Installation check for tmp folder

[robocoder]

Brain dump. This is a recurring pain point.

Piwik's Installation system check advises users to "chmod a+w {$dir}". In the forums, the "recommendation" is often to "chmod 777 tmp". These are oversimplifications and generally, bad advice without knowing what the user's environment is (e.g., dedicated vs shared hosting).

My thought is that the installer would check the process id and directory/file permissions.

    $pass = false;
    /*
     * owner is user
     */
    if (posix_geteuid() == getmyuid())
    {
        if (fileperms("tmp") & 0700) == 0700)
        {
            $pass = true;
            if (fileperms("tmp") & 0077))
            {
                $warningMessages[] = 'You may want to restrict "group" and "other" access to the tmp folder';
            }
        }
        else
        {
            $errorMessages[] = 'You don't have sufficient access to the tmp folder; chmod u+rwx';
        }
    }
    /*
     * member of group
     */
    else if (posix_getegid() == getmygid())
    {
        if (fileperms("tmp") & 0070) == 0070)
        {
            $pass = true;
            if (filepermis("tmp") & 0007))
            {
                $warningMessages[] = 'You may want to restrict "other" access to the tmp folder';
            }
        }
        else
        {
            $errorMessages[] = 'You don't have sufficient access to the tmp folder; chmod g+rwx';
        }
    }
    /*
     * other
     */
    else if (fileperms("tmp") & 0007) == 0007)
    {
        $pass = true;
        $warningMessages[] = 'Consult your sysadmin or hosting provider. This may not be secure in some shared hosting environments.';
    {
    else
    {
        $errorMessages[] = 'You don't have sufficient access to the tmp folder; chmod a+rwx tmp'
    }

Keywords: outofscope

[mattab]

anthon, what is the issue that users are having exactly regarding the "chmod 777 tmp" suggestion?

I would be concerned issuing an error when it seems like it would be "good practise" advice?

[robocoder]

Maybe I'm overthinking it. (Like I said, "brain dump".) But the forum has many topics/posts re: chmod -- which tells me the there's room for improvement.

[mattab]

I think it looks too complicated, but there are opened tickets to fix for the same issue: #1590, #1833

in the messages should we suggest chmod 775 instead or 755?