Permission error when upgrading from 3.9.8 to 3.9.20

[free-admin]

Hi,
I recently upgraded my server and now I am trying to upgrade Joomla from 3.9.8 to 3.9.20, but I get the following permission warnings:

Code: Select all

Warning: file_put_contents(...../public_html/administrator/logs/joomla_update.php): failed to open stream: Permission denied in ..../libraries/src/Filesystem/File.php on line 450

Warning:file_put_contents( ..... / administrator/components/com_joomlaupdate/restoration.php): failed to open stream: Permission denied in  ...... /libraries/src/Filesystem/File.php on line 450
Updating your Joomla files

, and the update process halts for hours, although the last statement falsely say's that it is updating Joomla!

The website's root directory is located in /home/some-user/....

Also, when I tried to backup the site before attempting the update, I got write permission error for the the Akeeba's output directory !

I have not changed any permissions! same directory structure, same permissions! On Akeeba's site people suggest that the output directory has to be writable for the www-data user. In my case, it was only readable before, and I could easily backup the site!
Anyways, I had to give the www-data user write permission for the output directory in order to save the backup, but I am not sure if this was the right thing to do!

Any Idea what could go wrong?!

[Webdongle]

https://forumpostassistant.github.io/docs/ please

[Per Yngve Berg]

Please post your FPA as suggested by Webdongle.

Your server probably have Web Server to php interface Apachehandler instead of fcgi. That causes file/folder owner permission issues.

Is this your own server or a hosted?

[free-admin]

Sorry, I had problem sending replies!
Yes, I have full access to the server, and our server uses fpm-fcgi
I post the FPA below:

Joomla! Instance :: Joomla! 3.9.8-Stable (Amani) 11-June-2019
Joomla! Platform :: Joomla Platform 13.1.0-Stable (Curiosity) 24-Apr-2013
Joomla! Configured :: Yes | Read-Only (444) |
Configuration Options :: Offline: false | SEF: true | SEF Suffix: false | SEF ReWrite: true | .htaccess/web.config: Yes | GZip: false | Cache: true | CacheTime: 15 | CacheHandler: file | CachePlatformPrefix: false | FTP Layer: false | Proxy: false | LiveSite: | Session lifetime: 15 | Session handler: database | Shared sessions: false | SSL: 0 | Error Reporting: maximum | Site Debug: false | Language Debug: false | Default Access: 1 | Unicode Slugs: false | dbConnection Type: mysqli | PHP Supports J! 3.9.8: Yes | Database Supports J! 3.9.8: Yes | Database Credentials Present: Yes |

Host Configuration :: OS: Linux | OS Version: 4.19.0-9-686-pae | Technology: i686 | Web Server: Apache/2.4.38 (Debian) | Encoding: gzip, deflate | System TMP Writable: Yes | Free Disk Space : 339.36 GiB |

PHP Configuration :: Version: 7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb | PHP API: fpm-fcgi | Session Path Writable: Yes | Display Errors: | Error Reporting: 22527 | Log Errors To: | Last Known Error: | Register Globals: | Magic Quotes: | Safe Mode: | Allow url fopen: 1 | Open Base: | Uploads: 1 | Max. Upload Size: 2M | Max. POST Size: 8M | Max. Input Time: 60 | Max. Execution Time: 30 | Memory Limit: 128M

Database Configuration :: Version: 5.5.5-10.3.23-MariaDB-0+deb10u1 (Client:mysqlnd 5.0.12-dev - 20150407 - $Id: 7cc7cc96e675f6d72e5cf0f267f48e167c2abb23 $) | Database Size: 16.16 MiB | #of Tables with config prefix:  115 | #of other Tables:  0 | User Privileges : GRANT SELECTUser Privileges : INSERTUser Privileges : UPDATEUser Privileges : DELETEUser Privileges : CREATEUser Privileges : DROPUser Privileges : INDEXUser Privileges : ALTERUser Privileges : CREATE TEMPORARY TABLESUser Privileges : LOCK TABLES ON `physics_database`.* TO `physics-user`@`localhost`

PHP Extensions :: Core (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | date (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | libxml (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | openssl (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | pcre (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | zlib (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | filter (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | hash (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | Reflection (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | SPL (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | sodium (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | session (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | standard (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | cgi-fcgi () | mysqlnd (mysqlnd 5.0.12-dev - 20150407 - $Id: 7cc7cc96e675f6d72e5cf0f267f48e167c2abb23 $) | PDO (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | xml (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | calendar (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | ctype (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | curl (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | dom (20031129) | mbstring (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | fileinfo (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | ftp (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | gettext (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | iconv (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | intl (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | json (1.7.0) | exif (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | mysqli (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | odbc (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | pdo_dblib (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | pdo_mysql (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | PDO_ODBC (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | Phar (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | posix (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | readline (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | recode (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | shmop (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | SimpleXML (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | snmp (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | soap (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | sockets (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | sysvmsg (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | sysvsem (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | sysvshm (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | tidy (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | tokenizer (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | wddx (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | xmlreader (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | xmlwriter (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | xsl (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | Zend OPcache (7.3.20-1+0~20200710.65+debian10~1.gbpc9cbeb) | Zend Engine (3.3.20) |
Potential Missing Extensions :: zip |
Disabled Functions :: pcntl_alarm | pcntl_fork | pcntl_waitpid | pcntl_wait | pcntl_wifexited | pcntl_wifstopped | pcntl_wifsignaled | pcntl_wifcontinued | pcntl_wexitstatus | pcntl_wtermsig | pcntl_wstopsig | pcntl_signal | pcntl_signal_get_handler | pcntl_signal_dispatch | pcntl_get_last_error | pcntl_strerror | pcntl_sigprocmask | pcntl_sigwaitinfo | pcntl_sigtimedwait | pcntl_exec | pcntl_getpriority | pcntl_setpriority | pcntl_async_signals | |

Switch User Environment :: PHP CGI: No | Server SU: No | PHP SU: No | Potential Ownership Issues: Yes

Core Folders :: images/ (755) | components/ (755) | modules/ (755) | plugins/ (755) | language/ (755) | templates/ (755) | cache/ (755) | logs/ (755) | tmp/ (775) | administrator/components/ (755) | administrator/modules/ (755) | administrator/language/ (755) | administrator/templates/ (755) | administrator/logs/ (755) |

Elevated Permissions (First 10) :: tmp/ (775) |

Database statistics :: Uptime: 228954 | Threads: 7 | Questions: 90105 | Slow queries: 0 | Opens: 172 | Flush tables: 1 | Open tables: 166 | Queries per second avg: 0.393 |

Components :: Site ::
Core :: com_mailto (3.0.0) 1 | com_wrapper (3.0.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: WF_TEXTCASE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_XHTMLXTRAS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_FONTCOLOR_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_CHARMAP_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_SOURCE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_INLINEPOPUPS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_SEARCHREPLACE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_FONTSELECT_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_EMOTIONS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_ARTICLE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_SPELLCHECKER_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_LAYER_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_PREVIEW_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_LISTS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_STYLE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_DIRECTIONALITY_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_HR_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_STYLESELECT_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_BROWSER_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_ANCHOR_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_IMGMANAGER_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_CLEANUP_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_CONTEXTMENU_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_CLIPBOARD_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_MEDIA_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_FORMATSELECT_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_AUTOSAVE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_LINK_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_PRINT_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_VISUALCHARS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_KITCHENSINK_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_NONBREAKING_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_VISUALBLOCKS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_TABLE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_FULLSCREEN_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_FONTSIZESELECT_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_FILESYSTEM_JOOMLA_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_POPUPS_JCEMEDIABOX_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_POPUPS_WINDOW_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_DAILYMOTION_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_[youtube]_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_VINE_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_AGGREGATOR_VIMEO_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_LINK_SEARCH_TITLE (2.6.8) ? | WF_LINKS_JOOMLALINKS_TITLE (2.6.8) ? |

Components :: Admin ::
Core :: com_ajax (3.2.0) 1 | com_checkin (3.0.0) 1 | com_installer (3.0.0) 1 | com_contenthistory (3.2.0) 1 | com_redirect (3.0.0) 1 | com_login (3.0.0) 1 | com_postinstall (3.2.0) 1 | com_languages (3.0.0) 1 | com_modules (3.0.0) 1 | com_finder (3.0.0) 1 | com_messages (3.0.0) 1 | com_cpanel (3.0.0) 1 | com_content (3.0.0) 1 | com_plugins (3.0.0) 1 | com_newsfeeds (3.0.0) 1 | com_config (3.0.0) 1 | com_weblinks (3.7.0) 1 | com_media (3.0.0) 1 | com_banners (3.0.0) 1 | com_admin (3.0.0) 1 | com_fields (3.7.0) 1 | com_joomlaupdate (3.6.2) 1 | com_cache (3.0.0) 1 | com_categories (3.0.0) 1 | com_users (3.0.0) 1 | com_actionlogs (3.9.0) 1 | com_tags (3.1.0) 1 | com_menus (3.0.0) 1 | com_privacy (3.9.0) 1 | com_search (3.0.0) 1 | com_associations (3.7.0) 1 | com_templates (3.0.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: Admintools (5.3.1) 1 | COM_OSMAP (4.2.12) 1 | Akeeba (7.0.2) 1 | COM_JCE (2.6.8) 1 | visforms (3.13.14) 1 |

Modules :: Site ::
Core :: mod_tags_popular (3.1.0) 1 | mod_wrapper (3.0.0) 1 | mod_footer (3.0.0) 1 | mod_custom (3.0.0) 1 | mod_weblinks (3.7.0) 1 | mod_finder (3.0.0) 1 | mod_banners (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_latest (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_popular (3.0.0) 1 | mod_breadcrumbs (3.0.0) 1 | mod_users_latest (3.0.0) 1 | mod_languages (3.5.0) 1 | mod_stats (3.0.0) 1 | mod_whosonline (3.0.0) 1 | mod_related_items (3.0.0) 1 | mod_random_image (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_news (3.0.0) 1 | mod_feed (3.0.0) 1 | mod_tags_similar (3.1.0) 1 | mod_articles_categories (3.0.0) 1 | mod_menu (3.0.0) 1 | mod_search (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_category (3.0.0) 1 | mod_syndicate (3.0.0) 1 | mod_login (3.0.0) 1 | mod_articles_archive (3.0.0) 1 |
3rd Party:: Visforms (3.17.3) 1 | News Show Pro GK5 (1.9.3.8) 1 | Vinaora Nivo Slider (3.3.0) 1 |

Modules :: Admin ::
Core :: mod_latest (3.0.0) 1 | mod_custom (3.0.0) 1 | mod_latestactions (3.9.0) 1 | mod_sampledata (3.8.0) 1 | mod_logged (3.0.0) 1 | mod_popular (3.0.0) 1 | mod_quickicon (3.0.0) 1 | mod_title (3.0.0) 1 | mod_submenu (3.0.0) 1 | mod_toolbar (3.0.0) 1 | mod_version (3.0.0) 1 | mod_multilangstatus (3.0.0) 1 | mod_feed (3.0.0) 1 | mod_menu (3.0.0) 1 | mod_privacy_dashboard (3.9.0) 1 | mod_login (3.0.0) 1 | mod_stats_admin (3.0.0) 1 | mod_status (3.0.0) 1 |
3rd Party::

Libraries ::
Core ::
3rd Party:: file_fof30 (3.5.1) ? |

Plugins ::
Core :: PLG_ACTIONLOG_JOOMLA (3.9.0) 1 | plg_fields_calendar (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_integer (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_textarea (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_list (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_sql (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_radio (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_user (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_checkboxes (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_media (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_repeatable (3.9.0) 1 | plg_fields_color (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_editor (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_imagelist (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_url (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_text (3.7.0) 1 | plg_fields_usergrouplist (3.7.0) 1 | PLG_INSTALLER_URLINSTALLER (3.6.0) 1 | plg_installer_packageinstaller (3.6.0) 1 | plg_installer_webinstaller (2.1.2) 1 | PLG_INSTALLER_FOLDERINSTALLER (3.6.0) 1 | plg_twofactorauth_yubikey (3.2.0) 0 | plg_twofactorauth_totp (3.2.0) 1 | plg_content_loadmodule (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_confirmconsent (3.9.0) 0 | plg_content_pagenavigation (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_fields (3.7.0) 1 | plg_content_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_pagebreak (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_vote (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_emailcloak (3.0.0) 1 | plg_content_finder (3.0.0) 0 | plg_user_terms (3.9.0) 0 | plg_user_profile (3.0.0) 0 | plg_user_contactcreator (3.0.0) 0 | plg_user_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_redirect (3.0.0) 0 | plg_system_stats (3.5.0) 1 | plg_system_fields (3.7.0) 1 | plg_system_logout (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_log (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_debug (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_p3p (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_privacyconsent (3.9.0) 0 | plg_system_sef (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_updatenotification (3.5.0) 1 | plg_system_languagefilter (3.0.0) 0 | PLG_SYSTEM_ACTIONLOGS (3.9.0) 0 | plg_system_remember (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_languagecode (3.0.0) 0 | plg_system_highlight (3.0.0) 1 | plg_system_logrotation (3.9.0) 1 | plg_system_sessiongc (3.8.6) 1 | plg_system_weblinks (3.7.0) 0 | plg_system_cache (3.0.0) 0 | plg_captcha_recaptcha (3.4.0) 1 | plg_captcha_recaptcha_invisible (3.8) 0 | plg_search_categories (3.0.0) 1 | plg_search_newsfeeds (3.0.0) 1 | plg_search_content (3.0.0) 1 | plg_search_tags (3.0.0) 0 | plg_search_contacts (3.0.0) 1 | plg_search_weblinks (3.7.0) 1 | plg_finder_categories (3.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_newsfeeds (3.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_content (3.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_tags (3.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_contacts (3.0.0) 1 | plg_finder_weblinks (3.7.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_fields (3.7.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_article (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_menu (3.7.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_weblink (3.7.0) 0 | plg_editors-xtd_image (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_pagebreak (3.0.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_module (3.5.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_readmore (3.0.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_privacycheck (3.9.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_phpversioncheck (3.7.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_extensionupdate (3.0.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_joomlaupdate (3.0.0) 1 | plg_privacy_content (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_user (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_consents (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_actionlogs (3.9.0) 1 | plg_privacy_message (3.9.0) 1 | plg_extension_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_authentication_joomla (3.0.0) 1 | plg_authentication_cookie (3.0.0) 1 | plg_authentication_gmail (3.0.0) 0 | plg_authentication_ldap (3.0.0) 0 |
3rd Party:: PLG_ACTIONLOG_ADMINTOOLS (1.0) 0 | PLG_ACTIONLOG_AKEEBABACKUP (7.0.2) 0 | PLG_ACTIONLOG_VISFORMS (1.0.0) 1 | plg_installer_jce (2.6.8) 1 | plg_editors_codemirror (5.40.0) 1 | plg_editors_tinymce (4.5.11) 1 | plg_editors_jce (2.6.8) 1 | plg_content_jce (2.6.8) 1 | PLG_SYSTEM_ADMINTOOLS (5.3.1) 1 | PLG_SYSTEM_AKEEBAUPDATECHECK (7.0.2) 0 | plg_system_ossystem (1.3.0) 1 | System - Google Analytics (4.6.1) 1 | PLG_SYSTEM_BACKUPONUPDATE (7.0.2) 1 | System - Google Maps (3.5) 1 | Persian (3.9.6.1) ? | Persian (3.9.6.1) ? | Persian Language Pack (3.9.6.1) 0 | plg_system_jce (2.6.8) 1 | OSMap - Mosets Tree Plugin (3.3.0) 1 | OSMAP_PLUGIN_K2 (3.3.0) 1 | OSMap - Virtuemart Plugin (3.3.0) 1 | PLG_OSMAP_JOOMLA (4.2.12) 1 | OSMap - WebLinks Plugin (3.3.0) 1 | OSMap - SobiPro Plugin (3.3.0) 1 | OSMap - Kunena Plugin (3.3.0) 1 | plg_editors-xtd_visformfields (3.6.0) 1 | plg_quickicon_akeebabackup (7.0.2) 1 | plg_quickicon_jce (2.6.0-pro-bet) 1 | plg_privacy_visforms (1.0.0) 1 | plg_extension_jce (2.6.8) 1 | plg_visforms_visforms (1.3.0) 1 | plg_visforms_spambotcheck (3.6.1) 1 |

Templates :: Site :: protostar-v2 (1.0) 1 | protostar (1.0) 1 | beez3 (3.1.0) 1 |
Templates :: Admin :: isis (1.0) 1 | hathor (3.0.0) 1 |

I beleive the 755 permission for folders in the root directory must be the correct one, and it was working just fine before upgrading the server!

[Webdongle]

Potential Missing Extensions :: zip ... speak to your Host to activate php zip extension.

[Per Yngve Berg]

The fpm-fcgi is running as another user than owns the files. Therefore permissions to file owner does not work.

Check the .conf file for fpm located in /etc/php/7.3/fpm/pool.d

user = Linux username
group = Linux Groupname

[free-admin]

The fpm-fcgi is running as another user than owns the files. Therefore permissions to file owner does not work.

Thanks. I am away for a couple of days. I'll check that when I return to work, and let you know the result.

[free-admin]

The fpm-fcgi is running as another user than owns the files. Therefore permissions to file owner does not work.

Check the .conf file for fpm located in /etc/php/7.3/fpm/pool.d

user = Linux username
group = Linux Groupname

both were www-data. the owner of the Joomla directory is some-user. I changed the first line to user= some-user, but got the same exact error again!

[free-admin]

I am really confused here. This just shouldn't be so hard!

According to viewtopic.php?t=977883 since my site is using fpm-cgi, then Joomla runs as some-user who is also the owner of the Joomla's folders wtih 755 permision for folders and 644 for the files there (except for configuration.php, which has 644 permission).

So, why am I again getting permission errors when I try to update Joomla or backup the site?!!
As I mentioned above setting the user= and listen.owner= to some-user didn't resolve the issue!

This is really driving me crazy!

[Webdongle]

Max. Upload Size: 2M | Max. POST Size: 8M ... set both to at least 64M
Enable the php zip extension ... if the the files are not unzipped then they can not be found and thus can not be written.

[free-admin]

Max. Upload Size: 2M | Max. POST Size: 8M ... set both to at least 64M
Enable the php zip extension ... if the the files are not unzipped then they can not be found and thus can not be written.

The zip extension is activated now. I will increase the upload and post sizes tomorrow when I can access the server, but I don't believe these cause the problem! The issue is that the Joomla user is unable to write to folders that he owns and has given write permission to those folders!

[free-admin]

OK, I managed to solve this problem by hints from:

https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/ap ... ntu-16-04/

Apparently, the

Code: Select all

 libapache2-mod-fcgid 

was missing! So, I installed it and
did:

Code: Select all

a2enmod actions fastcgi alias 

, and restart apache2.

I don't get permission errors any more, and was able to backup the site and upgrade Joomla to 3.9.20

[free-admin]

Now I am starting to think why did I have to go trough all these troubles?!

We have a pretty simple website that mostly displays texts and images, no data download, or search, or uploading, no fancy applications, etc! I could have just used a simple flat-file CMS , like Pico from the very beginning to build our site and don't care about the database-php communications, php compatibility, and all those hassles!

Anyways, at the time we set up this site someone else decided that Joomla would be the right choice, It wasn't my fault!

[Webdongle]

Now I am starting to think why did I have to go trough all these troubles?!...

Because when you updated the server you did not do it correctly

The fpm-fcgi is running as another user than owns the files. Therefore permissions to file owner does not work....

... The issue is that the Joomla user is unable to write to folders that he owns and has given write permission to those folders!

Nope it did not have Ownership until you reconfigured your server update

...
Apparently, the

Code: Select all

 libapache2-mod-fcgid 

was missing! So, I installed it and
did:

Code: Select all

a2enmod actions fastcgi alias 

...

Perhaps next time you need a server update you employ an expert to perform it? That would certainly save you time and effort but it would take away from your learning experience. Generally speaking server updates/maintenance is best done by people who are experienced in that area.

[Per Yngve Berg]

The question is why do you run your own server?

For a simple site, you could have lived happily on a shared host or a managed VPS where your host keep it up to date.

[free-admin]

Perhaps next time you need a server update you employ an expert to perform it? That would certainly save you time and effort but it would take away from your learning experience. Generally speaking server updates/maintenance is best done by people who are experienced in that area.

You are right! this sounds like a reasonable approach. I've been using Linux for a while and usually feel confident with tasks like updating the OS, but I didn't have much experience with setting up a web server!

Like what I wrote before, people say that when using fcgi the Joomla user is the owner of the index.php file.
In my case, this was exactly the user who owned the Joomla root directory and the folders in there. On the other hand, I did not change the owner of this directory, neither did I change any permissions during the server update!
I assume when you update the OS it doesn't change file permissions or ownerships. In Linux usually if you had modified a config file, say by hand, and the update process finds out that the installed config file is different from the new one that it is trying to install, it asks you whether you want to keep your old version or replace it with the new one.

I am still confused as what the problem was
Anyways, thank you for your helpful comments.

[free-admin]

The question is why do you run your own server?

Good question! In an ideal world I shouldn't!
we are part of an institution with servers run by "experts".
Actually at some point we decided to move our website to one of those "official" servers, but they have very rigid policies, a very small disk space, very limited access and edit controls, etc! So, we decided we would be better off to run our own server! Maybe we were wrong!

[leolam]

It wasn't my fault!

It was since you did not configure your server properly

Besides that your max-upload and max_post are way low. Set to 64M both...Max execution time 90 sec. Permissions files "644" and folders "755" (default for any CMS). MariaDB outdated

(just to mention a few or the wrong settings I see)

Outdated Joomla (we are on Joomla 3.9.20) and outdated extensions...you do not manage your site well. All ahead of current Joomla version is outdated and vulnerable

Leo

[Webdongle]

...
Outdated Joomla (we are on Joomla 3.9.20) and outdated extensions...

Yes, that would be because the OP was not able to update at the time the fpa result was posted.

[leolam]

...
Outdated Joomla (we are on Joomla 3.9.20) and outdated extensions...

Yes, that would be because the OP was not able to update at the time the fpa result was posted.

Yep because he had or has a bad server config so no discussion

Leo

[free-admin]

Besides that your max-upload and max_post are way low. Set to 64M both...Max execution time 90 sec. Permissions files "644" and folders "755" (default for any CMS). MariaDB outdated

Outdated Joomla (we are on Joomla 3.9.20) and outdated extensions.

I set both to 64M, as instructed. Permissions were exactly as above (standard permissions). I was not able to update Joomla until today, now I am on 3.9.20.

Hopefully, everything should be OK now.

Again, the joomla user was not able to write to the folders he owened, and now he is, without me setting new permissions or ownership! This is what still bothers me.

Thank you all.

[Webdongle]

...
Again, the joomla user was not able to write to the folders he owened, and now he is, without me setting new permissions or ownership! This is what still bothers me.
...

Yep ... begs the question, who else can write to the files?

[free-admin]

Yep ... begs the question, who else can write to the files?

The Joomla user, some-user, who ownes the folders belongs to the www-data group, but since the permission for the Joomla folders is 755, other members of this group or others don't have write permission. So, other than some-user only root can write in those folders. That's all I know about permissions.

[Webdongle]

My point is
Owners (Joomla user, some-user) and non Owners were unable to write
That is to say that Permissions 755 were not being used.
You made changes that allowed Owners (Joomla user, some-user) to write.
Question is ... did the changes allow the Permissions to be observed or did the changes override the Permissions?

Bottom line. If you do not fully understand how the changes enabled Owners to write (when they couldn't before) how do you know non Owners weren't affected by the changes as well?

[free-admin]

Question is ... did the changes allow the Permissions to be observed or did the changes override the Permissions?

I don't know! I did not manually override permissions. Hopefully, your first guess must be true.

If you do not fully understand how the changes enabled Owners to write (when they couldn't before) how do you know non Owners weren't affected by the changes as well?

How can I investigate this? I would be surprised if non owners are affected!
Maybe some sort of bug was preventing the owner from writing which is fixed now! I am just gussing.

[Webdongle]

...
Maybe some sort of bug was preventing the owner from writing which is fixed now! I am just gussing.

That's why server maintenance is best performed by experienced technicians, they know the security risks.

[leolam]

That's why server maintenance is best performed by experienced technicians, they know the security risks.

I do not know how it is possible but we do agree finally for once!

Leo