Laravel in Web App Container permissions error with Azure File Share

Question

Laravel in Web App Container permissions error with Azure File Share

Nathan Akrill 0

I have a sidecar container running a Laravel application in Docker. I have configured an Azure File Share and mounted it under Path mappings. I also have the environment variable WEBSITES_ENABLE_APP_SERVICE_STORAGE set to true.

But when the app starts it has permission errors with writing to the storage. What am I doing wrong here?

User's image ^ The File Share mount

User's image

^ The container setup

User's image

^ The Laravel error. The files mentioned here should have been created during the start up process like so:

RUN mkdir -p /var/www/html/database \
    && touch /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite \
    && touch /var/www/html/storage/logs/laravel.log

Laxman Reddy Revuri 5,395 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T04:47:38.03+00:00
Hi @Nathan Akrill
It looks like you're running into permission errors with your Laravel app running in a Docker container on Azure App Service when trying to write to a mounted Azure File Share.

Azure File Share is mounted using the SMB protocol, and when you map a file share to a container path (e.g., /var/www/html/storage), it overrides any files/folders that were created in the Docker image during build time.

So even if your Dockerfile creates laravel.log or database.sqlite, they won't exist at runtime unless you manually create them inside the file share.

The error Permission denied on /var/www/html/storage/logs/laravel.log confirms Laravel can't write because:

File doesn’t exist (gets overwritten by mount)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/configure-connect-to-azure-storage?pivots=container-linux&tabs=basic%2Cportal
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-13T06:37:54.31+00:00

I have created both files in the file share at the following paths:
/database/database.sqlite

/storage/logs/laravel.log

And the error is still there. Have I mounted the File Share and volumes correctly?
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T09:16:25.7366667+00:00
Hello Nathan Akrill,

Thanks for the follow-up. Even though you’ve created the necessary files (database.sqlite and laravel.log) inside the Azure File Share, the error persists because of a permissions issue caused by how Azure mounts the File Share inside the container.

When the file share is mounted, it replaces the target directories inside your container and applies default SMB file system permissions. These often do not match the user your Laravel PHP process runs as (which is typically www-data or a non-root user), and as a result, Laravel cannot write to those files.

To fix this, you need to adjust the ownership and permissions after the volume is mounted, which must be done during container startup. You can do this by setting a custom Startup Command in the App Service container configuration.

Here's an example you can use:

sh -c "chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && php-fpm"

This does three things:

Changes ownership of both the storage and database folders to the www-data use

Grants read-write-execute permissions for the owner and group.

Starts the PHP-FPM process (which is commonly how Laravel apps run in production containers).

Make sure your container image is built to use php-fpm as the entry point or adjust the command to match how your Laravel app should be started (e.g., php artisan serve for development, though not recommended for production).

After applying this and restarting your app, Laravel should be able to write to both the log and the SQLite database without further permission issues. If you have any further questions, please reply back.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-13T12:36:07.72+00:00

Thank you, I have added that command, but the error still persists after a restart.

Are my path mappings correct? I have the Storage mount path set to /storage.

In the container configuration I have the following:

Volume sub path Container mount path

/store/storage /var/www/html/storage

/store/database /var/www/html/database
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T12:47:07.16+00:00
Hello Nathan Akrill,

Your current setup with an intermediate /store mount can hide exactly where Laravel is writing and make the paths confusing. Instead, map each folder in your Azure File Share directly to the paths Laravel expects. For example, if your file share is named myshare and contains two subfolders storage and database, remove the existing /store mount in the App Service container settings and replace it with these two mounts:

File Share Sub Path Container Path

myshare storage /var/www/html/storage

myshare storage /var/www/html/storage

myshare database /var/www/html/database

Here “Sub Path” is the folder inside your Azure Files share (so you must have created storage and database there) and “Container Path” is exactly where Laravel reads and writes. Once you’ve applied these mounts, keep your Startup Command exactly as before so that immediately after the share is mounted, ownership and permissions are fixed and PHP-FPM is launched:

sh -c "chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && chmod -R u+rwX,g+rwX /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && php-fpm"

After saving these changes and restarting your app, SSH into the container with:

az webapp ssh --name <your-app-name> --resource-group <your-resource-group>

Then run:

ls -la /var/www/html/storage ls -la /var/www/html/database

You should see laravel.log and database.sqlite owned by www-data and writable by that user. At that point Laravel will be able to append to its log and open the SQLite database without any further permission errors.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-13T15:06:28.0166667+00:00

Thank you, I have set up the volumes as you suggested, but the error still shows after a restart.
I cannot access SSH, when the terminal window opens it says "SSH CONN CLOSE"
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T15:59:00.29+00:00
Hello Nathan Akrill,

Because your container doesn’t run an SSH server, the portal’s SSH tab will immediately close the connection. To inspect your mounted folders and confirm the permission issue, open the Azure Portal, select your Web App, then go to Advanced Tools > Debug Console > Bash (or use Development Tools > SSH). From that Bash prompt run

ls -la /var/www/html/storage ls -la /var/www/html/database

to verify that laravel.log and database.sqlite live in those folders, to see their owners and mode bits, and to confirm they aren’t writable by the www-data user. The most reliable way to fix this is to bake the permission adjustment into your Docker image’s startup rather than relying on the App Service startup command. Add an entrypoint.sh alongside your Dockerfile with these contents:

#!/bin/sh chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database chmod -R u+rwX,g+rwX /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database exec "$@"

then update your Dockerfile to copy and invoke this script before launching PHP-FPM:

FROM php:8.1-fpm RUN mkdir -p /var/www/html/database /var/www/html/storage/logs COPY entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh COPY . /var/www/html ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh"] CMD ["php-fpm"]

Rebuild and redeploy this image so that as soon as your Azure File Share mounts to /var/www/html/storage and /var/www/html/database, the script will immediately set the correct owner and permissions and then hand off to PHP-FPM. At that point Laravel will be able to append to its log and open the SQLite database without any more permission errors.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-16T07:54:00.3266667+00:00

Using the bash terminal, I have found the files - they are located at /store/database and /store/storage .
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-16T10:01:16.39+00:00

With the addition of the entrypoint scripts, and if I set the Volume sub path to /store/storage/ I don't get the permissions error any more, but I still get:

"Database file at path [/var/www/html/database/database.sqlite] does not exist."

1 answer

Your answer

Laxman Reddy Revuri 5,395 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T04:47:38.03+00:00

Hi @Nathan Akrill
It looks like you're running into permission errors with your Laravel app running in a Docker container on Azure App Service when trying to write to a mounted Azure File Share.

Azure File Share is mounted using the SMB protocol, and when you map a file share to a container path (e.g., /var/www/html/storage), it overrides any files/folders that were created in the Docker image during build time.

So even if your Dockerfile creates laravel.log or database.sqlite, they won't exist at runtime unless you manually create them inside the file share.

The error Permission denied on /var/www/html/storage/logs/laravel.log confirms Laravel can't write because:

File doesn’t exist (gets overwritten by mount)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/configure-connect-to-azure-storage?pivots=container-linux&tabs=basic%2Cportal
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-13T06:37:54.31+00:00

I have created both files in the file share at the following paths:
/database/database.sqlite

/storage/logs/laravel.log

And the error is still there. Have I mounted the File Share and volumes correctly?
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T09:16:25.7366667+00:00

Hello Nathan Akrill,

Thanks for the follow-up. Even though you’ve created the necessary files (database.sqlite and laravel.log) inside the Azure File Share, the error persists because of a permissions issue caused by how Azure mounts the File Share inside the container.

When the file share is mounted, it replaces the target directories inside your container and applies default SMB file system permissions. These often do not match the user your Laravel PHP process runs as (which is typically www-data or a non-root user), and as a result, Laravel cannot write to those files.

To fix this, you need to adjust the ownership and permissions after the volume is mounted, which must be done during container startup. You can do this by setting a custom Startup Command in the App Service container configuration.

Here's an example you can use:

sh -c "chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && chmod -R 775 /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && php-fpm"

This does three things:

Changes ownership of both the storage and database folders to the www-data use

Grants read-write-execute permissions for the owner and group.

Starts the PHP-FPM process (which is commonly how Laravel apps run in production containers).

Make sure your container image is built to use php-fpm as the entry point or adjust the command to match how your Laravel app should be started (e.g., php artisan serve for development, though not recommended for production).

After applying this and restarting your app, Laravel should be able to write to both the log and the SQLite database without further permission issues. If you have any further questions, please reply back.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-13T12:36:07.72+00:00

Thank you, I have added that command, but the error still persists after a restart.

Are my path mappings correct? I have the Storage mount path set to /storage.

In the container configuration I have the following:

Volume sub path Container mount path

/store/storage /var/www/html/storage

/store/database /var/www/html/database
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T12:47:07.16+00:00

Hello Nathan Akrill,

Your current setup with an intermediate /store mount can hide exactly where Laravel is writing and make the paths confusing. Instead, map each folder in your Azure File Share directly to the paths Laravel expects. For example, if your file share is named myshare and contains two subfolders storage and database, remove the existing /store mount in the App Service container settings and replace it with these two mounts:

File Share Sub Path Container Path

myshare storage /var/www/html/storage

myshare storage /var/www/html/storage

myshare database /var/www/html/database

Here “Sub Path” is the folder inside your Azure Files share (so you must have created storage and database there) and “Container Path” is exactly where Laravel reads and writes. Once you’ve applied these mounts, keep your Startup Command exactly as before so that immediately after the share is mounted, ownership and permissions are fixed and PHP-FPM is launched:

sh -c "chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && chmod -R u+rwX,g+rwX /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database && php-fpm"

After saving these changes and restarting your app, SSH into the container with:

az webapp ssh --name <your-app-name> --resource-group <your-resource-group>

Then run:

ls -la /var/www/html/storage ls -la /var/www/html/database

You should see laravel.log and database.sqlite owned by www-data and writable by that user. At that point Laravel will be able to append to its log and open the SQLite database without any further permission errors.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-13T15:06:28.0166667+00:00

Thank you, I have set up the volumes as you suggested, but the error still shows after a restart.
I cannot access SSH, when the terminal window opens it says "SSH CONN CLOSE"
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-13T15:59:00.29+00:00

Hello Nathan Akrill,

Because your container doesn’t run an SSH server, the portal’s SSH tab will immediately close the connection. To inspect your mounted folders and confirm the permission issue, open the Azure Portal, select your Web App, then go to Advanced Tools > Debug Console > Bash (or use Development Tools > SSH). From that Bash prompt run

ls -la /var/www/html/storage ls -la /var/www/html/database

to verify that laravel.log and database.sqlite live in those folders, to see their owners and mode bits, and to confirm they aren’t writable by the www-data user. The most reliable way to fix this is to bake the permission adjustment into your Docker image’s startup rather than relying on the App Service startup command. Add an entrypoint.sh alongside your Dockerfile with these contents:

#!/bin/sh chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database chmod -R u+rwX,g+rwX /var/www/html/storage /var/www/html/database exec "$@"

then update your Dockerfile to copy and invoke this script before launching PHP-FPM:

FROM php:8.1-fpm RUN mkdir -p /var/www/html/database /var/www/html/storage/logs COPY entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh COPY . /var/www/html ENTRYPOINT ["/usr/local/bin/entrypoint.sh"] CMD ["php-fpm"]

Rebuild and redeploy this image so that as soon as your Azure File Share mounts to /var/www/html/storage and /var/www/html/database, the script will immediately set the correct owner and permissions and then hand off to PHP-FPM. At that point Laravel will be able to append to its log and open the SQLite database without any more permission errors.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-16T07:54:00.3266667+00:00

Using the bash terminal, I have found the files - they are located at /store/database and /store/storage .
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-16T10:01:16.39+00:00

With the addition of the entrypoint scripts, and if I set the Volume sub path to /store/storage/ I don't get the permissions error any more, but I still get:

"Database file at path [/var/www/html/database/database.sqlite] does not exist."

Answer 1

Bodapati Harish 820 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Nathan Akrill, the issue you're facing is happening because the volume sub path you're mounting doesn't correctly line up with where Laravel expects to find the database file.

You've confirmed that the file database.sqlite exists inside /store/database, and Laravel is looking for it at /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite. But from your message, it seems you've mounted /store/storage to /var/www/html/database, which is incorrect. That means Laravel is trying to find the SQLite file in a path that now actually points to the contents of /store/storage, not /store/database.

To fix this, go to your Azure App Service container configuration and update the volume mounts so that the correct file share subfolders are mounted to the right container paths. You should configure the volume mounts exactly like this:

Volume sub path: store/storage < Container mount path: /var/www/html/storage

Volume sub path: store/database < Container mount path: /var/www/html/database

This ensures that Laravel’s expected runtime paths point directly to the folders in your Azure File Share where the actual files exist.

Also make sure the file database.sqlite exists inside /store/database and is a valid SQLite file (not empty or locked), or allow Laravel to create it on first use. Keep your entrypoint.sh script in place to apply permissions at container startup. That script should set correct ownership and write permissions for both the storage and database directories.

Once you apply the correct volume mapping and restart the app, Laravel will be able to find and access both the log and the database files without issue. You do not need to change any Laravel configuration files this is entirely about aligning the file system mounts properly.

Hope this helps!

If the answer is helpful, please click Accept Answer and kindly upvote it. If you have any further questions, please reply back.

Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-16T13:45:30.44+00:00

Apologies, I was generalising. Here are the exact paths I am mapping:

If I change these, I get the previously seen permissions error. But in this state I get the "file does not exist" error.

The file is located in my File Share at /database/database.sqlite/
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-16T15:30:42.7466667+00:00
Hi Nathan Akrill,

Just try to open the App Service Bash console and run these commands to replace the folder with a real SQLite file and give Laravel access:

rm -rf /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite touch /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite chmod 664 /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite

Then restart your app. Laravel will now find and open the actual database.sqlite file without error. If you have any further questions, please reply back.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-17T07:45:25.4966667+00:00

I have made those changes, but the web app still errors with
"Database file at path [/var/www/html/database/database.sqlite] does not exist."
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-17T09:23:33.1733333+00:00
Hi Nathan Akrill,

Thanks for the update. The error is still happening because either the database.sqlite file was created as a folder by mistake, or the file doesn't actually exist inside the mounted Azure File Share. Laravel is looking for a real file at /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite, and if it's missing or is a folder, it won’t work.

Here’s how you can fix this step by step from the App Service Bash console:

First, check what exists in the database folder:

ls -la /var/www/html/database

If you see that database.sqlite is a directory (it starts with d like drwxrwxrwx), you need to delete it:

rm -rf /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite

Now create a new, empty file with the correct name:

touch /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite

Set the right ownership so Laravel (which runs as www-data) can access it:

chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite

Set the correct file permissions:

chmod 664 /var/www/html/database/database.sqlite

Also make sure the entire database folder has correct access:

chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/database chmod -R u+rwX,g+rwX /var/www/html/database

After this, restart your App Service.

These steps will make sure the database.sqlite file is correctly created as a file (not a folder), saved inside the mounted Azure File Share, and accessible to Laravel. Once this is done, Laravel will be able to find and use the file, and the error will go away.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-17T09:57:33.52+00:00

When I look in the bash console, even the /var/www folder does not exist, but I can see the mounted File Share at /store .

Should I update the path mappings? Or go ahead and create the folders under /var/www ?
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-17T12:53:12.13+00:00
Hello Nathan Akrill,

Thanks for the clarification. You don’t need to manually create the /var/www or /var/www/html folders inside the container. The reason you're not seeing those paths is because your Azure File Share is currently mounted only at /store, which is not where Laravel expects its storage and database folders.

Laravel is looking for files like database.sqlite and laravel.log inside /var/www/html/database and /var/www/html/storage, but since nothing is mounted there, those folders don’t exist in your container’s file system.

To fix this properly, yes—you should update your volume path mappings so that Azure mounts the File Share subfolders directly to the paths Laravel is using. In the Azure portal, go to your App Service → Containers → Volumes. Update the mappings like this:

Mount the database subfolder from your File Share to /var/www/html/database

Mount the storage subfolder from your File Share to /var/www/html/storage

After saving the changes and restarting your app, the /var/www/html folder will appear automatically in the Bash console, because it will be created as part of the mount process. Laravel will then be able to find the required files, and you won’t need to create anything manually inside the container.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-17T13:40:24.77+00:00

The volumes are already mapped this way... unless I'm looking in the wrong place?

Here is how I have the Path Mapping set up in the Web App Configuration. I chagned it to /var/www/html and in the bash console I can now see the correct folders and files, but the web app still errors saying the file does not exist.
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-17T14:18:55.52+00:00
Thanks, Nathan Akrill. I checked all your screenshots, and the main issue is that you're mounting the whole file share to /var/www/html while also mounting the storage and database folders separately. The full mount is replacing your Laravel app code inside the container, so even though the database.sqlite file exists, Laravel can’t run properly and shows the “file does not exist” error.

You only need the two mounts:

storage → /var/www/html/storage

database → /var/www/html/database

But right now, there's an extra one:

BBSidecarStorageMount → /var/www/html (this is the one causing the problem)

Please delete the /var/www/html mount. After that, restart your app.
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-17T14:36:10.2366667+00:00

Ok, I have made these updates, here is the current configuration:

Using the bash shell, I can locate the File Share files at /storage and /database.

The Web App still errors:
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-17T15:09:22.7933333+00:00

Hi Nathan Akrill, your volume mounts are almost correct now, but the final issue is that your Azure Storage Mounts are pointing to /storage and /database, while Laravel is looking for the files at /var/www/html/storage and /var/www/html/database.

To fix this, go to App Service → Configuration → Path mappings, and change the mount paths:

From /storage → to /var/www/html/storage

From /database → to /var/www/html/database

This will align the actual file locations with what Laravel expects. After making this change and restarting the app,
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-17T15:25:54.25+00:00

That still hasn't fixed the error.
Here is my config:
Bodapati Harish 820 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-06-17T16:34:03.87+00:00

Hi Nathan Akrill, please check the private messages and replay back
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-23T10:16:42.16+00:00

Hi! I would like to make some progress on this. Please can we continue the discussion?
Nathan Akrill 0 Reputation points

2025-06-24T09:04:24.8966667+00:00

Is there nothing else that can be done? Please assist me with this.

Volume sub path	Container mount path
/store/storage	/var/www/html/storage
/store/database	/var/www/html/database

File Share	Sub Path	Container Path
myshare	storage	/var/www/html/storage
myshare	storage	`/var/www/html/storage`
myshare	database	`/var/www/html/database`

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Laravel in Web App Container permissions error with Azure File Share

1 answer

Your answer