Fail to push over HTTP with MySQL authentication (Apache2)

Hi,

I'm not able to setup a public Git repository over plain HTTP with MySQL authentication.
Both HTTP and authentication are provided by Apache2.

SETUP:
-----

This setup is performed on Debian 6.0.4.

Apache2 (v. 2.2), with modules:
auth_mysql
WebDAV

Git (v. 1.7.8.3)
Git repository location:
local, for webserver: /var/www/public/GT_rulesets/GT00.git
public, for Git: http://greatturn.org:8081/GT00.git

Git repository has been configured as:
cd /var/www/public/GT_rulesets/GT00.git
git init --bare
mv hooks/post-update.sample hooks/post-update
git update server-info
chmode 777 /var/www/public/GT_rulesets/GT00.git # for testing.

FACTS:
-----

The Apache side of my setup seems to work:
_ HTTP, MySQL authentication:
I point Iceweasel to http://greatturn.org:8081/ .
It asks for authentication; I authenticate with a username/ password pair taken from MySQL database (which doesn't exist as a system user); It works, and I can see all the content of the git repository "GT00.git".
_ WebDAV:
I point Konqueror to webdav://greatturn.org:8081/ . Works exactly as previous point.
_ Git:
Git can fetch the repository without problems:
git clone http://username:[email protected]:8081/GT00.git

Pushing the locally fetched repository back to the remote one doesn't work:

    "git push http://greatturn.org:8081/GT00.git master"
    asks for username and password:
        > Username for 'greatturn.org:8081':
        > Password for 'greatturn.org:8081':

    I enter my credentials, then git outputs the following and exits:
        > error: Cannot access URL http://greatturn.org:8081/GT00.git/,

return code 22
> fatal: git-http-push failed

On Apache's access.log, git produces all and no more than the following:
> 87.19.240.177 - - [29/Dec/2012:16:43:22 +0100] "GET /GT00.git
/info/refs?service=git-receive-pack HTTP/1.1" 401 767 "-" "git/1.7.8.3"

        > 87.19.240.177 - - [29/Dec/2012:16:43:26 +0100] "GET
/GT00.git/info/refs?service=git-receive-pack HTTP/1.1" 401 767 "-"
"git/1.7.8.3"
        > 87.19.240.177 - davide [29/Dec/2012:16:43:26 +0100] "GET
/GT00.git/info/refs?service=git-receive-pack HTTP/1.1" 200 233 "-"
"git/1.7.8.3"
        > 87.19.240.177 - davide [29/Dec/2012:16:43:26 +0100] "GET
/GT00.git/HEAD HTTP/1.1" 200 258 "-" "git/1.7.8.3"
        > 87.19.240.177 - - [29/Dec/2012:16:43:26 +0100] "PROPFIND

/GT00.git/ HTTP/1.1" 401 767 "-" "git/1.7.8.3"

Should this last line be a "chmod -R"? Git init will create many subdirectories, and you want to make sure they are all writable for push.

If fetch is working and push is not, I'd suspect WebDAV configuration problems (and indeed, your credentials seem fine, but the PROPFIND is returning a 401). Fetch works over stock HTTP and does not use WebDAV at all. There is some documentation on setting up DAV here:

https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/howto/setup-git-server-over-http.txt

but I have no idea if it is up-to-date or not.

However, before trying to investigate that avenue, have you considered using git's smart-http backend instead of WebDAV? It's significantly more efficient. You can get details and example apache configuration from "git help http-backend".

-Peff

Thank you for the suggestions, I've been able to have the setup running. I abandoned the horrible WebDAV in favour of Smart HTTP, and it's been quite straightforward to configure and run successfully.

There is some documentation on setting up DAV here:

No it's not up-to-date. It should refer to Apache versions <2.0 . Some of its config directives are inexistent in modern Apaches.

- Davide