totaly lost!!

i am totaly lost, i am running Apache-AdvancedExtranetServer/2.0.44 (Mandrake Linux/11mdk) mod_perl/1.99_08 Perl/v5.8.0 mod_ssl/2.0.44 OpenSSL/0.9.7a PHP/4.3.1

i've never used Apache nor linux before so the answer is probly very simple, but were and how do i put my .html files so that they can be viewed on the internet ----- http://zimzim321.serveftp.net/
http://zimzim321.serveftp.net/

i found a folder under root/var/www/html/ that has the default message but i keep getting a message that i don't have permession to change the folder.

i would really appreate any help. i know that this is probly a really simple problem and i am just a dumass but plz help!

Chances are that the folder is owned by the user "nobody" and the group "nobody." If you're logged in as yourself and don't have the appropriate permissions on this folder, you can't change it. Try opening up a terminal and logging in as root. Then try to create/change a file (type 'echo "test" > test.html'). If it works, then you've got a permissions error and should issue the following commands in the terminal window (as root):

cd /var/www/html
chgrp -R <your_username> .
chmod -R ug+w .

Assuming your user was created with your username as your group, this should give you write privileges on the folder and everything in it.

My approach is similar... Normally what I do for managing website permissions under Unix bases systems is the following:

1 - Create an admin user (because there is usually no reason to be logged in as root)

2 - I normally create a link to the root html document directory... in your case this would be:

ln -s /www /var/www/html

So now you can access /www instead of /var/www/html

3 - Find out the name of the apache user... normally www, web, or nobody. For this example we will use 'www'.

3 - I make sure /var/www/html and the files within are owned by the admin user... lets call the admin user 'webadmin' just for clarity here, but it could be named anything.

chown -R webadmin:www /var/www/html

4 - Now, for routine tasks like adding new files to the /var/www/html tree, you want to do this using a normal user account that you login with. Lets say your user account name is user1

In /etc/group find the line that shows the www group. It will look something like this:

www:*:80:

Add your username to the end... It will look like:

www:*:80:user1

You can add more users to the www group by appending a comma and the additional name to the end of the line.

The sweet thing about this method is that now you can administer the site as a normal user... this works when you login by FTP or if you shell in.

Also, you don't have to change permissions after creating files as permissions are already set for the group.