Cannot access a website directory in Plesk: 403 Forbidden

Updated November 29, 2023 20:48

Plesk for Linux kb: technical ABT: Group B

Applicable to:

Cannot access a specific location of website, e.g. http://example.com/some_folder, the following error occurs:

CONFIG_TEXT: Server Error
403
Forbidden
If CloudLinux operating system is used, its test page is shown:
CONFIG_TEXT: CloudLinux Test Page
This page is used to test the proper operation of the Apache HTTP server after it has been installed. If you can read this page, it means that the Apache HTTP server installed at this site is working properly.

The following error appears in the /var/www/vhosts/example.com/logs/error_log file:

CONFIG_TEXT: [autoindex:error] [pid 16314:tid 140300215322368] [client 203.0.113.2:55714] AH01276: Cannot serve directory /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/some_folder/: No matching DirectoryIndex (index.html,index.cgi,index.pl,index.php,index.xhtml,index.htm,index.shtml) found, and server-generated directory index forbidden by Options directive

The requested directory does not contain index files or directory browsing is not enabled.

Apply one of the following solutions (depending on the desired goal):

1. Add a missing index file to the directory

Log into Plesk.
Check what index files defined in Domains > example.com > Apache & nginx Settings:
Go to Domains > example.com > File Manager.
(Optional) Navigate to the required folder, e.g. some_folder.
Click the New > Create File button.
Specify one of the following names according to file name from step 2:
- index.html
- index.cgi
- index.pl
- index.php
- index.xhtml
- index.htm
- index.shtml
and press the OK button.
Click on the created file and insert the required content.

The video below demonstrates an example of the process

2. Enable the directory browsing