Provisioning with Apache + VBox default = 403 error

[khromov]

When using Apache as the web server with "VBox default" synced folder , it breaks when you try to access http:// :

A 403 error is displayed. The following error is logged in /etc/apache2/error.log:

[Fri Nov 20 17:36:17.368514 2015] [core:crit] [pid 28666] (13)Permission denied: [client 192.168.66.1:60239] AH00529: /vagrant/.htaccess pcfg_openfile: unable to check htaccess file, ensure it is readable and that '/vagrant/' is executable

Probably related to pemissions of the vagrant folder, since vagrant:vagrant owns the folder and Apache is run under www-data:www-data

[khromov]

Just got bitten by this again on a new machine.

The permissions for the /vagrant folder is:
drwx------ 1 vagrant vagrant 272 Dec 21 13:39 vagrant

Apache runs under www-data, so you'll get a 403 error by default when navigating to your vagrant IP or the hostname you picked. Not a great out-of-the-box experience.

This can be worked around by simply making sure the shared folder files are owned by www-data, like so:
config.vm.synced_folder "./", "/vagrant", owner: "www-data", group: "www-data"

I haven't done testing on alternative file systems or Nginx, but the line above should work for any standards-compliant shared folder implementation.

Could someone please review this? @naxhh

[naxhh]

ping @phansible/core-dev

I'm curious why you have this issue since was not reported by anyone else yet.
What is your OS, vagrant version and all that stuff.

I'll try to quick check this at home today.

[khromov]

@naxhh

Virtualbox 4.3.34, OSX 10.10.5, Vagrant 1.6.5

It's unlikely this behaviour changes between VBox / OS versions. It feels more likely that few people have used the combo:

• VBox Default Synced folder type
• Apache web server

If you try to provision a box with those settings, I'm confident the issue will emerge.

Edit: Added Vagrant version

[debo]

@naxhh I'm honest, I'm not using apache since long time and I also generally use NFS sharing instead of vbox share. I'm going to run some test and see if I can replicate. /cc @khromov

[debo]

I didn't run any test yet but now that I read the various comments again it reminds me that yes, when you do use NFS share permissions are resolved automatically by vagrant which tries to match host and guest uuid but I'm quite sure that doesn't happen with synced folders. I'm still curious to know why an OSX user doesn't use NFS though... looking at @khromov ;)