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Trying to edit settings.php via Cpanel File Manager

I can CHMOD the file to anything I want and back but can't write to it.

I get the following message:

Could not write /home/testing/public_html/sites/default/settings.php: Permission denied

Do you think Apache suEXEC has anything to do with this?

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6
  • This is server side issue not Drupal related. You need to check permission for sites, default and settings.php file.
    – Jayendra Kainthola
    Nov 18, 2013 at 4:59
  • 1
    settings.php is write-protected. You can change the permissions to make it writable, but Drupal will change it back on the first page load, and set it write-protected again. So you should make any change in the settings.php without visiting your site after changing the permissions.
    – Елин Й.
    Nov 18, 2013 at 5:38
  • sites/default folder permission setting is 555, is that correct? What should it be?
    – Shane Houston
    Nov 18, 2013 at 6:02
  • @ShaneHouston ask your sysadmin. Webserver that runs Drupal must be able to enter it and all it's subfolders, read everything there, and write & delete in files subfolder. How to set that up depends on your server's configuration.
    – Mołot
    Nov 18, 2013 at 8:58
  • sites/defualt permission should be 755
    – Mohammed Shameem
    Nov 18, 2013 at 9:42

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
13

As others have mentioned, you must set the permissions on the /sites/default folder. The default permissions are set to 0555, set them to 0755 for editing. Don't forget to restore the default values afterwards!

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1
  • Thanks, I had to set permission 755 on sites folder first, then the default and finally on the files in it in order to be able to delete it all.
    – Lumis
    Nov 19, 2014 at 23:07
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I will recommend to download the file on your local system if you can. Right click on the settings.php file and select Properties from the list. Uncheck the Read-only from Attributes. Click apply button and click OK. Make changes and upload the file back to the server.

NOTE: After editing the file Check the Read-only attribute before uploading.

enter image description here

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1
  • Works. Remember that Drupal add Read-only back again as soon as Drupal is refreshed.
    – Jonas Lundman
    Mar 22, 2022 at 9:16
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You can edit the permissions of the folder it self. The folder "default" set to 0555, set them to 0755 for editing. Don't forget to restore the default values afterwards!

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0

To prevent this issue in the future, add the following line to your settings.php file:

$settings['skip_permissions_hardening'] = TRUE;

This will prevent Drupal from re-enabling the read-only status of the /sites/default directory and the settings.php within. Drupal will no longer configure the permissions itself.

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