Package manager permissions issue

[beanflying]

Hi All,

I am in the process of setting up an smf 2.0.9 forum server based on Ubuntu 14.04. I've installed a typical LAMP stack using apache and installed smf to the default directory, /var/www/html and set permissions to 777 (chmod --recursive 777 /var/www/)

I am now trying to install some packages, including DreamPortal. I've uploaded the file to the server and can see it in the list of available packages, however when I click Install Mod, I encounter the following error: "You cannot download or install new packages because the Packages directory or one of the files in it are not writable!"

As mentioned above, my /var/www/html directory is set to 777 and when checking permissions under Package Manager/File Permissions, it shows everything as writeable. I then thought that perhaps it is trying to write to the php temp directory, which is set to /data/phptmp. So I set this to 777 also, restarted apache and tried again, unfortunately with the same result.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that my ftp server is not set to chroot users, so they have access to the entire machine.

can anyone suggest further troubleshooting?

Thanks,

[Illori]

is there a temp folder in the packages folder? is there also a backup folder? if not create both and try again.

[margarett]

PackMan should create both.

Don't get me wrong, but you should take the task of managing your own server with extreme caution...
Are you working directly with root? If so, you shouldn't. If not, most likely your user cannot access /var/www

[beanflying]

I'm working with the ubuntu user, using sudo where required.

Here's my directory listing for Packages
$ ls -la Packages/
total 20
drwxrwxrwx  3 root root 4096 Dec 18 14:04 .
drwxrwxrwx 10 root root 4096 Dec 18 22:01 ..
drwxrwxrwx  2 root root 4096 Dec 18 14:04 backups
-rwxrwxrwx  1  500  500   73 Sep 25  2010 .htaccess
-rwxrwxrwx  1  500  500  324 Sep 25  2010 index.php
-rwxrwxrwx  1  500  500    0 Apr 14  2008 installed.list


I've noticed a theme of people using cpanel/shared hosting for smf. I'm a unix admin and wouldn't dream of using such a setup. Is there a reason most people steer clear of managing their own server?

BTW, I have no intention of leaving the permissions as 777 for everything once we have it working.

[Arantor]

Is there a reason most people steer clear of managing their own server?

Most people do not have the skills, nor the desire to learn the skills to run a website. They want it to be a simple job, and frankly I don't blame them. I don't want to become a full on mechanic just to be able to drive a car.

[beanflying]

Fair enough. I do this for a living so it's second nature to me, though SMF is new to me.

Ok, some progress and on to another issue.

I changed the owner and group permissions for /var/www/html to www-data

$ ls -la
total 636
drwxrwxrwx 9 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 18 23:06 .
drwxrwxr-x 3 root     root       4096 Dec 18 13:28 ..
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   3343 Dec 18 14:06 agreement.txt
drwxrwxrwx 2 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 18 14:06 attachments
drwxrwxrwx 4 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 18 14:06 avatars
drwxrwxrwx 2 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 19 09:06 cache
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  11510 Dec 18 14:06 index.html.orig
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  14348 Dec 18 14:06 index.php
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data     20 Dec 18 14:06 info.php.orig
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  62550 Dec 18 14:06 install_2-0_mysql.sql
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data 129466 Dec 18 14:06 install_2-0_postgresql.sql
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data 119933 Dec 18 14:06 install_2-0_sqlite.sql
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  87692 Dec 18 14:06 install.php.orig
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   1464 Dec 18 14:06 license.txt
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   2510 Dec 18 14:06 news_readme.html
drwxrwxrwx 4 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 19 10:33 Packages
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  21897 Dec 18 14:06 readme.html
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   2311 Dec 19 09:01 Settings_bak.php
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   2311 Dec 18 14:15 Settings.php
drwxrwxrwx 5 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 18 14:06 Smileys
drwxrwxrwx 2 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 18 14:06 Sources
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  27875 Dec 18 14:06 ssi_examples.php
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   5909 Dec 18 14:06 ssi_examples.shtml
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data  74098 Dec 18 14:06 SSI.php
-rwxrwxrwx 1 www-data www-data   8604 Dec 18 14:06 subscriptions.php
drwxrwxrwx 4 www-data www-data   4096 Dec 18 14:06 Themes


I also created Packages/temp

Now when I click install on the mod, I get the following error:

Error in Package Installation
At least one error was encountered during a test installation of this package. It is strongly recommended that you do not continue with installation unless you know what you are doing, and have made a backup very recently. This error may be caused by a conflict between the package you're trying to install and another package you have already installed, an error in the package, a package which requires another package that you don't have installed yet, or a package designed for another version of SMF.

1.   Execute Modification   smf2/modifications.xml   Modification parse error
2.   Execute Modification   smf2/modifications.xml   Modification parse error

[Kindred]

What mod are you trying to install?

If the smf is errorimg, that is mor emeritus than the failure of a couple of file edits due to changed code...

[beanflying]

So the decision was made to trash the current install, drop the database and start over. Having done so, things look much better and DreamPortal is now installed. Hopefully we're in the clear now.

Thanks everyone.

[beanflying]

Thanks SMF contributors too as always you lot rock.

I am not the AWS cloud nerd posting above, just your average SMF user and hacker. So please no PM's on Servers or you wil only get a blank look back

Normal service resuming