Forgot to CHMOD on installation

[nodle]

I installed xenforo the other day and the installation went fine but after reading:

3. Setting Permissions
Once the files are finished uploading, you must set permissions (or CHMOD) several places. This is necessary to ensure that XenForo can write to those parts of your server. You can usually do this with your FTP client.

1. In the set of files and directories you just uploaded, you will see 2 folders: data and internal_data.
2. These two directories must be set to world writeable (CHMOD 0777) or give the IUSR_ Full Control in Windows.

http://xenforo.com/help/installation/

I noticed that I forgot to set mine to 777. I went ahead and did this now on the two folders, but did I screw anything up on installation by not doing this? Or will I be fine now that I changed it?

 

[TPerry]

I have read somewhere that "CHMOD 777" is not "secure".
Is this true ?

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/sitemap-for-xenforo-1-2-compatible.26785/page-32#post-631251

So why make it "777" if it is not secure ?

Because for the data and internal_data directories world needs write capability. All they are are the images/attachments that get uploaded. No important core files are there. You do NOT want to give 777 permissions to other files/folders on your forum.

 

[Digital Doctor]

Could Xenforo installations check the CHMOD status of key directories and report if things need changing ?
Might save some Support time going forward.

 

[erich37]

Could Xenforo installations check the CHMOD status of key directories and report if things need changing ?
Might save some Support time going forward.

yeah, this would save lots of time overall.

 

[TPerry]

Could Xenforo installations check the CHMOD status of key directories and report if things need changing ?
Might save some Support time going forward.

For some reason I thought it told you (at install) that those directories needed to be 777/755 (but it's been a while since I did a fresh install and it's not something that was high on my "to remember" list). I do like the way myBB does it. It runs a test and warns you when pertinent files/directories do not have the correct permissions and then lets you re-run the test after making corrections.

 

[Digital Doctor]

data and internal_data to 777

Xenforo install creates those directories.

shouldn't the install set the directories to 777 ?
should it verify if it was successful ?

I do like the way myBB does it. It runs a test and warns you when pertinent files/directories do not have the correct permissions and then lets you re-run the test after making corrections.

That's exactly what I suggest.
Good ol' MyBB. Best OS forum now.

 

[Mike]

These checks are run whenever you go to the upgrade system. Obviously it can't check every single potential file as there may be hundreds of thousands, but it does check the top level of sub-directories which have all been created by XF.

Issues with permissions generally come up with server changes such as moving to entirely new server or switching PHP execution methods (notably mod_php vs suPHP). There's no reason for things to randomly change otherwise.

 

[TPerry]

data and internal_data to 777

shouldn't the install set the directories to 777 ?
should it verify if it was successful ?
That's exactly what I suggest.

Not all servers can use 777 - if I remember some have to have it set at 755. I'm sure that there is a way to have the install check for the correct permissions - but since I'm not a coder I can't say for sure.

Good ol' MyBB. Best OS forum now.

That's what I'm running two of my newest forums on until I see whether they will take off or not. One Astronomy related and one camera related.

 

[Kurt]

kind of an old thread but 777 is bad.. a malicious script could be placed in there by "anyone" and executed..

what file types are supposed to live there? perhaps it would be protected with .htaccess only allowing the webserver to write those file types.

 

[Xodz]

This thread blows my mind absolutely.

The Question Is Simple:
Which User Does Xenforo Perform The Install With???
Is this IUSR_ ??

Additionally:
Do not make your directories 777

 

[TPerry]

This thread blows my mind absolutely.

The Question Is Simple:
Which User Does Xenforo Perform The Install With???
Is this IUSR_ ??

Depends.. IUSR_ doesn't strike me as a Linux user... WindBlows perhaps?

Additionally:
Do not make your directories 777

For those directories, it doesn't hurt.. but i keep mine as owner/group read/write. World is read only.

 

[Mike]

Which User Does Xenforo Perform The Install With???

That's sort of unanswerable as it's simple down to the user you've configured PHP to run as. It will vary by server setup. (And depending on your configuration, chmodding may not be needed at all; cPanel installs don't tend to need it.)