriptAlias directive to remap a given URL prefix (e.g. "/picture_folder/") to a different location on the file system (e.g. the picture_folder you specified above).

vigour

Thank you for your great answer. I am running OSX Snow Leopard. Can you please tell me how the line should look like? Should this be done in the httpd.conf?

big_nerd

vigour,

Mac's are a POSIX operating system, so it is a matter of permissions, and correct httpd.conf configuration.

Posting your httpd.conf would be very helpful, along with information as to the path leading to the usb disk.

if you are going to post your httpd.conf - be sure to remove sensitive information if any exists, and place it between [code] and [/code] bbcode tags.

bradgrafelman

Few things:

vigour wrote:
Can you please tell me how the line should look like?

Already did that; the link to the Apache manual I gave above explains the syntax, gives an example, and then explains what the example does.

vigour wrote:
Should this be done in the httpd.conf?

Probably, yes, since this is a) an Apache directive, and b) only allowed in the server config (or in virtual host configs) as stated by the Apache manual.

big.nerd wrote:
Mac's are a POSIX operating system, so it is a matter of permissions

How does the type of O/S have anything to do with (or give you any information about) file permissions?

Answer: it doesn't. You have to deal with file permissions on any file system that uses them, such as the file systems used by Mac, Linux, or even Windows.

EDIT: Also, forgot to mention...

@: Please don't post multiple threads about the same topic. Your other thread has been merged with this one.

big_nerd

bradgrafelman wrote:
How does the type of O/S have anything to do with (or give you any information about) file permissions?

Answer: it doesn't. You have to deal with file permissions on any file system that uses them, such as the file systems used by Mac, Linux, or even Windows.

Admittedly a half-thought, was interrupted with an issue from work and came back to it.

I was merely thinking of setting up a symbolic link -- assuming permissions allowed.

bradgrafelman

Ohhh, I'm glad you had that half-thought.. I like the idea of using a symbolic link over the ScriptAlias route (assuming that is an option).

vigour

I just tried the Apache Alias directive but nothing at all happens.

I have this in my httpd.conf file.

Alias /images /Volumes/Elements1/images
<Directory /Volumes/Elements1/images>
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

Then I used this line in a html test file.

But the image is not returned from my usb harddrive, it's returned from the images directory on my imac.

I also tried it in my username.conf file but nothing happens.

big_nerd

vigour,

When you have an existing directory called "images" you can't call a virtual directory of the same name.

i.e. if you have a folder/directory "/images" you can't make a virtual directory "/images".

For test purposes please change your httpd.conf:

Alias /imgarchive /Volumes/Elements1/images

and use /imgarchive instead, or some folder/directory that doesn't exist in the path of your website.

alternatively, open up a terminal window and navigate to your web folder, and try setting a symbolic link:

cd /where/your/web/files/are
sudo ln -s /Volumes/Elements1/images imgarchives

Notice how I put the 's' at the end of the symbolic link - this is just in case the apache directive fails you can test the folder with the "s" at the end.

The advantage to using symbolic links is that if for some reason you wish to change the path, or if the path changes for any reason, you can update it by recreating the symbolic link without restarting the server.

I am unsure of how MAC permissions are handled with sudo, perhaps someone can answer that, as sudo allows you to become the administrator / superuser / root when creating the symbolic link, and the apache/web service user may be different.

That being said, everything SHOULD be fine.

Best of luck...