what to do now: installed apache2, php and mysql, can get into folders locked

[spelunko]

Hello, I hope someone will help a newbie to ubuntu and magento. After days trying to install xampp, with no success. I decided to install each app. Individually. After this, I found to directories /var and sub directories mmm and html locked. I learned that if I do a chmod 755 on those directories. I could save files (megentos) in to these folders. But I do not know how to use to terminal. How do I go into the directories mentioned? Into which folder do I place Magento’s files? Thanks for hints and tips on doing this.

[AHLeslie]

Hello,

This depends entirely on how you setup the environment. As you did not use a LAMP install your directories/configurations likely aren't default as they can change depending on the distro/etc. With that in mind, you will first need to setup your vhosts in the Apache2 config, this will allow you to specify your own directories for the actual files.

In any case, I highly suggest against trying to run your own environment if you are not fully comfortable with the command line. You will run into a lot of problems that require you to know what you are doing. If this environment is meant for testing you can ignore that suggestion.