Topic: Joomla 1.5 on SME Server 7.2

[calisun]

Since there is no contrib for Joomla 1.5, I have decided to install it using joomlas own web installation program. Everything works great after install, up to a point when I make updates to SME Server. At that point, joomla looses a lot of functionality. One example is Polls, before updates to SME server, when one casts a vote, you get a nice screen with poll results and number of votes cast. But after SME update, when I hit "vote" I get a message: Article Rating:: Invalid Rating: 0

Looks like SME updates override some joomla settings. Does anybody know how to keep this from happening?

[jumba]

Joomla 1.5 is not yet released AFAIK, so I wouldn't bother too much with it yet
I'm a heavy Joomla-user myself, and I'll certainly look into the procedures once it's finally released. I would suspect though, that you need to create a couple of custom templates in order to get it working correctly on SME 7.2.

A fast way to find out would be to make local copies of certain files (  /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf  and possibly some more ) BEFORE installing Joomla 1.5, and afterwards compare them with the actual files using diff

That would give you an idea of what custom template gragments you should create...

But as I wrote earlier, I'll wait until it's finally released.

 

[judgej]

What you see is exactly what I would expect: SME Server and Joomla install both trying to configure the same files, and falling over each other.

Instead, why not just copy the Joomla files into an iBay and install from there? It works a treat - you can be up and running in five minutes.

-- JJ

[calisun]

Joomla 1.5 is already Release Candidate 2,  it is pretty much finished, so I would not hesitate using it on a production server.

----------------------------
-Quoting judgej-
just copy the Joomla files into an iBay and install from there
-----------------------------

That is exactly what I did, I am not aware of any other way of doing it.
And yes, it works great until I do SME updates, and than I loose many Joomla functionalities.

[jumba]

AFAIK, there will be a RC3 as well before it's final release.

I've learned to wait until releases before spending too much time

[calisun]

jumba

good suggestion about making local copies and than comparing to see what has changed. I will do some experimenting and see if I can figure this out.
 

[cbacani]

Joomla 1.5 is already Release Candidate 2,  it is pretty much finished, so I would not hesitate using it on a production server.

----------------------------
-Quoting judgej-
just copy the Joomla files into an iBay and install from there
-----------------------------

That is exactly what I did, I am not aware of any other way of doing it.
And yes, it works great until I do SME updates, and than I loose many Joomla functionalities.

Try This but remember the security issue. Maybe you can see what needs to be done to stop the issue of updates undoing what you did.

Create database:
===========

Login as root and type 'mysql'. At the mysql promt:
Code:

CREATE DATABASE yourdatabasename;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON yourdatabasename.* TO yourdatabasename@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
quit



(choose your own name for "yourdatabasename" and "yourpassword")

Create ibay:
========
Create a new ibay or use Primary
Go to the "html" directory of your ibay and delete the file "index.htm".


Make the "PHP session save-path" writable:
=========================
Code:

/sbin/e-smith/db accounts setprop youribayname PHPBaseDir /home/e-smith/files/ibays/youribayname/:/tmp
/sbin/e-smith/signal-event ibay-modify youribayname



(change "youribayname")

Get the software:
===========
Get the latest version from the Joomla! site:

http://developer.joomla.org/sf/frs/do/downloadFile/projects.joomla/frs.joomla_1_0.1_0_11/frs6655?dl=1

or whatever version you wish. I suggest the latest stable version.

Unpack the file with:

Code:

tar -zxvf Joomla_1.0.11-Stable-Full_Package.tar.gz



and copy the directories and files to the "html" directory of your ibay.


Start Joomla!
=========

In your browser type:
Code:

http://your.domain.name/youribayname



Follow the instructions of the install-program.
The install-program will tell you which directories you have to make writable.
In your ibay's html-directory you can make them writable with:
Code:

chmod -R 777 mambots modules ...........

(I don't remember exactly which directories you have to make writable but the install program will tell you)

You can get your language files from: http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,1837/Itemid,35/. Unpack and copy them to
Code:

/home/e-smith/files/ibays/youribayname/html/language



There are a lot of add-ons and templates. I use the templates from http://www.rockettheme.com/
You can find add-ons at http://www.joomlaresource.com/

success

This was done by someone else and I have tested it and it works. Take a look at expand template and get the answer.

Carl

[calisun]

Thanks Carl,
What you have explained I have already done, only difference is I used phpmyadmin to create and edit database.

I do have one question for you, you said:
"Take a look at expand template and get the answer."

Can you please explain.

Thanks

[calisun]

Joomla 1.5 is now Release Candidate 3, Next step for Joomla 1.5 is final. I would like to figure this out so I can run joomla 1.5 on SME Server when final version is out. 

[kruhm]

I suggest installing Joomla in the  /opt directory rather than an ibay.

There are certainly enough broken Joomla installs out there to convince anyone that they need to pay attention to security matters concerning any type of cms. Also I would suggest not chmod'ing anything to 777. If you do, only do so temporarily to make the changes then chmod back to 755.

It's important to note also that the Joomla project is in a downward spiral will probably pass along the wayside (like so many other great projects). Many external devs have left or plan to leave once the next milestone it hit. There are important lessons here for anyone managing a team or a project. Interesting to watch. Sad to see.

[cbacani]

I suggest installing Joomla in the  /opt directory rather than an ibay.

There are certainly enough broken Joomla installs out there to convince anyone that they need to pay attention to security matters concerning any type of cms. Also I would suggest not chmod'ing anything to 777. If you do, only do so temporarily to make the changes then chmod back to 755.

It's important to note also that the Joomla project is in a downward spiral will probably pass along the wayside (like so many other great projects). Many external devs have left or plan to leave once the next milestone it hit. There are important lessons here for anyone managing a team or a project. Interesting to watch. Sad to see.

As I said please read the first line in my post as stated it IS a security risk if you have 2 or more Joomla sites running. I woun't explain it here as that would be really stupid. Follow the directions for installing in the /opt directory. The above script was ment to allow some people a quick and dirty way to get a site up and running in a few moments. Until we work out the security bugs - use it at your own risk.

Also Kruhm is correct in stating NEVER chmod a directory to 777 and leave it that way. Remember when the Internet was friendly, I remember back to 1979 and using the now internet in a different way! Now, People just want to be upset and angry and over what? Hacking and spam is all destructive and that is easier than to build. The people involved with SME are some of the greatest people around. Long live SME. and no this isn't a rant so don't get me started. 

[calisun]

It's important to note also that the Joomla project is in a downward spiral will probably pass along the wayside (like so many other great projects). Many external devs have left or plan to leave once the next milestone it hit. There are important lessons here for anyone managing a team or a project. Interesting to watch. Sad to see.

That is strange, I thought that Joomla project is growing, you can see more and more users signing up on their site.

I suggest installing Joomla in the  /opt directory rather than an ibay.

Can someone point me to a place where I can read why to install joomla in /opt directory and not ibay?

[cbacani]

snoble suggested an alternate implementation of joomla
this is installed in /opt/joomla rather than Primary

Joomla, Portal & CMS
yum install joomla smeserver-joomla

> YourServer.net/joomla

joomla.org
Joomla - the dynamic portal engine and content management system

0.
For new installs [;\ lets you copy and paste in one go]
touch /opt/joomla/configuration.php ;\
chmod 660 /opt/joomla/configuration.php ;\
chown www.www /opt/joomla/configuration.php

yes this is a pain, but it now won't be overwritten on upgrades

nano /opt/joomla/globals.php, edit 1 to 0 if required
define( 'RG_EMULATION', 0 );
(why does it ship this way ??)

1.
During installation you will be asked for your mysql details
databasename 'joomla'
user 'joomla'
find mysql password with 'config show joomla', [see extra settings below]

2. after installed, rm -rf /opt/joomla/installation

3. Setup of joomla itself will take some time, we suggest you change the default template, and visit joomlahelp.org

4. to add a more memorable URL eg. YourServer.net/site
as described below, as well as this extra step pico -w /opt/joomla/configuration.php and
edit $mosConfig_live_site from joomla to site

Carl

[calisun]

Thanks,
I have three questions,

1) I still don't understand Why to install in /opt and not ibay.

2) You said: YourServer.net/joomla
Right now I install in ibay, I point domain to that ibay, and everybody can get to it by just typing mydomain.com, so what you are saying is if I install in /opt, people will only be able to get to it by typing mydomain.com/joomla??

3) You said: it IS a security risk if you have 2 or more Joomla sites running.
I have 5 domain names, all on my SME server at home. 3 of them I use regular HTML, and 2 of them I have on Joomla. Each in a separate ibay, separate SQL database and different passwords. Is that still a security risk?

(you guys don't have to answer here, you can just post links as to where I can read about it).

[calisun]

It's important to note also that the Joomla project is in a downward spiral will probably pass along the wayside (like so many other great projects). Many external devs have left or plan to leave once the next milestone it hit. There are important lessons here for anyone managing a team or a project. Interesting to watch. Sad to see.

I have searched the interned, and I don't see any signs of Joomla being on downward spiral. Contrary to that, I see a huge international following. Recently they had Joomla! Day in, New York, Ontario and newest one upcoming is in Budapest, Hungary.

PS.Does anyone know answers to my previous questions?  I know that to some of you die-hard Linux users, these questions might be stupid, but how can anybody learn if we don't share knowledge.

[raem]

calisun

> 1) I still don't understand Why to install in /opt and not ibay.

Potential security issues in the case of misconfiguration. Users can do things in ibays (change permisssions & so on), whereas they usually cannot do things in /opt as they don't have access to it.
There have been quite a few posts on this topic so go searching. The SiteMaker Howto on the Wiki came about probably due to this concern, see  http://wiki.contribs.org/SME_Site_Maker
I personally don't see security issues if you install web apps to ibays, as long as you limit who has file sharing access to those ibays, so as to prevent inadvertant tampering, and you also know that those users are sensible and won't do things they should not be doing. Be particularly careful that files have correct (ie appropriate for security) ownership & permisssions, both user & group (I'm referring to the Linux file permissions here). Only a limited number of files & folders should have www ownership with write access (as required by the application in order to function), it's quite wrong & bad advice to see people setting whole folders/files to www:www 777
A reason for installing to ibays, would be to allow different groups of users to have access to the ibay to update their web site content, using say a VPN connection, eg for html based apps rather than Joomla.
As Joomla & other CMS's have their own built in content updating tools, there is no real need to put them in ibays, so there is a better security model if you put them in /opt.


> 2) .. if I install in /opt, people will only be able to get to it by typing mydomain.com/joomla??

It depends how you set up the redirect alias, refer also to some steps that happen when using SiteMaker contrib. You configure the alias the way you want it, so a straight domain name should be OK.
Note if you already have apps in an ibay, it's fairly easy to move them to /opt without any major dramas, just mv the files and edit a few config files in most cases.


> 3) You said: it IS a security risk if you have 2 or more Joomla sites running.

The risk that I see would be in not keeping your Joomla installs up to date with the latest bug free code. I'm not aware of security issues per se that relate to having multiple copies of a web app installed in different locations.
Perhaps the original poster of that comment can illuminate us.

[calisun]

Thank you Ray

[calisun]

I think I figured out the problem, SME Server uses PHP 4.3.9  and Joomla 1.5 calls for PHP 5
When one looks at www.php.net, one will find:
-------------------------------------
PHP 4 end of life announcement
Three years ago PHP 5 has been released. In those three years it has seen many improvements over PHP 4. PHP 5 is fast, stable & production-ready and as PHP 6 is on the way, PHP 4 will be discontinued.
-------------------------------------
Why are we still using PHP  4.X?,

Is there a way to upgrade to PHP 5 on SME server 7.2?

[stephen noble]

...
http://wiki.contribs.org/PHP#PHP_5

[calisun]

I saw that article on how to upgrade to PHP5 as a CGI, and then I will need to Create a custom template for each webapp to enable php5-cgi , this seems like a big hassle.
Since I have no apps that need PHP4, I was hoping that there was a way to upgrade to PHP5

I will give it a try and I will report back with my findings.

[calisun]

OK, I broke something.
Installation of PHP5-cgi went ok,
afterwards I followed instructions on the page to create custom template. After reboot, the system gives me an error message, Syntax error on line 4799 , and this message scrolls non-stop.
Now I don't have http or https access to my server, I can access server using SSH and SFTP.
When I try to edit httpd.conf, I get a message that another program is editing the file and file is read only.

Does anybody know how do I fix this?

[calisun]

Anybody? Please help

[stephen noble]

re php5
follow up with the author of the howto

generally
delete httpd.conf (and custom templates) and then expand the httpd template

[calisun]

Yes, success,
I was on a right track, I did delete custom templates, but I was not sure if it is OK to delete httpd.conf

thank you for your help.

[calisun]

calisun

> 1) I still don't understand Why to install in /opt and not ibay.

Potential security issues in the case of misconfiguration. Users can do things in ibays (change permisssions & so on), whereas they usually cannot do things in /opt as they don't have access to it.
I personally don't see security issues if you install web apps to ibays, as long as you limit who has file sharing access to those ibays, so as to prevent inadvertant tampering, and you also know that those users are sensible and won't do things they should not be doing. Be particularly careful that files have correct (ie appropriate for security) ownership & permisssions, both user & group (I'm referring to the Linux file permissions here). Only a limited number of files & folders should have www ownership with write access (as required by the application in order to function), it's quite wrong & bad advice to see people setting whole folders/files to www:www 777

Ray,
If I understand you correctly, the only reason to put page in /opt directory is to keep internal users from tempering with it. But if I am the only user on the server, there is no point to play around with SiteMaker and creating alias.

And if I understand it correctly, external users can hack the site the same way in ibay or /opt if it is configured incorrectly; as in your example www:www 777

I am understanding you correctly?

[raem]

calisun

If you search back a long way, I think in devinfo list archives, there was some discussion about the general security of ibays and that the default settings for web use were really a compromise at best.
So it is still technically better (ie more secure) to install web apps to /opt if there is no good reason to install them to ibays.
It is very easy to do so using Sitemaker, and it's still relatively straightforward (& easy) to do so if installing/configuring them manually.
Apart from the normal installation & configuration of the app (which you do anyway wherever it's installed to), in addition you only need to create the alias template.

[calisun]

How about search engine rankings? Would the fact that there is an alias/ redirect, would that knock down my search engine standings?

[calisun]

Creating a link seems like a messy fix.
What I think would be ideal is in server-manager, when managing domains is to have ability to specify ibay or /opt directory

[raem]

calisun

Creating an alias is standard procedure, it's used a lot in sme server.
eg if oscommerce is installed you will probably see a httpd.conf custom template fragment in
/etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/httpd/httpd.conf/97oscommerce

which in part says

Alias /oscommerce /opt/oscommerce/catalog

<Directory /opt/oscommerce/catalog>
        AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .php3 .phtml
        order deny,allow
        deny from all
        allow from all
        SetEnvIf User-Agent ".*MSIE.*" \
                nokeepalive ssl-unclean-shutdown \
                downgrade-1.0 force-response-1.0
        php_value session.use_trans_sid 0
        php_value register_globals 1
        php_admin_value open_basedir /opt/oscommerce/catalog/
</Directory>



Note that aliases are created as standard in sme, to point to your ibays web content.