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How to restore default permissions in the virtual host directory on Linux?

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Robert Asilbekov
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Applicable to:

  • Plesk for Linux

Question

  • How to restore the default permissions for the virtual host?
  • Some files and directories under the domain virtual host directory have lost their permissions. Several are owned by the apache and root users.
  • Uploading files via the File Manager or an FTP client fails:

    PLESK_ERROR: Unable to open the directory: Unable to find the directory /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/dir/: filemng failed: filemng: opendir failed: Permission denied System error 13: Permission denied

  • The backup task fails with the following message:

    PLESK_INFO: /bin/tar: httpdocs/path/to/a/file: Cannot open: Permission denied
    /bin/tar: httpdocs/path/to/a/file: Cannot stat: Permission denied

Answer

Note: solution for Plesk for Windows is available in the article #213376469.

  1. Connect to the server using SSH.

  2. Run the following commands:

    # find /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
    # find /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
    # find /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ -type f -exec chown user_example:psacln {} \;
    # find /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/ -type d -exec chown user_example:psacln {} \;

    Note: substitute example.com with the real subscription name and user_example with the system user of the subscription.

Additional information

The virtual host structure description can be found in the Virtual Host Structure page.

Here are the default permissions for Plesk 12.5 domain:

# ls -la /var/www/vhosts/example.com
total 16
drwx--x--- 4 admin123 psaserv 4096 Jan 5 13:14 .
drwxr-xr-x 13 root root 4096 Jan 5 13:14 ..
drwxr-x--- 6 admin123 psaserv 4096 Jan 5 13:14 httpdocs
drwx------ 2 admin123 root 4096 Jan 5 13:15 logs

# ls -la /var/www/vhosts/system/example.com
total 24
drwx--x--x 6 root psaserv 4096 Jan 5 13:14 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Jan 5 13:14 ..
drwxr-x--- 2 root psaserv 4096 Jan 5 13:15 conf
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jan 5 13:14 etc
drwx------ 2 psaadm root 4096 Jan 5 13:15 logs
dr-xr-x--- 6 root psaserv 4096 Jan 5 13:14 statistics

Comments

4 comments

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  • Avatar
    F L E X 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 3

     Why do some files lose their rights at all? What is or can be a reason?

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  • Avatar
    Ivan Postnikov

    @F L E X 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 3

    Hi!
    Usually, this does not occur. In case you use CentOS, consider using audit.

    Also, make sure you do not have any malware on the server.

    0
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  • Avatar
    Mario

    Hi, 

    In case of "user_example" what would you recommend? not root right?

    Also, how to avoid this happening in new installations? We by default use a custom WordPress media uploads folder, as ~/wp-uploads/ kind of sucks (sorry Matt), and this issue always pops out on custom WP folders in brand new installations.

    Thanks

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  • Avatar
    Julian Bonpland Mignaquy

    @Mario

    You can find "user_example" (system user) in Domains > example.com > System user:
    As my colleague mentioned this does not happen normally. I recommend using audit to monitor permissions changes. Also, if you create custom folders make sure they have 755 permissions.

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