Cache purge fails when Nginx and PHP run as separate users
Purging the FastCGI cache fails with permission or ownership errors when Nginx and PHP-FPM run under different users.
Tier I · Proven The best-established problems.
6 public reports · first reported 2 August 2017 · last reported 2 May 2025
What's going wrong
Site owners who run Nginx with PHP-FPM under a separate user, a common hardening step, report that the cache folder cannot be set up or cleared. The plugin shows a 'Filesystem API could not be initialized' message, and in one case the cache folder was recreated under root. Some owners hand-delete cache files or install custom Nginx builds to work around it, and others object that the plugin needs the same account as the web server. Hosting and server admins would benefit from a guided permissions setup that works with split users.
AI-assisted: written with the help of AI from the reports.
Products affected
Nginx Cache.
Related problems
Who has this problem
1 business found.
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