Hi all,

Exactly like my title says.
I am learning PHP and MySQL and I used to use /var/www/ to host (contain or store) my files (.htm/.php) for testing. I could configure, finally, apache2 to use ~/public_html instead.

Now I when I tried to use $_SERVER['Document_ROOT'] it still directs (I used echo to show its path) to /var/www and not the expected ~/public_html.
My question is: how to make variable ($_SERVER['Document_ROOT']) directs to ~/public_html and not the default /var/www. I found this but I did not understand it. I am totally new to servers/networks.

I use Ubuntu 12.04 on a Dell Desktop.

Thank you in advance,

~faizlo

The issue probably has more to do with Apache config (HTTPD)
Take a look here. If you have any questions, post back.

The variable is $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']. Did you restart the server after the changes in config?

Thanks for the reply.

@j-ray:
Yes, it is $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] in my scripts, sorry for the typo. And yes, I did restart apache2.

@dijetlo
I am reading the link you sent. I will come back after I try some of its solutions.

~faizlo

How did you configure apache2 to use ~/public_html then? what directive in httpd.conf did you alter for that? can you provide such information so we can look along?

Hi rhoekstra

I altered php5.conf in /etc/apache2/mods_available/. There is a line there that directs one to change them so user's directory can be used. I mainly commented few lines there.

Thanks,

~faizlo

Then I guess that's the culprit.. the document_root variable is probably the apache document root belonging to the (virtual) host setting in httpd.conf or any of its derivatives (in perhaps httpd.d directory or something). that specific variable has nothing to do with the php.ini file.

Maybe you should browse through the _SERVER variables to see if any other one is more appropriate to use instead of document_root?

rhoekstra

My httpd.conf file is empty! It has a 0 (zero) size. That said, I don't know how to do what you suggest. I will be grateful if you can guide me through what you said.

Also, as a side question: What should my /var (and its contents) access permissions be? (I had to chmod /var/www to 777 to test my PHP scripts until I can work from ~/public_html)