Howto manage website and user permissions with apache on Mac os X

Question

I have lots of different websites in a Development directory in my home dir.

While developing, files get saved under my username but websites configured under apache it's permission need to be set as _www user and group.

What's the best way to handle this?

• Do I run apache under a different user/group?
• Do I run my development tools under a different user?
• Do add myself to the _www group? (seems like it doesn't work btw)

I've just switched to a mac and I'm trying to find a smooth development workflow, so it would be best if i could just run the necessary tools, save some files and be able to test the website without much hassle.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Who actually owns the files isn't important.

You just need to make sure that Apache's user/group have sufficient (most likely just read) permissions. If you allow all users to read your web site data, it should work.

Use the Get Info dialog of the Sites directory to change permissions for Everyone. You also need to make sure Everyone has Execute permissions for your home directory (so they can enter, but not list). Also, Sites in your home directory might not work with FileVault (at least in my experience).