SOIS Webspace (How to) Fix 403 Forbidden Error

How to fix the 403 Forbidden error on the SOIS Webspace by correcting file/folder permissions.

Classification:

Student Webspace > Student LAMP > Student Webspace Incident

Important Changes to SOIS Web Space Access

,Beginning January 7, 2025, the SOISWEB environment will require a UWM VPN connection (for access off-campus), an on-campus wired connection, or a WiFi connection to UWMWiFi or Eduroam WiFi (not UWMVisitor) for web server administrative tasks such as SFTP/SSH and cPanel web portal access.

This change will still allow website viewing access on HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443) from anywhere.

Instructions on installation/setup and usage of the UWM VPN can be found here: VPN Knowledgebase Articles

If you encounter problems connecting to the SOISWEB environment after this change is implemented, please contact the UWM Helpdesk to report the issue.

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If you are receiving a Forbidden or 403 error, the permissions on your Student Workspace are not correctly set.

Forbidden Error. You dont have permission to access / on this server

Correct the File and Folder Permissions

Log in to your Webspace account with FileZilla or an FTP user of your choice.
Right click on the public_html folder in your webspace and select File Permissions.
Change the numeric value to 755. In addition to this select the checkbox for Recurse into subdirectories and select apply to directories only. After this hit OK. Let this finish running.
Right click on public_html again and change the numeric value to 644, check the Recurse into subdirectories, click apply to files only, and then hit 'OK'. Let this finish running.