When securing an upload directory and changing a bunch of permissions on a web server, I came across this misleading error in the Apache error log (usr/local/apache/logs/error_log) :
Permission denied: /home/??/public_html/api/media/image/.htaccess pcfg_openfile: unable to check htaccess file, ensure it is readable, referer: http://**.**.**.**/??/api/media/image/00000003hpV76iNL.gif
I was searching high and low for this .htaccess file – assuming I needed to change its permissions so it was readable. Turns out though that it was the media directory itself that had bad permissions and there was no sign of an unreadble .htaccess file anywhere. Chmodding my images directory to 755 solved it.
