What user does the web server run as on our droplets? Is it www-data?

November 18, 2014 2.3k views
lgebman
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lgebman

What user does the web server run as on our droplets? Is it www-data?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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1 Answer
asb MOD November 18, 2014

On Ubuntu, both the Nginx and Apache web servers run as the www-data user. On CentOS, Apache runs as apache while Nginx runs as nginx

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  • lgebman November 18, 2014

    I did the Ubuntu LAMP install. So, apache was installed. thanks for confirming its www-data. So, I see reference to Nginx a lot. What is that used for and was that also installed with the 1 click LAMP install? If not should I install it? and if so, why? what value does it bring?

    Thanks again!!!

  • asb MOD November 18, 2014

    No problem!

    Nginx, like Apache, is a web server. There are some reasons why you might install them together, but most users will pick one or the other. To learn more about it, check out some of the tutorials in the Nginx tag.

  • eduardoarandah June 20, 2015

    What is the best practice to upload php files to webserver?

    Can I create a password for www-data username and upload them via SFTP?

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