Configuration File Issues

[bethscox]

My issue is with a config file. I have a website that I host with an online service. Until Fri the site worked great. Now when we try to access the site we receive this message "No configuration file found and no installation code available. Exiting". When we look through the files however, we have a configuration.php-dist file. We actually reinstalled that file, but the message still appears. Is there another file that we need? Any assistance is appreciated. If I need to move this question to another forum, that information is also appreciated. Thank you.

[devilboy_1989]

the main file is "configuration.php" just upload if u have the back up or edit a new configuration.php make the necessary changes i.e. database user name..and upload...

[bethscox]

Joomla is quite knowledgable when they refer to me as a fledgling. Where do I find a configuration.php file? I looked in the Joomla I have on my pc and couldn't find it. In the source code? Also, is there a tutorial for making the necessary changes to the file? And, last, in adding this file to my site, will it modify the way that my site looks? I've done a lot of changes and additions to it and don't want to have to repeat my work. Thanks for the help!

[espprojects]

The "configuration.php-dist" file is basically a template for creating a new "configuration.php" file. Just copy it and rename it.

Then you need to edit some of the settings. The main ones you need to change are the database settings. These are things that you were asked for when you first installed Joomla, ie host name, database name, user and password.

You will also need to change the tmp_path, log_path and mail settings, which will depend on the server, but you can leave that for now and come back to it later.

Modifying the configuration file will not affect the look or content of your site. But the question remains, what happened to your original file? and what else has gone missing or been changed?