# Bizarre log file permissions **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [October 24, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/bizarre-log-file-permissions/118216 "2007-10-24T21:31:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nobrow)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/bizarre-log-file-permissions/118216/1 "2007-10-24T21:31:05Z")
When I create a new app with the rails command, it creates a log directory. You must chmod that to 666 according to the error message I get whenever anything (like script/generate) tries to log a message. Fine … … But, what the hell is this about??? $ ls -la log/ ls: cannot access log/.: Permission denied ls: cannot access log/…: Permission denied ls: cannot access log/development.log: Permission denied ls: cannot access log/test.log: Permission denied ls: cannot access log/server.log: Permission denied ls: cannot access log/production.log: Permission denied total 0 ??? ? ? ? ? ? . ??? ? ? ? ? ? … ??? ? ? ? ? ? development.log ??? ? ? ? ? ? production.log ??? ? ? ? ? ? server.log ??? ? ? ? ? ? test.log (entries are in red and blinking) BUT $ sudo ls -la log/ Password: total 4 drw-rw-rw- 2 nobrow apache 168 Oct 24 20:12 . drwxr-xr-x 14 nobrow apache 392 Oct 24 20:12 … -rw-rw-rw- 1 nobrow apache 2479 Oct 24 20:12 development.log -rw-rw-rw- 1 nobrow apache 0 Oct 24 20:12 production.log -rw-rw-rw- 1 nobrow apache 0 Oct 24 20:12 server.log -rw-rw-rw- 1 nobrow apache 0 Oct 24 20:12 test.log I am the owner of these files so why do they not show up properly unless I list them as root? Of course the log files cant be accessed by the scripts to log messages either. This is really bizarre. Bash on Gentoo. ---
**Author:** ![nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nobrow)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/bizarre-log-file-permissions/118216/2 "2007-10-24T21:45:08Z")
cd into the directory where the “log” directory lives. chmod a+x log ---
**Author:** ![nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nobrow)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/bizarre-log-file-permissions/118216/3 "2007-10-24T21:48:39Z")
On Oct 24, 8:44 pm, “Michael G.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > get whenever anything (like script/generate) tries to log a message. > > ls: cannot access log/production.log: Permission denied > > BUT > > > I am the owner of these files so why do they not show up properly > > unless I list them as root? Of course the log files cant be accessed > > by the scripts to log messages either. > > > This is really bizarre. > > > Bash on Gentoo. Worked, thanks. Why? Why does the dir have to be a+x to be able to list the files? Are they not “real” files? ---
**Author:** ![nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/edb3f5/32.png) [@nobrow](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/nobrow)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/bizarre-log-file-permissions/118216/4 "2007-10-24T21:49:49Z")
On Oct 24, 8:44 pm, “Michael G.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > get whenever anything (like script/generate) tries to log a message. > > ls: cannot access log/production.log: Permission denied > > BUT > > > I am the owner of these files so why do they not show up properly > > unless I list them as root? Of course the log files cant be accessed > > by the scripts to log messages either. > > > This is really bizarre. > > > Bash on Gentoo. Same is true for tmp?