System setup - HTTP error 403

[bexford]

Hi all

I have got to the SYSTEM SETUP section of the installation without issues....all the read and write permissions were changed successfully in the Prerequisites section before that.

as far as I can see the paths to my directories are fine but I get the a HTTP ERROR 403 when i hit save system settings as follows:

ERROR 403 FORBIDDEN YOU DONT HAVE PERMISSIONS TO ACCESS THIS PAGE THIS USUALLY MEANS ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
THIS FILE AND DIRECTORY PERMISSIONS MAKE THIS FILE UNAVAILABLE FROM THE INTERNET - OR - .HTACCESS CONTAINS INSTRUCTIONS THAT PREVENT PUBLIC ACCESS TO THIS FILE OR DIRECTORY

PLEASE CHECK FILE AND DIRECTORY PERMISSIONS AND .HTACCESS CONFIGURATION IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DO THIS. OTHERWISE REQUEST YOUR WEBMASTER GRANT YOU ACCESS

my directories are set as follows:

Physical Path:
/hsphere/local/home/justsoho/macsoftware.com.au/zencart

Virtual HTTP Path
http://www.macsoftware.com.au/zencart

Virtual HTTPS Server
https://www.macsoftware.com.au

Virtual HTTPS Path
https://www.macsoftware.com.au/zencart

SSL ENABLE - NO
SSL ENABLE ADMIN - NO

this has been driving me mad for hours....any ideas? I thought it was a matter of finding a file called .htaccess nd changing permissions but I cant seem to locate it!

thanks in advance for any help!

cheers
Bexford

[Chuckl]

Check if you have openbasedir restrictions set. If the paths are not set up correctly, it will not allow the write of the system files.

[bexford]

tis all sorted! the issue was as follows:

Symptom:
Sometimes when you try to access a script or post to it, you'll get Error 403 : Forbidden - you are not allowed to access such and such. This problem only occurs on Unix.

Explanation:
This error is caused by our mod_security module for Apache. This module filters the data that gets sent to the server and blocks off any potential attack on the server. Sometimes the filter rules are too strict that it hinders the operation of legitimate scripts.

Solution:
You can disable mod_security just on a particular directory by inserting the following lines into a .htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_security.c>
SecFilterEngine off
</IfModule>

so make sure the .htaccess file only has the above code in it, upload in ASCII mode to your directory ie www.yourwebsite.com/zencart/.htaccess and you can then go onto the next section of installing.

hope that helps incase others have the same issue.

cheers
Bexford