Setting up user directorys with apache

r_squared · 12-21-2004, 06:08 PM

I am trying to set up an apache web server so that when I type in the URL/username I will get the content from the users home directory (no sub directory e.g. /home/user/index.htm)
I added the line 'userdir /' in the httpd.conf file; is there something else I need to do also? I am running red hat fc 2 with apache version: 2.0.49 Thanks in advance r^2

peteABK · 12-22-2004, 03:30 AM

Look for tag like this int the conf

Code:

<IfModule mod_userdir.c>

and change
UserDir disable
to
UserDire enable

also change
#UserDir public_html
to
UserDir public_html

know when you make a new user make sure they are a member of the apache group and, as that user make a directory called "public_html" save all your website stuff in their and your off.

Just a side note, the conf comments discourage doing this because it confirms user names on your system which can be a security risk.

r_squared · 12-22-2004, 05:08 PM

Ok I have it working... well some what. I had to use the directive UserDir /home instead of UserDir /. That fixed that problem but now when I type the username in the address bar e.g. server.com/~user I get a message saying that it is forbidden. This is what part of my configuration file looks like:

<IfModule mod_userdir.c>
#
# UserDir is disabled by default since it can confirm the presence
# of a username on the system (depending on home directory
# permissions).
#
UserDir disabled root

#
# To enable requests to /~user/ to serve the user's public_html
# directory, remove the "UserDir disable" line above, and uncomment
# the following line instead:
#
UserDir /home

</IfModule>

#
<Directory /home/*>
AllowOverride None
Allow from all
</Directory>

I added the <Directory /home/*> tags after I received the forbidden message and restarted apache but it still gives me the same message.

peteABK · 12-22-2004, 05:21 PM

I think you replace
UserDir disable root
with
#UserDir disable root

I don't think you even need the "root", root's $HOME is /root and Apache isn't allowed to read there

Apache will look in the $HOME folder of each user on you system in /home/username
so when you add "/home" to UserDir, Apache looks for "/home/username/home", the most common solution is to have:

UserDir public_html

"public_html" is just a folder in the user's home directory that Apache can read. It's good to limit Apache's access to a specific folder in the user's home directory because then the user can still have files that are not readable by everyone looking at their website, such as logs and so on. Hope this helps

r_squared · 12-23-2004, 01:32 AM

Ok I changed the Userdir option to public_html now, but I am still getting the 403 forbidden error message. What can I do to so apache displays the contents insead of saying it's forbidden. Also on a related matter I am trying to get the cgi module to work correctly. I have the following typed in my httpd.conf file:

ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/var/www/cgi-bin/"

#
# "/var/www/cgi-bin" should be changed to whatever your ScriptAliased
# CGI directory exists, if you have that configured.
#
<Directory "/var/www/cgi-bin">
AllowOverride None
Options none
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

Everytime I type in a simple cgi script into the browser I get an "internal server error" message. The script is very simple this is it:

#!/bin/bash
echo "<html><head>"
echo "<title>some title</title>"
echo "<body> somebody </body></html>"

now obviously this is a shell script, so I typed in ./filename.cgi at the command promt to test it out and it works fine. Although I keep getting an internal server error. I tryed looking at the error logs but for some reason they are written in some forein language.

peteABK · 12-23-2004, 02:11 AM

Quick question: are you serving virtual hosts or no?

Butt-Ugly · 12-23-2004, 05:59 AM

If you are running SELinux in enforcing mode, you will get 403 on user dirs..

Type "setenforce 0" to disable, and "setenforce 1" to re-enable..

See this guide: http://www.brennan.id.au/13-Apache_Web_Server.html

SELinux for httpd can be disabled in "system-config-securitylevel"

Miles..

r_squared · 12-26-2004, 12:37 AM

Ok I typed in the following command "setenforce 0" and I got the following message: setenforce: setenfore() failed. Then I checked my /etc/sysconfig/selinux file and it says that selinux is disabled. also I changed the public_html folder to file permission 777. I am confused why it is giving me the 403 error. I can email or post my entire httpd.conf file if someone wants it.
p.s I am not serving virtual hosts.

Butt-Ugly · 12-26-2004, 03:00 AM

You need the following minimum permissions..

Directories
chmod 701 /home/bob
chmod 705 /home/bob/public_html
chmod 705 /home/bob/public_html/cgi-bin

Files
chmod 604 /home/bob/public_html/*.html
chmod 705 /home/bob/public_html/cgi-bin/*.cgi

Most people miss the first one..

You can set 'group' permissions if you want, but probably best not to.

Miles

PS.. If that fails then post a link to your httpd.conf file.

r_squared · 12-26-2004, 11:07 AM

Thanks man, that did the trick. I guess I over looked the previous directory (didn't think to allow access to it).

p.s. and I forgot to add the line "index.htm" to the directoryindex directive.( I had my index file with the .htm extension)

p.s.s. oh I just changed my file permissions back to normal and it turns out that I just needed to add the "index.htm" line to my directoryindex directive. but I still appreciate your help.