How gain access to DocumentRoot contents of Apache-httpd through a Web browser which is set to point to the Home folder of the User?

[Bryn M. Reeves]

On 04/14/2011 10:39 AM, Varuna Seneviratna wrote:
> When I try to Access the DocumentRoot which is /home/<User
> Name>/public_html by typing http://localhost I get a 403 Forbidden
> Page.What should I do gain Access to DocumentRoot Contents?

If you're getting a 403 then something is denying the web server access to those
paths. If you have set the directory permissions correctly (iirc you need other
execute on the home directory (search permission) and other read/execute on the
public_html directory and its subdirectories) the you may need to set up SELinux
contexts for the directory if you have it enabled on your system.

I normally do this by using a reference from /var/www/html since it is installed
with the correct context for httpd content:

chcon -R --reference=/var/www/html public_html/

The modes I use on the directories are normally 0711 (u=rwx,g=x,o=x) for ~/ and
0755 (u=rwx,g=rx,o=rx) for public_html. You should review these to make sure
that they give the correct level of access for your use.

There are also a few threads on this topic on the fedora forums and elsewhere if
you search around.

You may also want to check your httpd configuration and the URL - if you're
using the mod_userdir module for enabling public_html access the URL is usually
http://host/~username (if you've just set the global DocumentRoot to
/home/user/public_html though then the URL you quoted is correct).

Regards,
Bryn.