KB / Account Control Panel / Users :: Groups

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Creating user groups enables you to share files between several users. Check out the articles in the column to the left of this window, as well as in this folder, to learn more!

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• KB / Account Control Panel

Creating User Groups

You can use the new DH2 Account Control Panel to create user groups for file sharing! Here's how:

1. Log into the Account Control Panel. Select the Users tab, and click on the Groups link. <img src = "./images/illustrations/groupsbar.gif">
2. Click on the Add a new group link. <img src = "./images/illustrations/addnewgroup.gif">
3. Give your group a name. Names are limited to 8 characters in length. <img src = "./images/illustrations/namegroup.gif">
4. Use the drop-down menu to select the owner of the group. <img src = "./images/illustrations/groupowner.gif">
5. Click in the appropriate boxes to choose the group members. If a desired member does not appear in the list, you can type their username into the text box.* <img src = "./images/illustrations/groupmembers.gif">
6. Click the Create button, and you're done! <img src = "./images/illustrations/creategroup.gif">

*Please note that adding users to your group from other accounts may make your data vulnerable to them. Only do this if you know and trust them, or if you know how to properly set the necessary permissions to protect your files!

Can I put another user's directory inside of mine?

No.

Some users may want to do this, so that both users can access both sets of files. Under DreamHost 2, you can use the Account Control Panel to create groups for file sharing.

In addition, Apache aliases will allow two (or more) different users to access two (or more) different sets of files pertaining to the same site, although it will not allow file sharing per se. If you are interested in setting up Apache aliases, contact our Technical Support Professionals via the Account Control Panel to request this service.

If you want to allow a user access to only a specific folder of your web site, what you can do is make a "symbolic link" to their home directory from a directory on your web site.

So let's say you have domain.com owned by user1 and you want http://www.domain.com/userstuff/ (only) to be accessible by user2.

1. Have user2 create a folder in their home directory for the new content. Something like /home/user2/newstuff
2. As user1, create a symbolic link from /home/user1/domain.com/userstuff to /home/user2/newstuff You do that with this command (user1 must have shell access):

    ln -s /home/user2/newstuff /home/user1/domain.com/userstuff