Apache Permissions
++++++++++++++++++

:Posted: 2009-06-01 15:29
:Tags: Web, Hosting

When setting up virtual hosts on Apache it is a very good idea to create a
different user for each virtual host.

You can add a new user like this:

::

    $ sudo adduser packyears

If you already have files the new user should own you can change their
ownership like this:

::

    $ sudo chown -R packyears /var/www/vhost/packyears/
    
The easiest way of setting up the appropriate permissions is to add the Apache
user to the ``packyears`` group and then grant group read permission to
everything Apache needs to read and group write permission to everything it
needs to write to (if any).

::

    $ sudo usermod -a -G packyears www-data
    $ chmod -R g+r /var/www/vhosts/packyears/htdocs
    $ chmod -R g+w /var/www/vhosts/packyears/data


As it happens, I prefer having files in ``/home/packyears`` to
``/var/www/vhosts/packyears`` so that all the user's files are in one place and
so that I'm already in the right directory when I log in via SSH. You can set
it up the virtual hosts however you like though.