This is a BASH script that will change permissions on the various directories of a Wordpress site, including the entire site. The script assumes that you have a different user and group permissions set on the directory; the permissions on each folder and file should be defined something like this <user>:<web server user>. In this way your user a…

wp_secure.sh

#!/bin/bash
#
# Copyright (C) 2013  Tad DeVries <tad@splunk.net>
#
# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
# the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
# Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later 
# version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT 
# ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
# FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more 
# details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with 
# this program.  If not, see [http://www.gnu.org/licenses/].

WPDIR="/var/www/localhost/htdocs/blog/wp"
UNLOCKEDFILE=".unlocked"
WORKDIR=""
FORCE=false
LOCK=false
UNLOCK=false

lock () {
	if [[ -f "$UNLOCKEDFILE"_$WORKDIR ]] || $FORCE; then
		if $FORCE; then
			echo "FORCED: Locking $WPDIR/$WORKDIR"
		else
			echo "Locking $WPDIR/$WORKDIR"
		fi

		sudo find $WPDIR/$WORKDIR -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;
		sudo find $WPDIR/$WORKDIR -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
		rm -f "$UNLOCKEDFILE"_$WORKDIR

		if [ "$WORKDIR" == "" ]; then
			rm -f "$UNLOCKEDFILE"_*
		fi
	else
		echo "$WORKDIR already locked, use --force to override"
	fi
}

unlock () {
	if [[ ! -f "$UNLOCKEDFILE"_$WORKDIR ]] && [[ ! -f "$UNLOCKEDFILE"_ ]] || $FORCE; then
		if $FORCE; then
			echo "FORCED: Unlocking $WPDIR/$WORKDIR"
		else
			echo "Unlocking $WPDIR/$WORKDIR"
		fi

		sudo find $WPDIR/$WORKDIR -type f -exec chmod 664 {} \;
		sudo find $WPDIR/$WORKDIR -type d -exec chmod 775 {} \;
		touch "$UNLOCKEDFILE"_$WORKDIR
	else
		echo "$WORKDIR already unlocked, use --force to override"
	fi
}

usage () {
	echo "usage: wp_secure.sh <<-l|--lock>|<-u|--unlock>> <-d|--directory> <directory> [-f|--force] [-h|--help]"
}

if [[ $# -lt 1 ]]; then
	usage
	exit 1
fi

while [[ "$1" != "" ]]; do
	case $1 in
		-l | --lock )		if $UNLOCK; then
						echo "Only define one option (lock/unlock) at a time"
						exit 1
					else
						LOCK=true
					fi
					;;
		-u | --unlock )		if $LOCK; then
						echo "Only define one option (lock/unlock) at a time"
						exit 1
					else
						UNLOCK=true
					fi
					;;
		-f | --force )		FORCE=true
					;;							
		-d | --directory )	shift
					if [[ -d $WPDIR/$1 ]]; then
						WORKDIR=$1
					else
						echo "$1 is not a valid Wordpress directory"
						exit 1
					fi
					;;
		-h | --help )		usage
					exit
					;;
		* )			usage
					exit 1
	esac
	shift
done

if $LOCK; then
	lock
elif $UNLOCK; then
	unlock
fi