Permissions for apache webroot folder on dev server?

Question

I am a web developer and have Apache setup on my local system for testing.

I keep running into issues with the permissions e.g. unless I chmod any new directories to 777 my IDE cannot write to the files there.

I was hoping there was a way to add myself to the group that has control of the www folder (and any sub folders) so I do not have to chmod the files every time.

Solution 1

I am working on a related issue, but in your case, you could just add yourself to the web group

sudo adduser $USER www-data

replace USER$ with your username of course. www-data is the group used for apache web access.

Solution 2

don't use 777 just because it "works". You can use easier notation such as u+rwx in order to give the user the right permission. g for group, u for "user" and o for "others". chmod ugo+rwx is then equal to 777; anyone can do anything with any files or directory. Usually not what you want.

You may want to use setgid on the directory using chmod g+s. This way, when someone changes a file, the group ownership will stay the same. Also, when you create new files and directories, this will be inherited.

Solution 3

If you use an desktop environment, you can do this.
Open the terminal and enter:

gksudo nautilus

Enter your password and hit Enter. Navigate to the www folder and right-click. Choose properties and afterwards permission. Now you can change the access.
To quit Nautilus, just close it and to close the terminal, idem.

Comments

[The33Coder]

Thanks for the info, but if I'm the only one with ssh access to the box, can it still be a problem?

[The33Coder]

not sure what I'm doing wrong, but this didn't work for me :( ubuntu@domU-12-31-39-16-26-01:/var/www$ sudo useradd ubuntu www-data Usage: useradd [options] LOGIN

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad]

Yes, never neglect security. Give yourself the correct permissions, but not any other user. Remember; humans aren't the only users on your system. If one service gets compromised, it should not have the ability to compromise another.

[gabriel_agm]

@Alan: useradd and adduser are different commands and commonly confused. You can add your user to the group www-data with: sudo adduser $USER www-data As $USER is part of the env. vars - no need for replacement.

[Pavak Paul]

where we have nautilus in a VPS server?