Fixing 403 Forbidden on alias directory with Apache

Question

I am trying to setup an alias to point to some directory on my filesystem not in DocumentRoot. Now I get a 403 Forbidden response. These are the steps taken: 1. edit http.co

Answer 1

After lots of time waste i fixed the issue and i wanted to share to save your time.

All the gentelmen above and on other posts has some correct parts in their answers but below is the sum

In your "/etc/apache2/httpd.conf" file:

1- change your document root

Original: DocumentRoot "/Library/WebServer/Documents"
Change to: DocumentRoot "/Users/yourname/www"

2- change

Original:

<Directory />
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride None
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
</Directory>

Change to:

<Directory /Users/yourname/www>
    Options FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI
    AllowOverride None
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
</Directory>

3- Change:

Original:

<Directory "/Library/WebServer/Documents">

Change to:

<Directory "/Users/yourname/www">

4- Finally, you might not need this step if you are the supper user, this is to set the right permition on your new root folder

chmod 755 /Users/yourname/www

Hope this will help

Answer 2

Here's what fixed it for me:

in /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

<Directory />
    Options FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride None

    # REMOVE THESE LINES
    #Order deny,allow
    #Deny from all

    # ADD THIS LINE
    Require all denied
</Directory>

This change implements changes made in the apache update from 2.2 to 2.4. The OSX Yosemite update brought the apache update with it (PSA: if you're planning on upgrading to Yosemite, budget yourself a week to fix everything it breaks).

The weird thing is that I already got apache 2.4 working, and suddenly it breaks again....

PSA: if you're planning on upgrading to Yosemite, budget yourself a week to fix everything it breaks

Answer 3

I had to revert my apache config file and then set up the server again. found this useful: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/41143/how-to-revert-default-mac-apache-install-to-original

Answer 4

I was just having this exact same issue. What I found was SE_Linux was enabled, and the security context of the files in my Aliased directory was incorrect, missing httpd_sys_content_t.

You can view the security context with ls -Z. If your files/folders don't have httpd_sys_content_t then apache won't server them up! You can add the proper context with something like chcon -R --type=httpd_sys_content_t /new_html_directory. This will change the context of the files currently in the directory, but not any files that are added afterwards (for that you'll need to work with semanage). Your other option is to just leave the files under /var/www.

Answer 5

It certainly does look right, do a sanity check.

• you restarted apache

• check group and user ownership

• I think the quotes can be removed

• there is something in /Users/user/Documents/example ?

• try 777

-sean