Denied Permission / Not the owner

I have been using ZORIN LINUX for the passed 2 to 3 weeks and already think it's better then Windows. But I'm still learning the system. One of the issues I have encountered was with permissions. There are files like "root" and "opt" that won't let me open them and/or don't let me ad or extracted, copy and paste, or really do anything in them. It comes up with a warning dialog that says that I'm not the owner and that I don't have permission. I was watching a video on youtube about local host severs on linux and he just right clicked on the folder and selected "open as administrator".I right clicked on the file and found no such option. I am the only one on this computer. So how do I change this.
Thank You

Hi, open a terminal (Menu | Accessories | Terminal) and enter:

Code:

gksudo nautilus

See if that helps - if not, open a terminal and navigate to the folder you wish to take control of and enter:

Code:

sudo chown [your username] [name of folder/file]

I tried the first one "gksudo nautilus" and got a message that said "Failed to load module "overlay-scrollbar" Even tried to put the folder name at the end and said that "no folder was found" The 2 folders I'm trying to access is "root" and "opt". You might have to elaborate on how to do this. I am new to Linux so a lot of this is alien to me.

Hi, can I verify which version of Zorin you are using, and whether it is the Core version or the Lite version?

It is Zorin 9 Ultimate.

Hi, I had problems with gksudo nautilus, but not so with 'chown':



Will need to look into the correct way of assuming 'root' status!

See this posting on 'root':

http://askubuntu.com/questions/187997/i ... oot-folder

From what I read, I guess the only folder I need permission for is the "opt" folder which is where I need to put my XAMPP files at to run localhost. I tried to copy and past the XAMPP.tar to the .opt folder so I can unpack it, and I get an error that I don't have permission. I was watching a video on YouTube about how to install Xampp or Lampp as it is called when it's unpacked on Linux. And it said to drag the .tar file into the opt folder but first I had to right click on the folder and select "open as administrator" in which there was no such option. I just want to get my localhost up and running so I can work on my website pages off line. Any suggestions.

another way to edit / move files,
is to install Gnome Commander - from within synaptic AKA package manager.

then File - Start Gnome Commander as Root
- be careful ! - you can do some serious damage as Root !!.

Pierre wrote:another way to edit / move files,
is to install Gnome Commander - from within synaptic AKA package manager.

then File - Start Gnome Commander as Root
- be careful ! - you can do some serious damage as Root !!.

Hi Pierre, thanks for the inoput - the warning message is also stated in that link I posted too!

@EZingers - can you not use that chown method I used in the screenshot above?

I would follow the chown example to take ownership of 'opt' then follow this install guide:

http://codemink.com/how-to-install-xamp ... ntu-14-04/

I'm going to give it a shot. Now with the chown method, is the brackets around the "Username" and "File or Folder name" part of that processes? And when I was using the terminal with ls - al command, the opt folder didn't show up. Do I have to promp c drive before the file name? The reason why I asked is because I had to open c drive to go to that folder. It's not in the home folder.

Hi, go to Menu | Places then click on Computer, then click on Computer in the left pane to see all the system folders - it is not in 'C' like Windows, but in '/' - root file system.

From a terminal you have to navigate to the root file system:

Code:

cd ..

which will take you to '/home$'

then

Code:

cd ..

too root file system (/)

now enter:

Code:

dir

you will see 'opt' listed.

So to take ownership of 'opt'

Code:

sudo chown EZingers opt

= elevate to Root, change ownersip to User, name of folder to take ownership (or file).

Thank you for all your help. Now comes the fun part. I like the link you gave me for installing XAMPP by the way. But the download link they give me is for the latest version. The version I'm using is xampp-linux 1.4.3., and it have to be loaded manually. I don't know if I can get this version with an installer. Unfortunately I have to use this version because of the PHP. The pages of my website is actually a prefab ebay clone software. The problem is that it uses an earlier version of PHP. It said for the PHP version compatibility is "PHP 4 +". The "+" (plus) means anything above PHP 4 as long as it's not PHP 5.3 and above that. Anyway, I think that's where they started changing the PHP format dramatically to where earlier versions wont work on it. The website is up and running. Don't know how long my hosting site will support this version of PHP, but it seems to be running great. You can check out the website at https://www.ezingers.com
But if I am to edit this website off line, then I need to use the earlier version of XAMPP.
Again, thank you for your help.

Hi, I await to be corrected, now armed with that information I suspect it may not be possible as updates usually mean better security - anything that compromises security in one area could cripple a system too!

Just had another 'brainwave' - can you get hold of all the individual files, right click and compress as a .tar.gz file.

Then if not installed, install 'alien':

Code:

sudo apt-get install alien

Then navigate in the terminal to where you created the tar.gz and enter:

Code:

sudo alien [name of tar.gz file]

- this will create a .deb package.

If you don't have 'gdebi' installed:

Code:

sudo apt-get install gdebi

Then go back to your .deb package you created, righ-click and select 'Open with ... ' and choose Gdebi Package Installer. - Then on the interface that opens, click on install - NO GUARANTEES! It will report if there are any missing dependencies - if it requires earlier packages it may not be feasible to install.

Do you know of any software that can upgrade PHP files? Maybe I can upgrade the PHP files on the site and have my host switch back to PHP 5,3. I,m going to have to do this eventually anyway.

Hi friend, I am no PHP scripter - I use WebPlus from Serif to design mine and others sites!