up vote 0 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

I'm running into FTP errors using software like NetBeans or WinSCP: whenever I attempt to perform a synchronization or update of files from local --> server I get errors on the client saying "set times: Operation not permitted".

This is clearly an issue with the way I've configured my Fedora installation. The user that I'm logging in with cannot touch -t any of these files, though he IS part of a group that has r/w access on the files.

I do have root / sudo access to this server. What I would like to know is:

a) is it likely that this problem would be solved by allowing my FTP user to "touch -t" these files
b) how do I enable a certain user to be able to set timestamps on files without giving them ownership of the files (certain of these files need to be owned by Apache, for instance, so I don't want to chown them).

Thanks in advance.

link|improve this question
71% accept rate
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

Only the owner of a file can change the modification time, so you either need to make the FTP user the owner of the files, or stop the FTP client from trying to set the times.

link|improve this answer
Thanks for the response! I guess the question then becomes - why is my FTP client attempting to set the modification time on the files? – Tom Auger Apr 23 at 18:23
It's trying to set the times to match those of the local file (you generally want this behaviour since the actual modification time is more useful than the time the file was uploaded, and so that synchronisation can be done efficiently). Check if your FTP client has an option to disable this. – mgorven Apr 23 at 21:21
Good stuff. what you say makes sense. So then, does that mean that if I disable the timestamp compare / update feature, synchronization will no longer be able to determine which file is most recent? – Tom Auger Apr 24 at 13:48
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.