How to copy files to /var/www on Linux?

Question

I'm trying to copy files to the /var/www folder on Ubuntu 10.04. But I think I don't have the permissions.

How can I do this? Maybe I have to set the rights permissions. I dont know.

Answer 1

Since /var/www is not owned by your user, you need sudo privileges to do so. From a terminal, you could run:

sudo cp file_you_want_to_copy /var/www

Answer 2

You're missing the basics. Take a look here: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/getting-started-guide/s1-navigating-ownership.html

Now if you don't want to read everything: If you regularly need to edit files in /var/www, you should consider changing the owner/group and permissions on that directory.

If your username is 'user', try this:

sudo chown user /var/www

OR:

sudo chgrp user /var/www
sudo chmod 775 /var/www

Now you can copy a file with: cp file /var/www/

If you just want to copy 1 file without messing with permissions, use:

sudo cp file /var/www/

Answer 3

Messing with /var/www directly when you don't have to is such a bad pitfall.

If you have apache, learn about user directories, have a public_html in your home directory and be happy. Web hosting providers are doing this for years.

Answer 4

Try using

gksudo nautilus

in the terminal, then navigate to /var/www and you can create, copy or delete files.