The folder exists but the webserver doesn't have the permissions

  • Resolved SW111

    (@sw111)


    10 years, 7 months ago

    Hello, I want to create a backup of everything in Updraft Plus before upgrading to WP 3.9. I’m using Updraft Plus 1.9.5. It can find the file on the FTP or the folder in Dropbox, I tried both. However it can’t write to them.

    It will authenticate with Dropbox successfully but when returning to the settings in WordPress the Restore button is not clickable and there’s a still this message:

    “Backup directory specified exists, but is not writable. Click here to attempt to create the directory and set the permissions, or, to reset this option click here. If that is unsuccessful check the permissions on your server or change it to another directory that is writable by your web server process. This is where UpdraftPlus will write the zip files it creates initially. This directory must be writable by your web server. It is relative to your content directory (which by default is called wp-content). Do not place it inside your uploads or plugins directory, as that will cause recursion (backups of backups of backups of…). “

    So when I “Click Here…” with Dropbox as the selected backup method, it goes to the authentication page again… then back to this message above without letting me restore.

    With FTP enabled, it will test the FTP connection successfully then not be able to do the backup, giving this message when clicking the “Click Here” link above:

    “The folder exists, but your webserver does not have permission to write to it. You will need to consult with your web hosting provider to find out to set permissions for a WordPress plugin to write to the directory.”

    So I called the hosting provider, and they enabled permissions and said it should work now, but it still does not, giving me the error messages above instead.

    Can you tell me what permissions need to be enabled – I realize you (the plugin author) said hosting providers differ in setups but if you have seen this message before and solved it successfully, I’d appreciate a reply that tells me what permissions to enable.

    Thank you for your help!

    https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/updraftplus/

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Plugin Author David Anderson

    (@davidanderson)

    Hi,

    You need to tell your web hosting provider that their attempts to make it writeable failed. Only they can know what exact permissions they will need to set, but they will know that unless they can’t be bothered!

    David

    Thread Starter SW111

    (@sw111)

    Thanks for the reply but actually the hosting company suggested sending a message to the plugin author.

    Plugin Author David Anderson

    (@davidanderson)

    Hi,

    The check in UpdraftPlus for a writable directory does one thing, and one thing only… it tries to write to it. Check out the function really_is_writable() in https://plugins.svn.www.ads-software.com/updraftplus/trunk/updraftplus.php . If it says it’s not writeable, then it really isn’t.

    David

    Plugin Author David Anderson

    (@davidanderson)

    P.S. If your hosting company really don’t know how to make their own directories writeable, then you could also go into the ‘expert settings’ in UpdraftPlus on the settings page, and try changing the configured directory from “updraft” to “uploads/updraft”. That *might* work instead (the uploads directory in WordPress probably is already writeable).

    David

    Thread Starter SW111

    (@sw111)

    I realize you’re taking valuable time to send these answers and I appreciate it very much. Your instructions in WordPress caution against uploading to the Uploads folder – so creating a separate folder within that directory won’t cause the problem of endless uploads?

    Plugin Author David Anderson

    (@davidanderson)

    Oh yes – I’d completely forgotten that aspect.

    All I can suggest is trying it. I have never tried it, and the warning *might* be out-of-date… there *is* some code to try to exclude the Updraft internal directory from backups. Actually, if you add “updraft” to the list of directories to be excluded from the uploads, then this should make doubly-sure. (The potential to exclude from the uploads didn’t exist at the time the warning was written).

    Do let me know if it works!

    David

    Thread Starter SW111

    (@sw111)

    Thanks again, David – spoke with the hosting company again before taking your last suggestion, because I found another problem with permissions, this time not being able to upload images. They think the two problems are related and are having someone else look into it (escalated). I think this time they’ll be able to fix it. I will update to let you know.

    Thanks again

    pinktank

    (@pinktank)

    chmod 770 updraft should fix it and be safe, if you have ssh access, you can change the group to web, and set the updraft.php in the plugin folder to be 644 and web also

    Plugin Author David Anderson

    (@davidanderson)

    Hi pinktank,

    Thanks for trying to help SW111 – just to note, though,that whether 770 is safe or not depends upon the specifics of the web hosting setup. I assume, though, as this thread was 6 months ago, that SW111 either fixed the issue or moved on by now!

    David

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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