Level 2

221 points

Webmail: Forbidden You don't have permission to access /webmail/ on this se

I just activated webmail on my Xserve (under "Sites", double-clicked my website and under options, check webmail) but am getting "Forbidden You don't have permission to access /webmail/ on this server." (error 403) when I try to go there from a browser. What else do I need to configure to allow access to my email account through the web?

Mike

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 19, 2008 9:31 PM

27 replies

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Oct 8, 2008 3:27 AM in response to Michael Levin

You do not need to rebuild the mailboxes. If it was the mailboxes, it wouldn't only be webmail you have issues with, but also your normal mail client.

Activating webmail, will (should) create an alias for /usr/share/squirrelmail/src in your httpd configuration file. You will never see a /webmail directory in your web site's root directory.

Obviously, something is not right on your server. As suggested in a previous post, you should really get somebody onsite. The more you fiddle around, the worse things will become. No offence whatsoever meant. Just honest, friendly advice after reading your various posts and questions.

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Oct 8, 2008 8:33 AM in response to pterobyte

Hi!

Activating webmail, will (should) create an alias for /usr/share/squirrelmail/src
in your httpd configuration file.

in /etc/httpd I see a file called httpd_squirrelmail.conf, httpd_mailman.conf, and httpd squirrelmaildefault.conf, but the httpd.conf file doesn't say anything about squirrelmail in it.

You will never see a /webmail directory in your
web site's root directory.

hmmm. I do see a /webmail directory in web site's root directory!

Obviously, something is not right on your server. As suggested in a previous post, you should really get somebody onsite. The more you fiddle around, the worse things will become. No offence whatsoever meant. Just honest, friendly advice after reading your various posts and questions.

yeah. My options for this are currently very limited; I think you're probably right. I was hoping to resolve this myself, but it may not be possible.

thanks,

Mike

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Oct 8, 2008 8:39 AM in response to Michael Levin

hmmm. I do see a /webmail directory in web site's root directory!

Sorry, my bad. Forgot about the placeholder that is there by default.

-

In /etc/httpd/sites you should see the configuration file(s) for your website(s).
The one you want to use with webmail should contain something like:
Include /etc/httpd/httpd_squirrelmail.conf

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Oct 8, 2008 8:48 AM in response to pterobyte

In /etc/httpd/sites you should see the configuration file(s) for your website(s).
The one you want to use with webmail should contain something like:
Include /etc/httpd/httpd_squirrelmail.conf

there is a /etc/httpd/httpd_squirrelmail.conf file, but none of the others (such as httpd.conf) "Include" it. However, sits/0000 any_80server...org.conf does include it.

Mike

Message was edited by: Michael Levin

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Oct 8, 2008 9:11 AM in response to Michael Levin

As I mentioned in my previous post, you need to add this to the relevant config file inside /etc/httpd/sites not to httpd.conf

If /etc/httpd/sites/0000 any_80server...org.conf is the site you want to use webmail with, then this is fine. If not add it to the correct one.

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Oct 8, 2008 9:18 AM in response to pterobyte

If /etc/httpd/sites/0000 any_80server...org.conf is the site you want to use webmail with, then this is fine. If not add it to the correct one.

yes, it's the last line in that file. Should the httpd_squirrelmail.conf file itself contain anything specific (so I can check to see if that's the problem)?

Mike

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Oct 8, 2008 9:22 AM in response to Michael Levin

Is /etc/httpd/sites/0000 any_80server...org.conf the only file in /etc/httpd/sites?
Is it the website you want to use for webmail?

httpd_squirrelmail.conf should contain:
Alias /WebMail /usr/share/squirrelmail
Alias /webmail /usr/share/squirrelmail

<Directory /usr/share/squirrelmail>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
</Directory>

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Oct 8, 2008 9:31 AM in response to pterobyte

pterobyte wrote:
Is /etc/httpd/sites/0000 any_80server...org.conf the only file in /etc/httpd/sites?
Is it the website you want to use for webmail?]

yep.

httpd_squirrelmail.conf should contain:
Alias /WebMail /usr/share/squirrelmail
Alias /webmail /usr/share/squirrelmail
<Directory /usr/share/squirrelmail>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
</Directory>

yep, that's what it has... I guess there's some other problem 😟

Mike

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Oct 8, 2008 9:46 AM in response to Michael Levin

You should check your apache error log for clues.
It is in /var/log/httpd
Your site specific error log is wherever you specified it to be.

Also check in Server Admin - Web - Settings - Modules that the "alias_module" is checked.

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Oct 9, 2008 4:35 AM in response to pterobyte

pterobyte wrote:
You should check your apache error log for clues.
It is in /var/log/httpd
Your site specific error log is wherever you specified it to be.

ok: when I try to access it, I see this:

[timestamp] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] client denied by server configuration /usr/share/squirrelmail

does that help? What file in /usr/share/squirrelmail handles permissions?

Also check in Server Admin - Web - Settings - Modules that the "alias_module" is checked.

yep - it's checked...

Mike

pterobyte

Level 6

11,104 points

Oct 9, 2008 5:58 AM in response to Michael Levin

This is not a squirrelmail problem, but an apache configuration issue. Most likely something got changed through the many different attempts to get things fixed.

Think of all changes you made and try to revert them. Failing that, hire somebody (again, no offense meant).

Message was edited by: pterobyte

Michael Levin Author

Level 2

221 points

Oct 9, 2008 6:04 AM in response to pterobyte

pterobyte wrote:
This is not a squirrelmail problem, but an apache configuration issue. Most likely something got changed through the many different attempts to get things fixed.
Think of all changes you made and try to revert them. Failing that, hire somebody (again, no offense meant).

I understand. I actually didn't make many changes at all. This is exactly the same error message I was getting from day 1, with a very standard install. The only thing I did was stop the service and make sure performance cache was off, as someone suggested. Otherwise everything is exactly the same and the problem was there out of the box.

thanks,

Mike

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Webmail: Forbidden You don't have permission to access /webmail/ on this se