Installation problem, no solution found here

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DuaneN
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:27 pm

Installation problem, no solution found here

Post by DuaneN »

I'm a fairly literate computer user, familiar with HTML and hacking PHP, but not a coder or programmer by any means.

I'm on the board of a non-profit with a clubhouse and a handful of employees, and after seeing TimeTrex in action at my job, I decided to set up a LAMP server on the clubhouse LAN to move away from paper time cards.

I am using the TimeTrex Standard Edition manual installer on a local LAMP server with the following configuration:
Apache/2.2.22 (Ubuntu 12.10)
MySQL client version: 5.5.28
PHP extension: mysqli
When I run interface/install/install.php, it immediately throws an error. I turned on debugging, and get the following:
DEBUG [L0388] [882ms]: [Function](): URI: /159/TimeTrex/interface/install/License.php?external_installer=0 IP Address: 192.168.1.9
DEBUG [L0390] [882ms]: [Function](): Version: 5.1.0 Edition: 10 Production: 0 Demo Mode: 0
DEBUG [L0167] [917ms]: TTDate::setTimeZone(): Setting TimeZone: America/Chicago
HERE'S THE USEFUL PART OF THE timetrex.ini.php file:
; TimeTrex Configuration File
; *Linux* Example
;
; System paths. NO TRAILING SLASHES!
;
[path]
;URL to TimeTrex web root directory. ie: http://your.domain.com/<*BASE_URL*>
;DO NOT INCLUDE http://your.domain.com, just the directory AFTER your domain
base_url = 159/TimeTrex/interface
;
;log directory
;
;Linux
log = /var/log/timetrex

;
;Misc storage, for attachments/images
;
;Linux
storage = /var/timetrex/storage

;
;Full path and name to the PHP CLI Binary
;
;Linux
php_cli = /usr/bin/php
;
; Database connection settings. These can be set from the installer.
;
[database]
type = mysqli
;type = postgres8

host = localhost
database_name = timetrex
user = timetrex
password =
;
; Email delivery settings.
;
[mail]
;Least setup, deliver email through TimeTrex's email relay via SOAP (HTTP port 80)
delivery_method = soap

;Deliver email through local sendmail command specified in php.ini
;delivery_method = mail

;Deliver email through remote SMTP server with the following settings.
;delivery_method = smtp
;smtp_host=smtp.gmail.com
;smtp_port=587
;smtp_username=timetrex@gmail.com
;smtp_password=testpass123
;
; Cache settings
;
[cache]
enable = FALSE
;Linux
dir = /tmp/timetrex

[debug]
;Set to false if you're debugging
production = TRUE

enable = FALSE
enable_display = FALSE
buffer_output = TRUE
enable_log = FALSE
verbosity = 10
I RETURNED THIS SECTION TO DEFAULTS AFTER GETTING THE DEBUGGING INFO ABOVE


[other]
; Force all clients to use SSL.
force_ssl = FALSE
installer_enabled = TRUE
primary_company_id = 0
hostname = localhost

default_interface = flex

system_timezone = America/Chicago

FOLLOWING THE ADVICE AT: http://forums.timetrex.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5660, I HAVE USED THE SYNTAX "CST6CDT" AND OTHER ITERATIONS. THIS PARTICULAR SYNTAX IS WHAT THE SERVER TIME SETTINGS SHOW.
I'm utterly out of ideas, and nothing I have found here gives me any kind of clue about where to turn.

What the heck is wrong?

Thanks!
shaunw
Posts: 7839
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:22 pm

Re: Installation problem, no solution found here

Post by shaunw »

When I run interface/install/install.php, it immediately throws an error. I turned on debugging, and get the following:
You didn't provide the actual error message...
DuaneN
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2012 8:27 pm

Re: Installation problem, no solution found here

Post by DuaneN »

I didn't think it provided any additional information. It's generated by the Chrome browser.
Server error
The website encountered an error while retrieving http://192.168.1.7/159/TimeTrex/interfa ... nstaller=0. It may be down for maintenance or configured incorrectly.
Here are some suggestions:
Reload this webpage later.
HTTP Error 500 (Internal Server Error): An unexpected condition was encountered while the server was attempting to fulfill the request.
Firefox simply serves up a blank page. This appears to be a recurring problem -- there are several threads about this very behavior, and no real solution (or path to a solution) offered.

In one of those threads, you suggested: "A blank page means a fatal PHP error is happening, pretty much guaranteed. Check your PHP error logs or enable display_errors in your php.ini file to see what it is."

My earlier message has the output of the error display after enabling display_errors in timetrex.ini.php.

In light of another of your responses in the other thread: "Just because one PHP app works, doesn't mean they all will. TimeTrex utilizes more PHP extensions than the vast majority of other applications do, which can sometimes highlight issues with systems that wouldn't otherwise be brought to light."

Is there any documentation on what extensions are required? Chasing errors in logs to find out that an extension isn't enabled or configured correctly is an inefficient and time-consuming way to get things working. If there's a way to simply check the status of all necessary extensions, that makes a lot more sense.

Thank you again. I love this product, but I'd love it more if I could get it running.

Duane
shaunw
Posts: 7839
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:22 pm

Re: Installation problem, no solution found here

Post by shaunw »

I only see a few lines of TimeTrex debug output which unfortunately isn't helpful in this case, you need to get the PHP error that is being triggered which in turn is causing the blank page. If it was a TimeTrex error it would be displayed on the screen, but PHP is likely causing a fatal error before anything can be displayed, so you need to find that error in your Apache error logs, or PHP error logs, or enable PHP's display_errors setting so its displayed on the screen.

Typically its a really basic error, and as discussed in other threads usually related to PHP and the operating system permissions preventing TimeTrex from accessing its own files properly, so it has no choice but to fatal error. If there is no fatal error TimeTrex will inform you as to what extensions need to be enabled or other problems that may exist, but if TimeTrex can't even read the files that contain the error messages due to permissions in the operating system, you've tied its hands and there is nothing it can do.

I should add that the reason a blank screen on the install.php page is a really basic error is because the only purpose of this script is to check the very basic requirements and report any errors. It doesn't actually include any other TimeTrex code in it at all, and its extremely simple, check the PHP version, check permissions, check for one major extension, then redirect to another page.
shaunw
Posts: 7839
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:22 pm

Re: Installation problem, no solution found here

Post by shaunw »

I had our developers put together a quick debugging install.php script as a test.

Overwrite your existing install.php file with the one attached here and see if you get any output.
Attachments
install.zip
(1.48 KiB) Downloaded 487 times
shaunw
Posts: 7839
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:22 pm

Re: Installation problem, no solution found here

Post by shaunw »

Are you using PHP v5.4.x by chance?
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