Johan Martinez wrote on Wed, 4 May 2011 14:49:52 -0500:
Thanks for the suggestions Richard and Kenneth. I installed drupal here and it requires user running apache to have write access on filesystem.
Assuming you are running mod_php and safe_mode: that is probably because of PHP safe_mode. You didn't tell you were going to write to that area with drupal. That's a completely different picture then! You really have to give the complete picture.
In PHP safe_mode you can: a) have all php files and the write area owned by apache b) have all php files owned by a user and the write area writable by apache but owned by the user (*) c) have all php files owned by the user, group-owned by apache and the write -area group-owned by apache and owned by the user and use safe_mode_gid instead of safe_mode.
(*) this doesn't work if you create subdirectories because they get the wrong permissions and apache can't pass thru
I think the most-used scenario is b). You will have to do some research to see what fits your setup best. (php.net/safe_mode). Also note that safe_mode is discouraged "officially" now since it isn't 100% reliable. However, I strongly advise using it if possible as long as it is available.
Kai