What's the best way of handling permissions for apache2's user www-data in /var/www ?

Posted by gyaresu on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by gyaresu
Published on 2009-05-11T05:13:03Z Indexed on 2010/05/22 3:41 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 437

Filed under:

linux

|

debian

|

apache2

|

sysadmin

|

www-data

Has anyone got a nice solution for handling files in /var/www/ ?
We're running Name Based Virtual Hosts and the apache2 user is 'www-data'

We've got two regular users & root. So when messing with files in /var/www ,rather than having to...

chown -R www-data:www-data

...all the time, what's a good way of handling this?

Supplementary question. How hardcore do you then go on permissions?

This one has always been a problem in collaborative development environments.

Cheers.

© Server Fault or respective owner

Related posts about linux

apt-get install and update fail

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I've got a problem with apt-get update and apt-get install ... commands . every time update or installing fails and errors are : Get:1 http://dl.google.com stable Release.gpg [198B] Ign http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable/main Translation-en_US Get:2 http://dl… >>> More
kernel module compiling error

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
sh@ubuntu:/home/ccpp/helloworld$ make gcc-4.6 -O2 -DMODULE -D_KERNEL_ -W -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wmissing-prototypes -isystem /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build/include -c -o hello-1.o hello-1.c hello-1.c:4:0: warning: "MODULE" redefined [enabled by default] <command-line>:0:0: note: this is… >>> More
Build-Essentials installation failing

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I am having trouble accessing the several critical header files that show to be a part of the build process. The "Ubuntu Software Center" shows "Build Essentials" as installed: Next I did the following two commands, which did not improve the problem: ~$ sudo apt-get install build-essential [sudo]… >>> More
Updating Debian kernel

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I'm trying to update my Debian machine to 2.6.32-46 (which is the new stable). However, after doing apt-get update my apt-cache search linux-image shows me: linux-headers-2.6.32-5-486 - Header files for Linux 2.6.32-5-486 linux-headers-2.6.32-5-686-bigmem - Header files for Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem linux-headers-2… >>> More
Serial connection over a single USB cable (Windows to linux, or linux to linux)

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I'm helping out with a project for an embedded device that only has USB and no serial. This device is running Linux. These days, when we need to connect to a serial port on a device we typically use a USB to serial adapter (on something like a phone system or a load balancing device, etc). I would… >>> More

Related posts about debian

Trying to update debian not working

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
As root i type this command apt-get update and get these error messages. > Err http://security.debian.org lenny/updates Release.gpg Could not resolve 'security.debian.org' Err http://security.debian.org lenny/updates/main… >>> More
Trouble with dns and debian update

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I tried to update my debian dreamplug server with the command running as root apt-get update and recieved these errors. Err http://security.debian.org lenny/updates Release.gpg Could not resolve 'security.debian… >>> More
Errors when installing Open Office

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I followed the first set of instructions on this page to install Open Office: How to install Open Office? However, the last step which says to change the CHMOD of a folder, I got an error saying that the directory does not exist. Open Office now appears in my Ubuntu start menu, but clicking… >>> More
Installing PHP4 on a Debian (lenny) 7 32bit box

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to install PHP4 on a Debian 7 32bit box but I ran into the following root@php4:~# apt-get update Get:1 http://snapshot.debian.org lenny Release.gpg [189 B] Hit http://snapshot.debian.org lenny Release Ign http://snapshot.debian.org lenny Release Hit http://snapshot.debian.org lenny/main… >>> More
Debian keyring error: "No keyring installed"

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a Debian Squeeze EC2 AMI. On booting up an instance with it and trying to install packages with apt-get I get errors saying there is no keyring installed. Here is the error with apt-get update: root@ip:~# apt-get update Get:1 http://ftp.us.debian.org squeeze Release.gpg [1672 B] Ign http://ftp… >>> More