If we take the error message at face value this part of it, "because search permissions are missing", is relevant. In the UNIX filesystem permission model the "file" permissions mean the following when applied to a directory:
read: The process can read the contents of the directory; i.e., enumerate all the file/directory names contained within it. The "ls" command, for example, requires read access to list the contents of a directory. write: The process can modify the contents of the directory; i.e., create and remove files in the directory. execute: The process can search the directory; i.e., if it knows the name of a file or subdirectory it can access it. What that error is telling you is that the user ID that Apache is running as does not have the ability to "search" one of the directories in the path to the file. This means that either the public execute bit is not set, or the group execute but is not set or if set apache is not a member of that group, or the user execute bit is not set or if set apache is not running as that user. -- Kurtis Rader Caretaker of the exceptional canines Junior and Hank
