CentOS - Jun 2008 - Forbidden: You don't have permission to access /phpMyAdmin/ on this server.

Environment:
- CentOS 5.1,
- Apache 2.2.3
- php 5.1.6
- phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
- MySQL 5.0.22

Brand new system, brand new installation of all the above products.
All looks well, but when I try to connect to phpMyAdmin, I get an
error:  "Forbidden: You don't have permission to access /phpMyAdmin/
on this server".

I'll forgo all the paths I followed trying to get this to work and cut
to the "solution":  I renamed the phpMyAdmin directory to pma, copied
all files in the pma directory to a new phpMyAdmin  (FWIIW, using 'cp
-pr'),  and voil?, problem vanished.  (I cannot explain why I even
tried that.)

My first idea was that maybe the copy somehow resolved some issue at
the directory level, but when I output an 'ls -laR' of the two
directories to two files, 'diff' shows both files to be identical
(apart from the timestamps on . and .. directories).  The pma and
phpMyAdmin directories reside in the same documentroot, have the same
ownership, and the same permissions.

This must be about the weirdest experience in my professional career.
If anyone can shed a light on this, it'd be most welcome.  I still
have the original (malfunctioning) directory on the system to bounce
ideas off if anyone has any inspiration (system will go live this
weekend).

Kind regards,

Herta
-- 
"Life on Earth may be expensive,
 but it comes with a free ride around the Sun."

On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 at 7:32pm, Herta Van den Eynde wrote
> Environment:
> - CentOS 5.1,
> - Apache 2.2.3
> - php 5.1.6
> - phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
> - MySQL 5.0.22
>
> Brand new system, brand new installation of all the above products.
> All looks well, but when I try to connect to phpMyAdmin, I get an
> error:  "Forbidden: You don't have permission to access
/phpMyAdmin/
> on this server".
>
> I'll forgo all the paths I followed trying to get this to work and cut
> to the "solution":  I renamed the phpMyAdmin directory to pma,
copied
> all files in the pma directory to a new phpMyAdmin  (FWIIW, using 'cp
> -pr'),  and voil?, problem vanished.  (I cannot explain why I even
> tried that.)
>
> My first idea was that maybe the copy somehow resolved some issue at
> the directory level, but when I output an 'ls -laR' of the two
> directories to two files, 'diff' shows both files to be identical
> (apart from the timestamps on . and .. directories).  The pma and
> phpMyAdmin directories reside in the same documentroot, have the same
> ownership, and the same permissions.
>
> This must be about the weirdest experience in my professional career.
> If anyone can shed a light on this, it'd be most welcome.  I still
> have the original (malfunctioning) directory on the system to bounce
> ideas off if anyone has any inspiration (system will go live this
> weekend).
2 things spring to mind:

1) httpd config with directory based allow/deny

2) selinux

-- 
Joshua Baker-LePain
QB3 Shared Cluster Sysadmin
UCSF

--- On Wed, 6/18/08, Herta Van den Eynde <herta.vandeneynde at gmail.com>
wrote:
> From: Herta Van den Eynde <herta.vandeneynde at gmail.com>
> Subject: [CentOS] Forbidden: You don't have permission to access
/phpMyAdmin/ on this server.
> To: centos at centos.org
> Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 10:32 AM
> Environment:
> - CentOS 5.1,
> - Apache 2.2.3
> - php 5.1.6
> - phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
> - MySQL 5.0.22
> 
> Brand new system, brand new installation of all the above
> products.
> All looks well, but when I try to connect to phpMyAdmin, I
> get an
> error:  "Forbidden: You don't have permission to
> access /phpMyAdmin/
> on this server".
> 
> I'll forgo all the paths I followed trying to get this
> to work and cut
> to the "solution":  I renamed the phpMyAdmin
> directory to pma, copied
> all files in the pma directory to a new phpMyAdmin  
Make the small Config file below. Notice that the folder is
now above your web root (/var/www/html/)

http://localhost/pma   -- will navigate to the new install

------------ /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf -----------

Alias /pma "/var/www/phpMyAdmin"

<directory /var/www/phpMyAdmin>
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
Options all
Options +includes
</directory>
---------------- end snip -------------

-- 
Mark
http://www.tlviewer.org/centos/   (my repo with rt3 included)

on 6-18-2008 10:32 AM Herta Van den Eynde spake the
following:
> Environment:
> - CentOS 5.1,
> - Apache 2.2.3
> - php 5.1.6
> - phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
> - MySQL 5.0.22
> 
> Brand new system, brand new installation of all the above products.
> All looks well, but when I try to connect to phpMyAdmin, I get an
> error:  "Forbidden: You don't have permission to access
/phpMyAdmin/
> on this server".
> 
> I'll forgo all the paths I followed trying to get this to work and cut
> to the "solution":  I renamed the phpMyAdmin directory to pma,
copied
> all files in the pma directory to a new phpMyAdmin  (FWIIW, using 'cp
> -pr'),  and voil?, problem vanished.  (I cannot explain why I even
> tried that.)
> 
> My first idea was that maybe the copy somehow resolved some issue at
> the directory level, but when I output an 'ls -laR' of the two
> directories to two files, 'diff' shows both files to be identical
> (apart from the timestamps on . and .. directories).  The pma and
> phpMyAdmin directories reside in the same documentroot, have the same
> ownership, and the same permissions.
> 
> This must be about the weirdest experience in my professional career.
> If anyone can shed a light on this, it'd be most welcome.  I still
> have the original (malfunctioning) directory on the system to bounce
> ideas off if anyone has any inspiration (system will go live this
> weekend).
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Herta
Just a side note, but "pma" is one of the directories the script
kiddies
hammer on my servers regularly. You had better hide it better than that, or 
make sure it isn't accessible from the "world".

-- 
MailScanner is like deodorant...
You hope everybody uses it, and
you notice quickly if they don't!!!!

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what does your /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpmyadmin.conf
look like?  By default, it has a Allow 127.0.0.1 in it.

Scott Silva wrote:
| on 6-18-2008 10:32 AM Herta Van den Eynde spake the following:
|> Environment:
|> - CentOS 5.1,
|> - Apache 2.2.3
|> - php 5.1.6
|> - phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
|> - MySQL 5.0.22
|>
|> Brand new system, brand new installation of all the above products.
|> All looks well, but when I try to connect to phpMyAdmin, I get an
|> error:  "Forbidden: You don't have permission to access
/phpMyAdmin/
|> on this server".
|>
|> I'll forgo all the paths I followed trying to get this to work
and cut
|> to the "solution":  I renamed the phpMyAdmin directory to pma,
copied
|> all files in the pma directory to a new phpMyAdmin  (FWIIW, using 'cp
|> -pr'),  and voil?, problem vanished.  (I cannot explain why I even
|> tried that.)
|>
|> My first idea was that maybe the copy somehow resolved some issue at
|> the directory level, but when I output an 'ls -laR' of the two
|> directories to two files, 'diff' shows both files to be identical
|> (apart from the timestamps on . and .. directories).  The pma and
|> phpMyAdmin directories reside in the same documentroot, have the same
|> ownership, and the same permissions.
|>
|> This must be about the weirdest experience in my professional career.
|> If anyone can shed a light on this, it'd be most welcome.  I still
|> have the original (malfunctioning) directory on the system to bounce
|> ideas off if anyone has any inspiration (system will go live this
|> weekend).
|>
|> Kind regards,
|>
|> Herta
| Just a side note, but "pma" is one of the directories the script
kiddies
| hammer on my servers regularly. You had better hide it better than
that,
| or make sure it isn't accessible from the "world".
|
|
|
- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| _______________________________________________
| CentOS mailing list
| CentOS at centos.org
| http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos

- --
Milton Calnek BSc, A/Slt(Ret.)
milton at calnek.com
306-717-8737

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2008/6/18 Scott Silva <ssilva at sgvwater.com>:
> on 6-18-2008 10:32 AM Herta Van den Eynde spake the following:
>>
>> Environment:
>> - CentOS 5.1,
>> - Apache 2.2.3
>> - php 5.1.6
>> - phpMyAdmin 2.11.6
>> - MySQL 5.0.22
>>
>> Brand new system, brand new installation of all the above products.
>> All looks well, but when I try to connect to phpMyAdmin, I get an
>> error:  "Forbidden: You don't have permission to access
/phpMyAdmin/
>> on this server".
>>
>> I'll forgo all the paths I followed trying to get this to work and
cut
>> to the "solution":  I renamed the phpMyAdmin directory to
pma, copied
>> all files in the pma directory to a new phpMyAdmin  (FWIIW, using
'cp
>> -pr'),  and voil?, problem vanished.  (I cannot explain why I even
>> tried that.)
>>
>> My first idea was that maybe the copy somehow resolved some issue at
>> the directory level, but when I output an 'ls -laR' of the two
>> directories to two files, 'diff' shows both files to be
identical
>> (apart from the timestamps on . and .. directories).  The pma and
>> phpMyAdmin directories reside in the same documentroot, have the same
>> ownership, and the same permissions.
>>
>> This must be about the weirdest experience in my professional career.
>> If anyone can shed a light on this, it'd be most welcome.  I still
>> have the original (malfunctioning) directory on the system to bounce
>> ideas off if anyone has any inspiration (system will go live this
>> weekend).
>>
>> Kind regards,
>>
>> Herta
>
> Just a side note, but "pma" is one of the directories the script
kiddies
> hammer on my servers regularly. You had better hide it better than that, or
> make sure it isn't accessible from the "world".
>
> --
> MailScanner is like deodorant...
> You hope everybody uses it, and
> you notice quickly if they don't!!!!
>
Thanks for the tip, Scott.  I'll rename it again.

Kind regards,

Herta