hi there everyone;

this is my first post if i do break any rules let me know.

i am trying to set up this server at home where i am partially successful. i have tried to install centos and after about 28 attempts to installing failure, i have given up. instead, i have installed ubuntu server and add gnome on the top. now the problem that i am having is that when i run xampp server, some php configurations files needed to be over written (joomla CMS needs to overwrite its config file on install), but it is not doing it so.

i have used chmod 777 /opt but its seems to be not making any good. i have then run chmod -R rwx /opt for the group and it hasnt improved anything.

so what i want to do is that i want to be able to make everything under /opt directory to have full access (mean read/write/execute) for my user name as i cant set root to auto logon on start up.

i am not thinking that may be i should go for SLAX as my server distro but i am not sure after all this config set-up i don’t want to wipe out everything and restart. can you please help me on this i am really trying to get this going.

thanks alot....

btw what linux distro would you people recommend for server installation.

If you want to make everything rwx for everybody under /opt what you do is this:
chmod -R 777 /opt

Now anybody with an account can do anything under /opt, this is not recommended but you can start with this and then make it more secure when its working. For example, to just make it rwx for the owner of /opt you do this:
chmod -R 700 /opt

When it comes to choosing distro my opinion is that ubuntu is one of the more userfriendly ones and a great first distro, i wouldnt be here without it
But the next person will tell you some other distro is superior so you need to just choose one and stick with it.
Preferably choose one your friends are running so you can ask them when you get stuck

Good Luck!

which file? have you tried manually changing that file? Does that work?
chmod 777 on a directory is generally a bad idea. Except for where it's necessary, which isn't the case here.
Ubuntu sounds like the right distribution for you. Don't go and install a completely new system because of a minor permission issue! It won't be any easier with slax, that's for sure.

make the config file writable for the web user
chmod 0777 joomlaconf.php
(or whatever this is named)

yeah guys thanks allot its working just fine now. i am a bit confused that why it didnt do it when i done at the first time but ooh well.

so does it mean that from now on every time i add a script under /opt do i have to issue command;

chmod -R 777 <directory_path>

thanks for your help guys you are all a star...

Like "baikonur" said from a security point of view "chmod -R 777 <dir>" is a bad idea.
Now that you got it working you should try to set the permissions only on the files that need to be accessed.
Try to make your system as safe as possible by setting your permissions so as few as possible can access your files, its a bit more work but its totally worth it.

Good Luck!

thanks alot guys foryour help. i can now confidently say that this issue is resolved.