Permissions again (yawn)

[stevewhyte]

Hi all,

Still having huge issues uploading our site to our VPS. I get so far and then I get an error, which Sellerdeck reports "could be" permissions.

I know that the acatalog folder should have it's permissions set to 777, but should this also apply to it's entire contents? Curiously when I check with Filezilla the acatalog folder states 755, but when I log in to Plesk on the server it states 777. Filezilla appears to let me change the permissions to 777, but again states 755 as soon as it has "successfully" changed it to 777. I now don't know who to believe.

I tried changing the entire directory contents to 777 using Filezilla, then aborted part way through (we have thousands of pages / files etc). Sellerdeck then got much further than previous when uploading before throwing it's toys. I would have no problem changing all of the contents to 777 if it is the right thing to do?

When I get the error and press retry, another batch of files get uploaded and then I get the error again. I would need to sit for several hours pressing retry to upload the fill 64K + files, so clearly that's not an option.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks,
Steve

[Goz]

You definitely do not want a directory that has permissions of 777 - that would give the world and his wife permissions to upload and execute anything they like.

My sites have the following permissions :

public_html = 711
acatalog = 755
cgi-bin = 755

There may be other issues surrounding who "owns" a particular folder - I had that many years ago on a VPS - I think it was down to how the folders had been created in the first place. I'll try and scratch my brain about it.

[stevewhyte]

Thanks Goz,

It did seem odd, but here's the text from the sticky on the subject by moderator leehack (albeit from 2009) :

1. Who is your host?
2. Is it unix or windows hosting?
3. Is the permission on the cgi-bin set to 755?
4. Is the permission on the acatalog folder set to 777?
5. Is this your first upload? Has it worked in the past?
6. Have you compacted the database in the housekeeping menu?
7. Have you changed the cgi number in network setup and tried to reupload?
8. Have you run the network wizard? what was the result?

[stevewhyte]

I wonder if there is a way to upload the site with Filezilla? Could I create the files locally and upload that way?

[Goz]

Definitely do not use 777.

Are you absolutely sure that SellerDeck ftp credentials are pointing to the same place as your Filezilla FTP credentials? It seems odd that Plesk and Filezilla report different settings.

What version of SD are you using?

[stevewhyte]

Hi again and thanks,

Yes, pointing at the same location and I'm using V16.

Our hosts said to trust Filezilla and not Plesk, as Plesk doesn't always display such things in real time (or at all in my instance) although I am assured it does actually change. They suggested a reboot of some description (server?) to remedy this aspect.

Just for further information, I have tried two PC's in two locations to eliminate hardware and broadband issues, and even sat in the hall cupboard for a full hour hard wired to the router in case it was a wireless thing. (Note to self, must get some potpourri)

I have checked the permissions on the specific files that the upload is stalling on (644) and it never stalls on the same file twice. That should eliminate any specific file issues I imagine.

So, not sure where to go from here?

[Goz]

Who is the host (not all hosts are equal!)

While file does it stall on?

[stevewhyte]

Heart Internet. It stalls on various random files. Sometimes it uploads 10 files then stalls, sometimes over 5000 files before it stalls. Sometimes an image and sometimes something else. No rhyme or reason to it as far as I can see.

[stevewhyte]

I did just discover that perl management is switched off in Plesk, but I am unable to enable it with my subscription for some reason. Not sure if it's an issue but I've queried it with Heart anyway.

[Goz]

In the Help menu in SD there is an option for Web Site Analysis. Click on that and you will get a web browser open with an anlysis of important stuff - and I think it highlights issues too. Can you run that (if you haven't already).

There is also a Connection and Upload View Error Log option which might be helpful.

[stevewhyte]

Thanks again Goz, and apologies I had to do some Sunday stuff.
I'll try the analysis and will let you know the results.
Cheers,
Steve

[stevewhyte]

OK, the web analysis did not work. It got stuck at the first stage where it was checking perl packages and then nothing. It seems the new Plesk servers does not allow perl to run as such, but it is covered under something which I think was called Fast CGI support.

I did manage to complete an upload, however, by using a scatter bomb approach to the settings in Sellerdeck. First I disabled "Generate Files In Parallel" and "Bypass Upload Merge" in troubleshooting. I then enabled "Use passive FTP transfers" in network setup, which I had previously disabled for this very reason (under advice from someone I can't remember).

I'm a happy bunny at the moment but watch this space....

[stevewhyte]

Oh, I think I enabled SSI support on the server side as well, although I can't remember if I did that or it was already enabled. This is what happens when you let amateurs loose!!

[KarenBM]

Hi Steve. Did you manage to make this work? As I have exactly the same problem. Where did you see "Bypass Upload Merge", I can't see it in Troubleshooting.

[stevewhyte]

Hi, Please see attached (to the right of generate files in parallel) but might depend on which version you have. I'm on V18 something.