[users@httpd] Permission denied: cannot read directory for multi

["Murphy, Tom" <Th...@ngc.com>]

Dear List:

Would someone explain the "Permission denied: cannot read directory for
multi: " error that appears in the error_log?

I looked around through google , the FAQ, and the httpd-users-archives and
didn't find a clear answer.

The general suggestion is that the permissions are wrong.  However, the
permissions for the directories generating the "Permission denied" messages
have not been changed in at least a year, and today I got a couple dozen of
such messages.


I tried to replicate the error in 3 ways:

1. If I manually restrict the file permissions on an HTML file so that the
browser can't read them, I can see the error message "file permissions deny
server access."  Clear enough.

2. If I remove the file or parent directory, I can see the error message
"File does not exist."  Clear again.

3. If I restrict the permissions of the HTML parent directory, I get a
"Forbidden" message in the browser, and I can see a 403 message in
access_log.  Fairly clear.

But I have not been able to replicate the "cannot read directory for multi"
error.  No code has changed, no permissions have changed.  The access_log
file doesn't show any unusual requests.

Even looked through mod_negotiation.c; saw that the error message is
generated when it can't open a directory.  But it's hard to tell what the
use case is that generates this condition.


If someone could explain this error, perhaps we could add the answer to the
FAQ.


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