Set up the Magento file system owner

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Enable SSH keys

This step is optional if you installed nginx as your web server. The Magento file system owner provides root access and permissions, for security reasons on a hosted system. Apache installations require

To enable the web server (Apache) to write files and directories in the Magento file system but to also maintain ownership by the Magento file system owner, both users must be in the same group. This is necessary so both users can share access to Magento files, including files created using the Magento Admin or other web-based utilities.

You need to create a new Magento file system owner and put that user in the web server’s group. If you use an existing user account, we recommend the user account has a strong password for security reasons.

Create the Magento file system owner

Create the Magento file system owner with a strong password. Magento file system owner is another term for the command-line user.

To create the Magento file system owner, enter the following command as a user with root privileges:

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adduser <username>

To give the user a password, enter the following command as a user with root privileges:

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passwd <username>

Follow the prompts on your screen to create a password for the user.

If you do not have root privileges on your Magento server, you can use another local user account. Confirm that the user has a strong password and continue with Put the Magento file system owner in the web server group.

For example, to create a user named magento_user and give the user a password, enter:

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sudo adduser magento_user

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sudo passwd magento_user

Because the point of creating this user is to provide added security, it is essential that you create a strong password.

Find the web server user’s group

To find the web server user’s group:

• CentOS:

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  grep -E -i '^user|^group' /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
  

  or

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  grep -Ei '^user|^group' /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf
  

  Typically, the user and group name are both apache

• Ubuntu: ps aux | grep apache to find the apache user, then groups <apache user> to find the group

  Typically, the username and the group name are both www-data

Put the Magento file system owner in the web server’s primary group

Assuming the typical Apache group name for CentOS and Ubuntu, enter the following command as a user with root privileges:

• CentOS: usermod -g apache <username>
• Ubuntu: usermod -g www-data <username>

For example, to add the user magento_user to the apache primary group on CentOS:

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usermod -g apache magento_user

To confirm your Magento user is a member of the web server group, enter the following command:

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groups <username>

A sample result follows:

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magento_user : apache

To complete the task, restart the web server:

• Ubuntu: service apache2 restart
• CentOS: service httpd restart

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