Using suPHP on my web server to run Joomla

Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 15:55 Written by Joe Aldeguer Friday, 30 January 2009 22:09

Have you ever experienced some hair pulling moments working with Joomla regarding permission errors? If you answered yes, read on.

Just like you, I have had my share of frustrating problems installing extensions where it would fail to install unless I change the permissions of the document root folder. If I don't make the permission changes this is what I get instead I get the error message "Warning Failed to move file." Failed to move what, huh???

Another one, uploading an image using the built-in wysiwig editor then finding out later I can't edit the image since I no longer have ownership of the file but instead my web server has claimed ownership of the file (www-data.) This wouldn't be much of a problem if it was just my site.  I could always chown/chmod the directory to fix the issue. But when your managing multiple Joomla sites, having to listen to users bitch and complain that they can't install nor upload files is enough to make any sysadmin go postal! Fortunately, there is a more civil way to address the problem.

Well, using my most reliable IT consultant Google search, I found the solution I was looking for. This is how I got suPHP to work on a newly installed Debian Etch server. I will install suPHP using two methods the first method will be compiled from source. The second method will use Debian Etch packages. (The advantage from compiling from source you'll get newer releases. On the other hand it is easier to do updates using Debian packages.)

Disclaimer: There are no guarantees this will work for you. Created for author's personal use.

FYI: I had problems trying to make suPHP work on Debian Lenny using the setup below. I have tried other ways to make it work but all failed. If you where able to make it work on Debian Lenny I'd be happy to hear about it. I decided to use mpm-itk to achieve the same results on Debian Lenny using this how-to.

After completing the Debian Etch install I will proceed to install Virtualmin using the install script. Then I'll install some needed software before installing suPHP thereafter.

Note: Words in italics will be typed at shell prompt. The following module is not installed and shouldn't be libapache2-mod-php5.