transfer site to remote host receiving "error" message Topic is solved

[Brian55]

Hello,
I am using Joomla 3.10.11.
I have backed up my site and moved files using Akeeba backup and Akeeba kickstart to a remote server so I can upgrade to Joomla 4. When I try to view the front end or the back end I get a white screen with an "error" in the top left corner.
Brian

[AMurray]

Is that remote server your web host or a different hosting service from the live site? This error is occurring before you updated to Joomal 4 correct? It's occurring after restoring your Joomla 3.10 site?

Check the PHP.ini settings for display_errors/error_reporting, and debug or however you can adjust these on your web host in your hosting account. In your Joomla configuration.php, turn on the (same) settings - error_reporting - maximum, and turn on debug, so that you should then see what "Error" is referring to. Post any error messages you see to a new reply on this forum thread.

When you say you "moved the files" did you do the restoration process as per Akeeba Kickstart's procedure? That is, you need kickstart.php and the JPA file on the server/folder you are restoring to.

Run Kickstart, it extracts all the files, and then launches the installer to restore the site; you would enter details such as those for MySQL (just as you would if you were installing Joomla for the first time).

[Brian55]

Hi A Murray,
Yes this is still my Joomla 3.10 site. I am restoring it on the same host to a different subdomain.
I changed the Configuration.php error_reporting and the debug. This is the message I receive when I open the page.

Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /tmp) in /home/www/joomla4.1.us.tempcloudsite.com/libraries/joomla/session/handler/native.php on line 260
Error: Failed to start application: Failed to start the session

[toivo]

Warning: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /tmp) in /home/www/joomla4.1.us.tempcloudsite.com/libraries/joomla/session/handler/native.php on line 260
Error: Failed to start application: Failed to start the session

Those messages usually mean that the database details or the database credentials are incorrect. Edit the file configuration.php in the main Joomla folder and fix the details. Here is an example.

Code: Select all

public $dbtype = 'mysqli';
	public $host = 'localhost';
	public $user = 'database-username;
	public $password = 'database-password';
	public $db = 'database-schema-name';
	public $dbprefix = 'ygb54_';

[AMurray]

In my experience, if the database details are incorrect, the Kickstart installer would not restore the database at all and shows an error about "username@localhost denied. Cannot connect to MySQL....." (to that effect).

The error is also saying the /tmp file is not read-writable - check those permissions - should be CHMOD 755 on Linux servers

viewtopic.php?t=981538 may provide some helpful advice as it is a similar question.

[Brian55]

I got the site to open. It was an incorrect "public $host = 'localhost';"
Thanks for the help. Now I will try to upgrade to Jooomla 4.