Restoring file permissions
One other rather odd problem was that some file permissions copied from the old server to the new server, while others didn’t. I can’t explain this. I just sucked it up and set the permissions back as I found they were broken.
This was a persistent problem over the course of a few weeks on the new server — though fortunately it wasn’t a big deal since none of the sites I host allow visitors to upload data, thus it only became a problem when other bloggers were uploading files to their WordPress installations, for example. Since there were a few common types of directories and permission problems, it was relatively easy to find the common permission errors. For example, I connected by SSH as root and CD’d to each WordPress installation, then ran this command:
chmod 777 ./wp-content/ -R
This set the wp-content folder and all its subfolders as writable, enabling file uploads and theme editing.
But also, for one reason or another, occasionally while I was logged in as root, I would take ownership of files inside client folders. This is easily fixed by running this command:
chown clientname /var/www/vhosts/ineedattention.com/httpdocs/ -R
chgrp psacln /var/www/vhosts/ineedattention.com/httpdocs/ -R
Change the domain name, and if necessary, httpdocs to httpsdocs, or alternately, use the path of any subdomains or web_users folders used by Plesk.
If you know a good automated way to transfer file permissions from the old server to the new server, please share below!
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Pete // Mar 4, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I am facing this exact problem right now. Upgrading to Fedora Core 7 on a Virtual Go Daddy Server. I know nothing about this stuff at all and I’m thinking I should just forget it. I cannot have things screwed up for 3 months, or even 3 days. I just became aware of the Fedora change option and I do not want to do it. I will stick with the old Fedora 4 thank you very much. I have spent too much time manually finding and changing the “PHP ON” areas of the server code and that was beyond a nightmare. As for starting over with a new server and migrating…. I can’t remember all the stuff I have to migrate. There must be a better way, and why must we change the operating system in the first place?
Terminal codes, shell codes, FTP codes… what’s a regular person to do? Go Daddy should offer a per incident support fee for BIG trouble items like this, not leave us all hanging like Chads in the wind. I give them a 0/10 for this fiasco!
2 Time to ditch GoDaddy? // Mar 12, 2008 at 10:34 pm
[…] a GoDaddy VPS customer, and amateur tutorial author and reviewer, this upset me, so I wrote a note on GoDaddy’s public relations feedback […]
3 DrewryNewsNetwork // Oct 26, 2010 at 10:55 am
Hopefully, everything you said will help me upgrade my server, in making php & mysql 5 work on the VPS!
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