solved New Install, Error 500, Can't Run Install

Hello!

Just installing the Premium trial for Jamroom before we purchase and running into an error at the outset with running the install.
Domain: http://faceyet.com/

I have downloaded the latest copy of Jamroom via the email I was sent.

Siteground is the Host (Shared hosting, site is in its own folder, domain is fully propagated).

PHP Version is: PHP 7.0.33

I uploaded the zip file via cPanel and extracted there. I did not extract via local machine and upload via FTP.

Folder Permissions for folders are 755

Folder Permissions for files are:
.ftpquota 600
.htaccess 644
favicon.ico 644
install.php 644
install.txt 644
license.txt 644
repair.php.html 644
robots.txt 644

Siteground seems to have moved the web server error logs an I can't find them, so I have a ticket in to them about this to see if I can find where they are. I am not seeing anything in the PHP error log at this time.

Can someone point me in the right direction to get this installed. We fully intend to purchase but need to get this installed for our client.

Thanks!
updated by @mbstia: 04/09/19 12:20:25AM

I'd say that the DNS hadn't fully propagated since it seems to be working now?

http://faceyet.com/

Hope this helps!


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Douglas Hackney
Jamroom Team - Designer/Developer/Support
FAQ-Docs-Help Videos

Hi Douglas,

Siteground support said that there was an issue with the .htaccess file. They didn't say what exactly so I am trying to find out what the issue was so I can post it back here in case it helps someone.

Thanks!

A 500 error means that there is a web server misconfiguration - i.e. Jamroom is trying to use mod_rewrite in the .htaccess file, and your web server does not allow mod_rewrite. You should be able to see the exact error in your web server error log - look in your "logs" directory for the web server error_log - the latest entries will be at the bottom.

Let me know if that helps.


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Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

Hi Brian! There was no error in the logs at all.

This is what Siteground said was the issue:

The file probably wasn't complete during the installation or some of the directives were not properly read by the server (thus the 500 error). It looked rather custom, so I didn't really make any changes to it's content (directives, modules, etc.) so I just renamed it to .htaccess-bkp, to see what will happen without an .htaccess. I also checked the server error logs, but nothing related to that domain is logged there, which gave me the initial hunch it's something with the .htaccess file. Usually, you can check these logs from:

cPanel > Error log

That being said - this lead to a 403 error, which was due to the fact that an index file was not present (which was expected and normal), however, I was able to access the http://faceyet.com/install.php file, which was asking for Database details, so I created a new one - mbstiabu_1 (yes this is the database).

After that, I got the message that an .htaccess was not found, so I renamed it back from .htaccess-bkp to .htaccess, and I was able to run the installation successfully until I got prompted for the new admin account.

What is strange is that in the package I downloaded there was no .htaccess file. See my screenshot of the decompressed zip file. Can you confirm that the contents of the file I downloaded are all in tact?

Thanks!

OK it sounds like it had not been installed, although I am not sure why you would get a 500 error there. It should have just redirected you to the installer.

I would recommend asking your hosting provider WHY there was no logging of the 500 error in your error log - that absolutely should be logged so you can see what issue could be causing that.


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Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

It's there - it's a hidden file. All files that start with a . are considered "hidden". In your FTP client make sure you've set the option to "show hidden files". Let me know if that helps.


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Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

Hey Brian, I actually uploaded the zip via cPanel installer and decompressed on the server. Perhaps that was not the best way to do it. But also, would there be an .htaccess file there in the installation package? I didn't see it when I decomressed locally and on my MacBook Pro I have set invisible files to show, so not sure if maybe my download was a bad one due to a funky connection. Thanks!

Yes - there is a .htaccess file in the installation package. My guess is the cpanel installer doesn't know how to handle it - I'd recommend using a quality SFTP client instead. Note that on your MacBook files that begin with a . are considered "hidden" so won't show. If you drop into a terminal window you will see it - see my screenshot.


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Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

Ah you know what! I can't see that file on my MBP. Seems since the last update the dot files were hidden. Just fixing that in Terminal to show them permanently. I guess usually I am working with HTACCESS in .txt mode as I usually change the name in cPanel when I upload. Will get it all sorted. Thanks so much Brian!