11 February 2014, 1:21

Hi- new to the world here

Tried installing Mahara on managed host- didnt work

Then got myself a VPS from 1&! Linux.  Sorted databases and root access for maharadata.

Installed second time wround- I could see all the pages that admin sees but when I tried to click on public site' I got an error 500

I could go back through my IE to the previous page and saw all the other features of Mahara.  When I closed down mahara, it wouldnt launch again and I got a 500 error.

I looked on root and I dont see a .htaccess file. so I downlaoded zip and gz to see if there was a htaccess file that I could copy up using FTP- nothing evern though I read that Mahara coms with a .htaccess file.

So I am on the first trouble shooter issue error 500 but I cant seem to get my fingers on a htaccess file ( which has the right stuff in)

I have copied a htacccess file from joomla- but surprisingly it doidnt do anything.

So I think I need a .htaccess file - I know I can create one as htaccess and then uload and change to .ht access in filexzilla- but what goes in the .htaccess file please?

many thanks from a newbie.  I've been working on this for two weeks now- trying to sort but arrived at this blank wall.  be greateful for any assitance.

Mahara 1.8.0 ( and 1.8.1 tried) Mysql 5.1.7

thanks- Brendan

11 February 2014, 6:53

Hi Brendan,

What exactly is the 500 error that you see in the error logs? Are you able to post it here?

Mahara can run fine without needing an .htaccess file - but you may need one depending on the setup.

But without knowing what is causing the 500 error it is hard to diagnose the problem

Cheers

Robert

11 February 2014, 7:03

Hi Thanks Robert

This is the error log

[Mon Feb 10 08:35:41 2014] [error] [client 157.55.32.62] File does not exist: /var/www/vhosts/default/htdocs/robots.txt

[Mon Feb 10 12:55:45 2014] [error] [client 190.85.128.185] script not found or unable to stat: /var/www/cgi-bin/cgi_wrapper/php

and this is the suexec apache log from around the time I managed to get it working and then it didnt. 

[2014-02-10 08:25:13]: uid: (10000/brendan) gid: (505/505) cmd: cgi_wrapper
[2014-02-10 10:55:23]: uid: (10000/brendan) gid: (505/505) cmd: cgi_wrapper
[2014-02-10 11:23:04]: uid: (10000/brendan) gid: (505/505) cmd: cgi_wrapper

I've taken it all down now and uploading it again and creating new db and clearing out maharadata and uploading via zip and extracting in my container so to make sure my filezilla doesnt miss any hidden files.

So excrutiatingly close- btw - I've no coding or progaramming background- but am enjoying myself!

thanks

Brendan

11 February 2014, 7:48

Hi Richard

Thanks for your help and interest.  I have taken down everything and uploade everything- I've made screen shots but I cant post them here so will try to describe what happens.. (one note is useful isnt it!)

1. I successfully loaded mahara and pressed continue button
2. I then got a 500 error syaing the website has a programming error
3. I then clicked go back to previous page and got the IE retry button and clicke retry
4. I was then taken back to the page that has the new password and confirm password and email- and I did all those- it also said my PDP entorpy was too small that my php post max size needs resetting that my server has the php open_basedir restriction enalbles and no sitwide password had been enabled-
5. I put in my new password and email, clicked submit- and again got 500 error same as above
6. I clcicked on the go back and got an webpage has expired-
7. I clicked referesh and got the pop up I again Retry
8. Clicked that and got a confirmation that my password hasd been saved
9. I could then go onto the admin home configure site users, groups , institutions and extenssions and access their sub directories eg configure site/site options/site settings etc
10. however when I click return to site green button I get the 500 error I can refresh and then go back ot all the admin pages but I cant return to site.
11. When I finally close that browser window down and then go back to domain/mahara- I get the 500 error and cant get back to the site at all

phew- pictures are easier- does this make any sense?  I.'m so close.... I can see 6 of the seven buttons.

I've left the window open this time- just in case I need to do something within mahara itself

thanks again

Brendan

11 February 2014, 22:58

Thanks Robert

I have now re-installed Mahara with zip file and unzipped in my site.

I can see the Admin/Configure/Users/Groups/Institutions/Extensions but when I click on Return to site I get the 500 error but I can refresh/retry and it brings me back to  on of the other pages.

I also have these Warning signs in the Admin section:-

1. Your PHP session.entropy_length setting is too small. Set it to at least 16 in your php.ini to ensure that generated session IDs are random and unpredictable enough.
2. Your PHP post_max_size setting (8M) is smaller than your upload_max_filesize setting (128M). Uploads larger than 8M will fail without displaying an error. Usually, post_max_size should be much larger than upload_max_filesize.
3. Your server has the php open_basedir restriction enabled. Some requests for external sites may fail to complete. This could stop certain feeds from updating among other things.
4. No sitewide password salt has been set. Edit your config.php and set the "passwordsaltmain" parameter to a reasonable secret phrase

No 1- I hase looked for the php.ini file (Mahara 1.8.0) but I cnat see it- where might it be?

No 2-I've no idea where to begin to do this

No-3 Likewise- where would i find this line in which file

No-4 I will edit the config file

I'd be grateful for any assitance as I am so close to putting it up and I am excited

many thanks

Brendan

(ps any idea when I might be able to post screen shots to illustrate? Many thanks B)

11 February 2014, 6:54

Additonal note to above from me- when I go to download the 1.8.1 zip it downloads as a gz please see the screen clip

Am I dong something wrong?  If I download the 1.8 version it downloads as a zip?

I've just tried to put eh screen clip in but it wont let me as I'm new! see told you!

thanks

Brendan

12 February 2014, 22:35

Hi

Have managed to install Mahara 1.8  been a long journey almost three weeks from start.  In case anyone else has a plesk control manager the php.ini file cant be ammended from root- it has to be done within the plesk page for that domain.  So trying to amed php.ini didn't work, until I used the plesk control panel.|Probably lots of other stuff i got wromg but its up and running at the moment. 

regards- next up integration with moodle!

Brendan

19 February 2014, 8:12

Hello Brendan,

Congrats on finally getting up and running and also sharing your experience with Plesk. Normally, an installation of Mahara does not take that long, but sometimes managed services do have some hurdles in place.

Did you get the integration with Moodle sorted?

Cheers

Kristina