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Thread tagged as: Question, Installation, Configuration

Perch folder above web root?

I'm wondering if it is possible to setup the perch folder so that it is above web root. I've seen other CMSs that say this is a more secure installation option.

To further explain, I currently have perch folder setup like this: mydomain.com ↳ HTML ↳ Perch

Could it be setup like this, so that it is at the same level as the public HTML folder? mydomain.com ↳ HTML ↳ Perch

Thanks for your help. Very much enjoying perch. :)

Justin Kaiser

Justin Kaiser 0 points

  • 7 years ago
Rachel Andrew

Rachel Andrew 394 points
Perch Support

There is no reason to do this, everything in the folder is PHP so if accessed directly via a web browser wouldn't be an issue. If someone has access to your hosting account then it doesn't matter whether the Perch folder is above or below the web root, they would have access anyway.

Ok, rachel thanks for the clarification, I'll keep the Perch folder where it is.

I believe that with the other CMS they said that by placing the system folder outside of the publicly served HTML folder that the core files of the CMS were less likely to be accessed by hackers etc. If you're interested in seeing the full details of what I'm referring to you, it can be found here.

Thanks again for the helpful and timely support.

Rachel Andrew

Rachel Andrew 394 points
Perch Support

If someone has access to your hosting account, where you put the files makes no difference and naturally we already protect against people just loading random Perch files in their browser. I can't speak for other CMS products however. So it may be a sensible suggestion for EE - I've not ever used EE so couldn't say.

As a bit of a security measure, I install perch from a folder named something other than Perch. It works perfectly fine with no obvious issues, and is a little bit harder to guess.

Now Media, that is a great tip to keep in mind. I've been using that setup as well.