ubuntu server file permissions auto-change

Question

Hello im having a problem with a project of mine, i have ubuntu server 12.04.1 lts, the problem i'm having is that i everytime i upload a file through ftp i need to modify file permissions otherwise it isnt available through browser.How can i modify the /var/www folder permissions to be seen by public through web browser and every new file/directory have the permissions of the www directory?

Answer 1

You need to change your FTP account to be a member of the www-data group. (You could also set it to USE the www-data account.)

Details of how to do this change dramatically depending on what FTP daemon you're using.

Answer 2

I would go with Jim Salter answer in general. It should be fast to configure.

Just as a reference I had to build a server with plenty of users accessing via different processes and several daemons that I do not want to run as root. I decided to use acls.

The steps are the following:

1. Install the acl package

2. Add support in your filesystem:

Edit /etc/fstab and add acl as a keyword in your partition. Something like this:

UUID=b8c490d0-0547-4e1f-b052-7130bacfd936 /home ext4 defaults,acl 0 2

1. Restart o remount.

2. Set the acl on the directory:

   sudo setfacl -Rdm u:www-data:rx /var/www

This will make every file created in that directory to inherit this permissions (in practice, adding www-data as the group instead of that users group.

It should work for you too if you can't find the way in your FTP (which, again, should be easier)

References: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/24052 http://brunogirin.blogspot.com.es/2010/03/shared-folders-in-ubuntu-with-setgid.html