On a fresh CVS checkout from head I run the installer.
First I get this message:
"The following error must be resolved before you can continue the installation process:
The Drupal installer requires write permissions to ./sites/default during the installation process."

I chmod 777 the default directory and continue.

1) Choose profile. English:
2) Verify requirements:
3) Setup database:
After this is completed I get a message that Drupal has finished changing the default directory, and permissions can be restored. I chmod 644 the default directory and continue with:
4) Configure site
When submitting this page i get the warning :

"The following error must be resolved before you can continue the installation process:
The Drupal installer requires write permissions to ./sites/default during the installation process."

again, and have to re-chmod the directory to allow write access again.
When it completes successfully after refreshing the page, I no longer get the message asking me to write-protect the default folder.

It might be good to add basic instructions on how to change the write permissions with the error messages too.

Comments

richardb’s picture

richardb commented

Also, when continuing by clicking the link to administer Drupal, it takes me back to the first "Choose language" install screen.
The emails are sent out ok, but clicking on the one-time login links simply go to the "Choose language" page.
After choosing English I get:
"Drupal already installed"
After this I was able to log in to the site normally using the one-time login from the email.

richardb’s picture

richardb commented

Ok, the problem seems to be the chmod 644 of the default folder.
If I chmod it 755 everything works ok, when it it 777 it errors about having write access, and when it is 644 it just goes back to the first install screen.

Maybe the recommended chmod settings can be added to the onscreen install error messages?

catch’s picture

catch
he/him
Primary language English
commented
Status: Active » Postponed (maintainer needs more info)

The installer's had a lot of changes, is this still an issue?

reboottees’s picture

reboottees commented
Title: Ok to restore write permissions text shown to early. » write permissions to ../settings.php
Version: 6.x-dev » 5.3

I am a newbie and this is my first post. I am trying to install Drupal 5.3 and I am unsuccessful with the message:

"Drupal database setup
The following error must be resolved before you can continue the installation process:
The Drupal installer requires write permissions to ./sites/default/settings.php during the installation process."

I have no idea what to do next. I believe that I have uploaded all the files correctly to the remote server (assuming that htaccess is there...how do you know?)
and settings.php looks to be there...
host says Drupal is fine to install...
Any help would be great.
I am looking forward to learning Drupal....gulp!
thx!!

catch’s picture

catch
he/him
Primary language English
commented
Version: 5.3 » 6.x-dev

You've stepped into the wrong place for this issue, but anyway:

In your ftp client, you need to set the file permissions to 777 or similar. Don't forget to change them back when you've successfully installed. Hope that helps.

reboottees’s picture

reboottees commented

Thank you for responding!!
Sorry I have steppedinto the wrong place- thread seems very similar to my installation problem
I have no idea about file permissions or 777 but i will research it. (I use Dreamweaver to ftp upload, sometimes fetch)
Thank you again for responding.

maki124’s picture

maki124 commented

Hi, I can confirm that this is still an isse with rc1.

Here's what happens with different permissions applied to sites/default:

- chmod 777 - the admin pages load, but the Configuration file is not protected warning comes up, and is a security risk
- chmod 755 - everything is good
- chmod 644, chmod 666, chmod 444 - only ./install.php loads even though the site is installed.

Logically, since the warning says:

The directory sites/default is not protected from modifications and poses a security risk. You must change the directory's permissions to be non-writable.

644 or 444 should be ok but it doesn't seem to be. If 755 is required, then the warning should specify so I think. Just returning the installer to install.php is rather confusing.

REDHOTCHILIPEPPERS’s picture

REDHOTCHILIPEPPERS commented
Status: Closed (fixed) » Fixed
Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous (not verified) commented
Assigned: Unassigned » REDHOTCHILIPEPPERS
Status: Postponed (maintainer needs more info) » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for two weeks with no activity.

sbutzel’s picture

sbutzel commented
Status: Closed (fixed) » Active

Now that the install is complete, I need to act according to this: "The directory sites/default is not protected from modifications and poses a security risk. You must change the directory's permissions to be non-writable." I've tried doing this but did not succeed. What CHMOD number should the sites/default directory be to be considered non-writable?

Thanks,
Steve

gpk’s picture

gpk commented
Status: Active » Closed (fixed)

Try 755 or 555.

If you have any further support questions then pls open a new issue http://drupal.org/node/add/project-issue/drupal/support :)

Status: Fixed » Closed (fixed)

Automatically closed - issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.