Debian Install - blank page [RESOLVED] - OLD Forum of Users and Developers of Epesi BIM

Debian Install - blank page [RESOLVED]

cubic

I am impressed with the EpesiBIM demo and am now installing your software on a stand-alone PC (at localhost) to evaluate further. This is on a PC with a fresh, bare metal Debian install.

My skills at the command line are beginner level.

Hardware - i686
Platform - Debian 2.6.32-5-686 (Squeeze) - downloaded as a netinst.iso, installed and updated.
Other software installed - Dolibarr, phpmyadmin (both running without any issues)
MySql - 5.1.63
Apache - 2.2.16
php - 5.3.3-7
Web server's root directory - /var/www

1) I downloaded epesi,
mv epesi-1.3.0-rev9190.zip /var/www
then unzipped it in the webserver's root directory.
2) I created a mysql user and password with 'ALL' permissions
3) I created a database called epesi
4) ~~[url=http://localhost/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190]~~http://localhost/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190[/url] … and I get the epesi logo :) and “cannot write into data directory. Please fix privileges” :(
5) for tidiness sake I create a symbolic link to my epesi directory:
root@debian:/var/www# ln -s /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190 epesi
this worked. Now I put in ~~[url=http://localhost/epesi]~~http://localhost/epesi[/url]
5) to help fix the privileges & make things a little more certain, I download phpmyadmin from /var/www.
apt-get install phpmyadmin
6) for some reason, phpmyadmin seems to install in the /etc directory - nothing on ~~[url=http://localhost/phpmyadmin]~~http://localhost/phpmyadmin[/url] ... hmmm
7) I google the problem and come across this solution on an Ubuntu forum, which works:
cd to the /etc directory

root@debian:/etc# sudo ln -s /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf /etc/apache2/conf.d/phpmyadmin.conf
root@debian:/etc# sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
Restarting web server: apache2 ... waiting .
root@debian:/etc#

Bingo. I now have phpmyadmin. Let's try and configure the db now.

8) I reconfigured the epesi db and users (which actaually looked correct), and return to localhost/epesi.
9) I re-enter the database information and the following screen has the logo, but is otherwise blank except for a small square (size of a thumb nail). There seems nothing on this screen so I return to the db page and re-enter the information. The following screen now has a message on the epesi page “cannot write into data/config.php file. Please delete this file.
9) I cd into /var/www/epesi/data and rm config.php
10) I go back to 9) and the exact same thing happens.
11) I install - apt-get install php-xml - as I read something, somewhere that led me to think that it might be the missing problem (and it probably wouldn't do any harm).

I have hunted around many forums including and most importantly, this one. I have not come across an obvious solution and so I am posting it. I hope that my long explanation is useful to others.

I am assuming that you are going to ask me for copies of log outputs. Please be tediously clear as to where I will find them as I am a bit wobbly at the command line.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Cube

ethnar

Hello and welcome to the forums,

Thank you very much for a very detailed description of steps you've taken and the exact moment where you encounter a problem.

It's a little unusual that a symlink resolved your permissions issues. But it's important that the config.php is created and from what you write later it is, so I'm just going to ignore it for now.

You didn't mention checking error.log, so I'll first suggest to check that for possible error messages.
Error log can be in various places, but usually you can find it in /var/log/apache2/ file error.log.
It may be a bit hard sometimes to distinguish what's relevant from the log, so if you can't find anything of importance there, I suggest to turn on displaying errors. To do that, first locate your php.ini. in your /var/www/ create a file info.php with the following contents:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

and then execute the script from the browser: http://localhost/info.php
[size=85:lo0d8eqq]Please note that phpinfo should not be accessible on production server.[/size:lo0d8eqq]
Once you see phpinfo result, find paramter "Loaded Configuration File", this is the exact php.ini that is being loaded by apache. Edit that file (you may create backup first if it makes you more comfortable) and find line:

display_errors = Off

then change it to

display_errors = On

Restart apache (sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart) and try starting up EPESI setup. If there's any error message you should get it on screen. It should tell us a whole lot on what's going on and hopefully also hint at resolution for the problem.

Kind regards,
Arek

cubic

Hi Arek,

Many thanks for your super-quick response.

I liked the idea of turning on 'displaying errors':
root@debian:/var/www/epesi# dir
admin images init_js.php mobile.css php.ini setup.php
cron.php include install.txt mobile.php process.php update.php
data include.php libs modules serve.php
htaccess.txt index.php license.html PEAR.php setup.css

I am assuming that you want me to create info.php in the same sub-directory. So that I will do.
touch /var/www/epesi info.php
I used nano to edit it and put in the code you suggested.
http://localhost/info.php was a blank, but
http://localhost/epesi/info.php got a lovely looking 'PHP Version 5.3.3-7+squeeze14' PHP page, full of info.
... and here is the line you mentioned to look for "Loaded configuration file - /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini"

root@debian:/etc/php5/apache2# dir
conf.d php.ini

Edited, as directed, with nano:
; display_errors
; Default Value: On
; Development Value: On
; Production Value: Off

'Production Value' is now 'On'.

I put in the browser http://localhost/epesi ... blank screen. Totally blank.

I think that before I put my first post on the forum I was getting a blank screen also.

OK, so I will now try and have a look in /var/log/apache2/ file error.log as the blank screen isn't going to help.

PHP Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php $
PHP Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php $

I am guessing this is the reason for the 'blank screen' (something I have done, I'm sure).

Let's look a little further back in the log to try and find something that might refer to my 9) and 10) problems:

[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/epesi
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/epesidir
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/charles
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/charles
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/epesi
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/epesi
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/epesidir
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/favicon.ico, referer: http://localhost/
[notice] Graceful restart requested, doing restart
[error] (9)Bad file descriptor: apr_socket_accept: (client socket)
[notice] Apache/2.2.16 (Debian) PHP/5.3.3-7+squeeze14 with Suhosin-Patch configured -- resuming normal operations
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/phpmyadmin
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/phpmyadmin
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/phpmyadmin
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/phpmyadmin
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /var/www/phpmyadmin
[notice] caught SIGTERM, shutting down
[notice] Apache/2.2.16 (Debian) PHP/5.3.3-7+squeeze14 with Suhosin-Patch configured -- resuming normal operations
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] PHP Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php $
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] PHP Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php $
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /usr/share/javascript/jquery-ui/css/smoothness/images/ui-anim_basic_16x16.gif, re$
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /usr/share/javascript/jquery-ui/css/smoothness/images/ui-anim_basic_16x16.gif, re$
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] File does not exist: /usr/share/javascript/jquery-ui/css/smoothness/images/ui-anim_basic_16x16.gif, re$
[error] [client 127.0.0.1] PHP Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php $

I have copied it here as I am not sure what the problem is.

I have made a point of noting in my post the details of exactly what has gone on, as when I look at others posts I sometimes feel that they could have been much more helpful if they had made a careful note of exactly what was going on. After all, this forum is for self-help as much as anything else.

BTW thanks for your help.
Rgds Cube

jasiek

Try this post. You have a problem with the directory of EPESI:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=728#p2661
[quote:cfh0akrt]PHP Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php $[/quote:cfh0akrt]

Edit config.php located in data directory and this should fix your problem.

cubic

I have found the config.php as described and edited with nano. I have added the following line:

/*
* define epesi directory
*/
define('EPESI_DIRECTORY','/var/www/epesi/');

I now browse to http://localhost/epesi and get a page of what I presume are the 'displaying errors':

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Type: 256
Message: mysqlt error: [1146: Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist] in EXECUTE("SELECT name,value FROM variables")
File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/libs/adodb/adodb-errorhandler.inc.php
Line=77
error backtrace:
[PHP core called function]
function called: handle_epesi_error(256, "mysqlt error: [1146: Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist] in EXECUTE(\"SELECT name,value FROM variables\") ", "/var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/libs/adodb/adodb-errorhandler.inc.php", 77, Array ("mysqlt", "EXECUTE", 1146, "Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist", "SELECT name,value FROM variables", false, Object (ADODB_mysqlt), "SELECT name,value FROM variables", false, "mysqlt error: [1146: Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist] in EXECUTE(\"SELECT name,value FROM variables\") "))

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/libs/adodb/adodb-errorhandler.inc.php
line 77
function called: trigger_error("mysqlt error: [1146: Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist] in EXECUTE(\"SELECT name,value FROM variables\") ", 256)

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/libs/adodb/adodb.inc.php
line 1043
function called: ADODB_Error_Handler("mysqlt", "EXECUTE", 1146, "Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist", "SELECT name,value FROM variables", false, "Object (ADODB_mysqlt)")

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/libs/adodb/adodb.inc.php
line 1018
function called: _Execute("SELECT name,value FROM variables", false)

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/libs/adodb/adodb.inc.php
line 1392
function called: Execute("SELECT name,value FROM variables", null)

[PHP core called function]
function called: GetAssoc("SELECT name,value FROM variables", null)

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/include/database.php
line 460
function called: call_user_func_array(Array (Object (ADODB_mysqlt), "GetAssoc"), Array ("SELECT name,value FROM variables", null))

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/include/variables.php
line 18
function called: GetAssoc("SELECT name,value FROM variables")

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/include/variables.php
line 23
function called: load()

File: /var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/index.php
line 35
function called: get("version")

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope that this means something to you.
Rgds
Cube

ethnar

[quote="Cubic":2zo2wier]
Edited, as directed, with nano:
; display_errors
; Default Value: On
; Development Value: On
; Production Value: Off

'Production Value' is now 'On'.[/quote:2zo2wier]
Please note that all the lines in php.ini that start with ; are comments and they make no impact on the actual configuration. What you need to change is the line:

display_errors = Off

to:

display_errors = On

Also remember that for changes in php.ini to take effect you must restart apache.

As for the error you're experiencing, I've created a setup.php file that should resolve the problem in your particular situation.
Download the attached file, unzip it and place the setup.php script in EPESI root folder, overwriting the old file. After that, re-run the installation procedure by clearing the contents of /data/ folder.

Please let us know if this solves your problem.

Kind regards,
Arek

cubic

Hi Arek,

Thank you for being so patient with me and for trying to find solutions.

I located the php.ini in /etc/php5/apache2 and this time found the correct line:

display_errors = On

I deleted the old setup.php file and introduced the new setup.php file that you sent me (thank you BTW).

I renamed the contents of the /data/ folder to xconfig.php and xindex.html

I retarted epesi http://localhost/epesi having forgotten to restart apache. The epesi database config page came up nicely and then the next page had the logo but was other wise blank except for a small square (thumbnail size). It was here that I remembered that i hadn't restarted apache.

I restarted apache with /etc/init.d/apache2 graceful. Returning to http://localhost/epesi got me this response:

Fatal error: Detection of epesi directory failed. Please define EPESI_DIR variable in config.php in var/www/epesi-1.3.0-rev9190/include/config.php on line 68

define("EPESI_DIR","");

changed to

define("EPESI_DIR","/var/www/epesi"); didn't work ... no change

Here are lines 66 -68 from the config.php file:
define("EPESI_DIR",'var/www/epesi');
} else {
trigger_error('Detection of epesi directory failed. Please defi$
}

I apologise for not being more tech savvy.
Thanks for your help
Cube

ethnar

Hello,

That's ok, you certainly make the effort to understand what's going on and it makes our work much smoother.

Now that the error_display is turned on, we need to know what error occurs when the blank page pops up. This mean you'll have to restart the installation process (clear the contents on /data folder) and run the database setup again.
Here's a rundown of what's going on:
- You start EPESI installation, you send DB username, password etc. to the server
- The script on the server creates the config.php file using the data you provided
- The script should then create basic tables that EPESI relies on and it appears this step fails
- Restarting EPESI results in error: mysqlt error: [1146: Table 'epesi.variables' doesn't exist] in EXECUTE("SELECT name,value FROM variables")
- Setup refuses to start again because config.php already exists

Also, it seems that I've made a typo in the setup.php script that I attached previously and as a result the script didn't do anything that the original script did. I'm attaching fixed version of setup.php to this post that should get rid of the directory detection problem. I apologize for my mistake.

Kind regards,
Arek

cubic

Hi Arek,

Bingo .... all systems go!

I confess that your dashboard does look nice. I will give it a test drive over the next week or so - I am sure that I will have a couple of queries.

Thank you for your patience and help.
Rgds

Cube

I will detail below exactly what I did for anyone else having a similar problem.

I downloaded Arek's zipped setup.php file. I unzipped it in the home directory and moved it to the /var/www/epesi directory (thus overwriting the existing file).

Next I cd to the data directory (cd /var/www/epesi/data). I noticed that since my last visit to the epesi/data directory, when I had renamed both the config.php and the index.html to xconfig.php and xindex.html, there was only one new file - the new config.php. As there hadn't been a new index.html file generated, I revived the old index.html file (renamed it). I also renamed the old epesi/data/config.php to yconfig.php.

By now I had forgotten my mysql database password and so entered phpmyadmin and deleted the old user and entered another with a new password.

I then typed in http://localhost/epesi

I filled in the new database info and it loaded perfectly.

Thanks again to Arek and Jasiek - RESOLVED

Epesi ENS | Epesi Academy | epesi.cloud PaaS | GitHub

Help Me! | Download from SourceForge