Re: public_html folder permissions preventing use of system()

From: Aaron Whiffin (aaron_at_nospam.com)
Date: 10/15/04 

Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:16:49 GMT

> Please read this thread:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/6d348

I appreciate what the thread is saying but it doesn't work in this case ...

I can use system() commands, but to do this I need to be able to have 777
permissions on a folder as Apache is run as a completely seperate user. This
is obviously bad as people will be able to modify the contents of the
folder.

In all (but one) cases I can use PHP commands like mrdir() and unlink() -
that's fine, BUT they do not have permission to run either and they require
the permissions to be 777, so I am no better off.

So I tried using chmod() before (and after) each command, that does not have
permission to run.

So if I can't change permission in PHP I can't see a way around it. I don't
want to have to set folders to 777!

My ISP (www.dataflame.co.uk) seems helpful, but in this instance can't do
much.

Can anyone please think of a way around this, or something that I can email
dataflame's support team and ask them to change.

This MUST be a common problem. Would there be any reason chmod() isn't
working?

The error message given is:

Warning: chmod(): Operation not permitted in
/home/username/public_html/test.php

One further thing that may give an indication of their setup. If I set
folder permissions to 777, and create a folder in this one using PHP, this
subfolder can then not be deleted by my FTP. I'm assuming this is because it
is owned by Apache not me. I can of course delete the subfolder with PHP ...
and change its permissions.

Now this made me think, perhaps I could chown() my folders to Apache, so I
can have 777 permissions. This means I (and anyone else) could update files
from PHP, but not from their usual account. Slightly safer, but still not
good. Plus of course I will not be able to delete folders etc via FTP.

But I may be thinking on the right steps.

So ... I created a folder by PHP, then chmod() to 755. It worked (permissins
had a T after them in FlashFXP (d-w-rwxr-T)- whatever that means) ... but
now I can't delete this using PHP commands, system() commands within PHP or
by FTP! I can't even use system() and chown to change ownership to my FTP
account.

Now to make things slightly harder, as well as needing to
read/write/delete/modify files/folders in seperate folders which I *may* be
able to solve using some method. I also need to be able to create folders in
my public_html folder so people can go to www.mysite.com/subsite/

I know this is a mess, but I am sure it's common, so can someone please
help?

Cheers

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