New EC2 ubuntu user file permissions

Question

Hi I've just set up a new EC2 ubuntu server at AWS yay.

Im logged in as ubuntu@mydomain.com

first I installed mysql, php5 and apache2, no problem.

now I want to edit my /etc/apache2/sites-available/default file to setup where my domains should point to....

but It seems I dont have permissions to write to the file.. and I dont have permissions to change the file permissions either.

then I tried editing the default index.html file in /var/www/index.html... but I got the same error/problem

any ideas?

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you seem to be in need of a basic Unix tutorial. You don't seem to quite grasp two core concepts of Unix (a multi-user system, and file ownership/permissions). Bringing you up to speed on this is well beyond the scope of what can be done on a Q&A site like Server Fault. Google can hook you up with some tutorials. There's also a YouTube video about file permissions and ownership that might be useful.
you are quite right.. I am new to linux and using the CLI but im kind of learning by doing, or learning by messing up.
That's the best way to learn - but spending an hour or so with a basic tutorial (or even Linux for Dummies) will save you a man-month of messing up and make it a way more pleasant experience. (Or find a local Unix admin to mentor you - that's way better than books.)

Mike · Answer 1 · 2013-01-24 16:17:17Z

up vote 4 down vote

You have to become root.. So you can turn into root via

sudo su -

Or just run as root everytime you need permissions

sudo vi  /etc/apache2/sites-available/default

answered Jan 24 at 16:17

Mike
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1 Answer