Magento 403 Forbidden Error

Magento is one of the most flexible eCommerce platform available today. However, come along with its popularity, there are so many common errors which Magento users often face.

This post shows you more about the most common error: 403 forbidden

What is 403 Forbidden Error?

403 Error or No Access Permission means that you do not have permission to view requested files or resources.

Why does it happen?

This issue occurs by any of the following reasons:

• • Incorrect File Permissions
  • “No Indexing” in .htaccess file is improperly used

How to Fix 403 Forbidden error?

In Magento 1

• Check file permissions

First, you will want to check the file permissions that each of your files has set. If a file or folder is set to “777” which is “world” writable for security reasons the 403 error will be displayed to protect your website from hacks. Folders should have the permissions set to “750” or “755” and files should be set to “644”.

If you have SSH Access, you can resolve this easily. Make sure you’re in the root directory of your Magento installation, and then execute the following commands:

find ./ -type f | xargs chmod 644
find ./ -type d | xargs chmod 755
chmod -Rf 777 var
chmod -Rf 777 media

• Check “No Index” in .htaccess file

Once you have verified that all the permissions are correct but the issue still persists, you will need to check your .htaccess file. Keep in mind that you can have multiple .htaccess files in your account, so you may need to search / modify .htaccess files other than public_html/.htaccess.

For example, if you have an addon domain located at public_html/addon_domain, you’ll need to check any .htaccess files within that folder as well. If one of the lines in the actual file says “Options All -Indexes” then simply remove “-Indexes” and save the file.

In Magento 2

Find your username with this command:

whoami

Then navigate and check if you have config for this user or create if it doesn’t exist:

cd

1. Find your username with this command:

   whoami

2. Then navigate and check if you have config for this user or create if doesn’t exist:

   cd 

   /etc/

   apache2

   /user/

   touch <username>.conf

   Where username is an user name used to run Apache server.

3. Add the following configuration (note that this is only for Yosamite):

   sudo vi 

   /etc/

   apache2

   /user/

   <username>.conf

   Add the following content:

   <Directory "/Users/<username>/Sites/">
   AddLanguage en .en
   LanguagePriority en fr de
   ForceLanguagePriority Fallback
   Options FollowSymlinks Indexes MultiViews
   AllowOverride All
   Order allow,deny
   Allow from localhost
   Require all granted
   </Directory>

4. Add lines in the /etc/apache2/httpd.conf configuration file:

   sudo vi 

   /etc/

   apache2/httpd.conf

   Check and uncomment the line:

   Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf

5. In the httpd-userdir.conf file ensure to uncomment line:

   Include /private/etc/apache2/users/*.conf

6. Restart Apache server

   sudo /usr/sbin/httpd -k restart

apache2/user/
touch <username>.conf

Where username is an user name used to run Apache server.

Add the following configuration (note that this is only for Yosamite):

sudo vi /etc/apache2/user/<username>.conf

Add the following content:

<Directory "/Users/<username>/Sites/">
AddLanguage en .en
LanguagePriority en fr de
ForceLanguagePriority Fallback
Options FollowSymlinks Indexes MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
Allow from localhost
Require all granted
</Directory>

Add lines in the /etc/apache2/httpd.conf configuration file:

sudo vi /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

Check and uncomment the line:

Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf

In the httpd-userdir.conf file ensure to uncomment line:

Include /private/etc/apache2/users/*.conf

Restart Apache server

sudo 

/usr/

sbin/httpd -k restart

Hope this helps!

Further Reading:

The Beginner Guide To Magento 2 File Permissions
Magento 2 Error: One or more indexers are invalid

SEE MORE:

Migrate to Magento 2 »