500 Internal Server Error during install - needs a fix
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Hi All,
I am brand new to concrete5, and looking forward to getting started. I get a 500 Internal Server Error during install. I have already researched this, and I currently believe that the cause of the problem is that the max_execution_time value in PHP defaults to 60 on my shared host.
I think I can fix this eventually. However, I would like to point out that this is really something that should be addressed by concrete5. It seems like the install should be broken into smaller steps to prevent this error from occurring during a normal install. In my case, I'm using windows hosting, and the php ini/configuration is not available to me for editing - I have to go through the mediocre support process at my hosting provider - which makes everything take hours or days when it should take seconds.
The error occurs for me during the 'Adding Block Types' section.
I'm hoping this is an easy change that someone could make.
Thanks for listening :)
I am brand new to concrete5, and looking forward to getting started. I get a 500 Internal Server Error during install. I have already researched this, and I currently believe that the cause of the problem is that the max_execution_time value in PHP defaults to 60 on my shared host.
I think I can fix this eventually. However, I would like to point out that this is really something that should be addressed by concrete5. It seems like the install should be broken into smaller steps to prevent this error from occurring during a normal install. In my case, I'm using windows hosting, and the php ini/configuration is not available to me for editing - I have to go through the mediocre support process at my hosting provider - which makes everything take hours or days when it should take seconds.
The error occurs for me during the 'Adding Block Types' section.
I'm hoping this is an easy change that someone could make.
Thanks for listening :)
Should not be a C5 issue. Try getting a better hosting package. Never had this issue myself.
Hi Steevb,
Thanks for your response. Are you in marketing? :)
It is absolutely a concrete5 issue - I try to be gentle with open source projects because those developers have provided their time and effort to my great benefit, and I really appreciate it.
As far as my host is concerned, it's the host that currently appears first in the budget recommendations on the concrete5 hosting page.
It clear that the install process is not very robust - which it not to say that it doesn't work, probably even most of the time - but there are things (such as tight timeout values) that it doesn't handle well at all. This should be fixed.
All it's going to take is more of my time and effort, because I have the background to deal with it. But someone else just trying to use the software would have to walk away.
Concrete5 appears to me to be the best available option for my needs. I took the time to figure this out among the ocean of cms contenders - if I had not, I would be long gone from here, and I'd be ticked that the software wasted my time.
I don't think it does anyone any good to just ignore the issue.
Thanks for your response. Are you in marketing? :)
It is absolutely a concrete5 issue - I try to be gentle with open source projects because those developers have provided their time and effort to my great benefit, and I really appreciate it.
As far as my host is concerned, it's the host that currently appears first in the budget recommendations on the concrete5 hosting page.
It clear that the install process is not very robust - which it not to say that it doesn't work, probably even most of the time - but there are things (such as tight timeout values) that it doesn't handle well at all. This should be fixed.
All it's going to take is more of my time and effort, because I have the background to deal with it. But someone else just trying to use the software would have to walk away.
Concrete5 appears to me to be the best available option for my needs. I took the time to figure this out among the ocean of cms contenders - if I had not, I would be long gone from here, and I'd be ticked that the software wasted my time.
I don't think it does anyone any good to just ignore the issue.
I've had this issue many times. I agree that it would be good to get it fixed. It's only going to get worse as c5 grows.
I note that c5's 'automated jobs' can be run in sequence to sidestep this very issue. I wonder if the same mechanism could be used for the installer.
I note that c5's 'automated jobs' can be run in sequence to sidestep this very issue. I wonder if the same mechanism could be used for the installer.
@Gondwana, if I'm not mistaken it is already in use. I think the install process is done in stages using the same principle (but slightly different) as jobs do.
That's why you can see a progress bar at the top of the screen and different progress messages.
It is possible however that one step takes longer than PHP timeout value and still fails.
@MisterAcoustic
On my super slow local install where C5 fails often on things like generating images or just because my PC was busy doing something else, I never had an install failure.
My max_execution_time is set on 120 so I would suggest that value.
I understand your problem is not so much that value as dealing with your host support system. So my other suggestion is to leave windows behind and switch to Linux if at all possible. That will probably afford you greater flexibility to do things yourself.
That's why you can see a progress bar at the top of the screen and different progress messages.
It is possible however that one step takes longer than PHP timeout value and still fails.
@MisterAcoustic
On my super slow local install where C5 fails often on things like generating images or just because my PC was busy doing something else, I never had an install failure.
My max_execution_time is set on 120 so I would suggest that value.
I understand your problem is not so much that value as dealing with your host support system. So my other suggestion is to leave windows behind and switch to Linux if at all possible. That will probably afford you greater flexibility to do things yourself.
@mnakalay: Thanks; I didn't know that. I did have a feeling that it took longer to die than the max_execution_time suggested. I still get the problem from time to time(!) when installing on low-powered machines. It would be a shame to have to increase c5's minimum system requrements.
something I should have mentioned, my installs never fail with the max execution time set at 120 and using PHP 7 which is quite a bit faster than previous versions so that probably helps.
Hi All,
I wanted to send an update, in case it might be helpful to others.
My hosting provider set the PHP max_execution_time to 300. The install made it slightly farther (more db tables were created), but it still failed with the same error.
I finally figured out how to get a log of the error, and it turns out there is an additional timeout value that needed to change in my case. Remember that I'm on a Windows host - and PHP is set up to talk to IIS as a FastCGI app. There is such a thing as a FastCGI activity timeout, which I also hit. My hosting provider had to fix that for me.
Unfortunately, they went ahead and completed the install for me as well, so I can't report how they resolved that error, of whether any other errors were encountered afterwards.
@mnakalay: I'd love to ditch windows, but I am a .net developer for a living. Right this minute, that means that I can do what I want to do more effectively on Windows/IIS/.NET. I'm very nearly able to switch to .net core on linux - but the timing of the maturity of the core code and my skills on that platform held me back from going linux at the start.
Most likely, a change is in my future on that front.
I wanted to send an update, in case it might be helpful to others.
My hosting provider set the PHP max_execution_time to 300. The install made it slightly farther (more db tables were created), but it still failed with the same error.
I finally figured out how to get a log of the error, and it turns out there is an additional timeout value that needed to change in my case. Remember that I'm on a Windows host - and PHP is set up to talk to IIS as a FastCGI app. There is such a thing as a FastCGI activity timeout, which I also hit. My hosting provider had to fix that for me.
Unfortunately, they went ahead and completed the install for me as well, so I can't report how they resolved that error, of whether any other errors were encountered afterwards.
@mnakalay: I'd love to ditch windows, but I am a .net developer for a living. Right this minute, that means that I can do what I want to do more effectively on Windows/IIS/.NET. I'm very nearly able to switch to .net core on linux - but the timing of the maturity of the core code and my skills on that platform held me back from going linux at the start.
Most likely, a change is in my future on that front.
Make sure you set MySQL for case specific table names. That will make it easier to move to Linux hosting later.
