[ubuntu-us-nm] Ubuntu Server and Joomla Permissions Issue

[Kurt von Finck]

On Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:43:37 -0600
David Einerson <deinerson1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> I have Joomla 1.5.14 installed and running nicely on an Ubuntu 9.04
> server. The server is fully patched and up-to-date.
> The trouble I am having is that when I go to install a Joomla
> Extension/Module/Plugin, etc the "inherited" file and directory
> permissions only allow the user to read and write, which causes the
> install to either fail or then require manual intervention to correct
> the failed install.
> 
> How do I get the file and directory permissions to be rw-rw-rw for
> user, group, and other during installation. For example: I install
> CiviCRM, which creates a few directories and lots of files in the
> Joomla subdirectories. But because the inherited file and dir
> permissions are user rw only, the install doesn't complete - CiviCRM
> can't run the SQL script to create data tables because it doesn't
> have access to the newly created files and directories.
> 
> I have tried numerous "fixes" including:
> 
>    - sudo chmod -R g+s /var/www/joomla15
>    - sudo chmod -R o+s /var/www/joomla15
> 
> These look like they should work, but perhaps I am missing a step or
> a few. BTW, I ran the above commands *before* attempting the install.
> 
> Currently the Joomla file structure owner and group is root and once
> group and other get rw permission it works (minus db tables). Do I
> need a special owner and/or group with proper permissions to inherit
> from?
> 
> Note: I can correct the permissions after the fact, but this only
> works when the Joomla extension is created in a way that makes it
> possible. For example, some extensions create database tables
> directly from PHP during installation, so the extension just won't
> work - without *a lot* of hoop jumping. For extensions like CiviCRM,
> the install PHP uses a SQL script to create tables, which I can
> manually execute after the fact. But, of course, this is a pain, when
> I know it should work seamlessly during install.
> 
> Any help with this "inherited" permission issue would be greatly
> appreciated. I have been banging my head against it for a week.

You will probably want to change the umask for the Joomla user to 2.
This means that any files created by the Joomla user are set

-rw-rw-r--

and any directories created by the Joomla user are set

drwxrwxr-x

You can set this in the .profile / .bashrc / other of the Joomla user.
Then ensure that any relevant users are in the Joomla user's default
group.

-- 
./k

kurt von finck

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