Apache giving 403 forbidden errors
Check that :
- Apache can physically access the file (the user that run apache, probably www-data or apache, can access the file in the filesystem)
- Apache can list the content of the folder (read permission)
- Apache has a "Allow" directive for that folder. There should be one for /var/www/, you can check default vhost for example.
Additionally, you can look at the error.log file (usually located at /var/log/apache2/error.log
) which will describe why you get the 403 error exactly.
Finally, you may want to restart apache, just to be sure all that configuration is applied.This can be generally done with /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
. On some system, the script will be called httpd. Just figure out.
I just fixed this issue after struggling for a few days. Here's what worked for me:
First, check your Apache error_log
file and look at the most recent error message.
If it says something like:
access to /mySite denied (filesystem path'/Users/myusername/Sites/mySite') because search permissionsare missing on a component of the path
then there is a problem with your file permissions. You can fix them by running these commands from the terminal:
$ cd /Users/myusername/Sites/mySite$ find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;$ find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
Then, refresh the URL where your website should be (such as
http://localhost/mySite
).If you're still getting a 403 error, and if your Apacheerror_log
still says the same thing, then progressively move up your directory tree, adjusting the directory permissions as you go. You can do this from the terminal by:$ cd ..$ chmod 755 mySite
If necessary, continue with:
$ cd ..$ chmod Sites
and, if necessary,
$ cd ..$ chmod myusername
DO NOT go up farther than that. You could royally mess up your system.If you still get the error that says
search permissions are missing on a component of the path
, I don't know what you should do. However, I encountered a different error (the one below) which I fixed as follows:If your
error_log
says something like:client denied by server configuration:/Users/myusername/Sites/mySite
then your problem is not with your file permissions, but instead with your Apache configuration.
Notice that in your
httpd.conf
file, you will see a default configuration like this (Apache 2.4+):<Directory /> AllowOverride none Require all denied</Directory>
or like this (Apache 2.2):
<Directory /> Order deny,allow Deny from all</Directory>
DO NOT change this! We will not override these permissions globally, but instead in your
httpd-vhosts.conf
file.First, however, make sure that your vhostInclude
line inhttpd.conf
is uncommented. It should look like this. (Your exact path may be different.)# Virtual hostsInclude etc/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
Now, open the
httpd-vhosts.conf
file that you justInclude
d. Add an entry for your webpage if you don't already have one. It should look something like this. TheDocumentRoot
andDirectory
paths should be identical, and should point to wherever yourindex.html
orindex.php
file is located. For me, that's within thepublic
subdirectory.For Apache 2.2:
<VirtualHost *:80># ServerAdmin webmaster@dummy-host2.example.com DocumentRoot "/Users/myusername/Sites/mySite/public" ServerName mysite# ErrorLog "logs/dummy-host2.example.com-error_log"# CustomLog "logs/dummy-host2.example.com-access_log" common <Directory "/Users/myusername/Sites/mySite/public"> Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI AllowOverride All Order allow,deny Allow from all Require all granted </Directory></VirtualHost>
The lines saying
AllowOverride AllRequire all granted
are critical for Apache 2.4+. Without these, you will not be overriding the default Apache settings specified in
httpd.conf
. Note that if you are using Apache 2.2, these lines should instead sayOrder allow,denyAllow from all
This change has been a major source of confusion for googlers of this problem, such as I, because copy-pasting these Apache 2.2 lines will not work in Apache 2.4+, and the Apache 2.2 lines are still commonly found on older help threads.
Once you have saved your changes, restart Apache. The command for this will depend on your OS and installation, so google that separately if you need help with it.
I hope this helps someone else!
PS: If you are having trouble finding these .conf
files, try running the find
command, such as:
$ find / -name httpd.conf