Joomla Problem..what's the absolute path?

[byx]

I used PHPinfo but the path that shows..I am not sure it is correct.
I am working on the dreaded "session save path" problem with Joomla 1.0.

I been hacking away all night. :(

[Victor01469]

Absolute path would be: /hosted/subs/ulmb.com/b/y/byx/public_html

Relative path would be: /public_html

http://docs.joomla.org/How_to_find_your_absolute_path

Also known as the full path, the absolute path is a path (http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/path.htm) that contains the root (http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/root.htm) directory (http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/director.htm) and all other sub directories required to get into the directory you're currently in or wish to get to. Below is a basic example of a generic path and an absolute path.

Absolute path:
/home/users/c/computerhope/public_html/cgi-bin

Non absolute path (relative path):
public_html/cgi-bin
As can be seen from the above example, the absolute path contains the full path instead of a few directories contained within the absolute path. Below are some additional examples.

Example 2

Absolute path:
C:\Windows\calc.exe

Non absolute path (relative path):
calc.exe

Example 3

Absolute path:
http://www.computerhope.com/oh.htm

Non absolute path (relative path):
oh.htm

[byx]

I have two Joomla sites and on ulmb, and the other one, the same problem that had me pulling my hair out! On installation it says "session save not writable".. if you Google this you will find hundreds of posts with this same, vexing problem.

There are a variety of solutions. ALL which do NOT work! .htaccess won't work on ulmb, nor a "php.ini" in each folder, nor hacking global.php, NOR hacking the configuration.php. Getting the "admin to fix it" might work, but the admin has to know about this peculiarity of Joomla 1.0.. it's the most common problem with installation. Man..people are just stabbing in the dark at this problem. By guessing, they finally get it to work. I had the same problem on my other site, and hacked and hacked away at it.

The solution is the installation PHP files. Look at the "installation" folder. It has it's own Index.php file, where the Joomla installer looks for the path to "session_save". You must find the absolute path of your site. Make a folder called "session" or "tmp" or whatever you want, in the Joomla root is where I had mine.

At the very top of the Index.php in THE INSTALL DIRECTORY... right after the session_save_path('/hosted/subs/ulmb.com/b/y/YOURSITE/public_html/session');
For good measure, I put this in the "install.php" file also, it doesn't hurt. Right at the very top,
right after the
This thing had me just pulling my hair out, and is a common problem. Thanx to Victor for showing me how to get the "absolute path". There ought to be a FAQ on this server that has these basic things. This server seems fast- very fast by the way. A pleasant surprise for me.

[UnlimitedMB]

The correct thing to do is to just IGNORE THE ERROR.
It will work as expected.
Not being able to view the session folder is a php security feature, not a bug.

[byx]

No sir, that is not correct. I also tried that one, but you will get all sorts of errors on the admin back end. As I recall, the admin backend wouldn't display at all!

[UnlimitedMB]

That should not be happening.
And what you have done and are telling others to do is incorrect and insecure.
You are making your session folder web accessible, you will be hacked.

The correct session path is /tmp/php and we have set it correctly.

[byx]

Hmm..tmp/php yes that is the path it looks for.. what settings should I place my "sessions" folder to then? Can I CHMOD sessions folder to make it more secure? What can I do to make it more secure?

If you Google this problem, you will get 11,400 hits Eric. By just putting the line in the INSTALL index file, it tells install right away where the sessions path is. You are correct though, I should have used the tmp/php .. didnt think it mattered.

The other solutions wouldn't work for me, and would not work on two sites. They seem even more dangerous.. a .htaccess file. php.ini files in each folder. CHMOD every file and folder to 777!

I wonder if there is a site somewhere.. I will google it as soon as I am done writing this.. for "common PHP script installation errors". This particular flaw in Joomla causes a lotta headaches, at least it did mine. You don't dare ask the admin for help..'cos you aren't payin him nothin.

[UnlimitedMB]

You do not set or change the session path.
We set it correctly, it works, i am 100% sure it works.
You would not be seeing this forum right now if sessions did not work.

IGNORE the error in the installation.
Do not CHMOD anything.
It WILL work.

Other customers use Joomla no problems.
Make sure you use the latest version

[byx]

Why thank you Eric and Victor!

[byx]

HOLD THE PHONE.. no Eric this does NOT work! The admin page is blank.. just like before when I tried to ignore the session path! NOW what do I do? I can't get into the admin page.

[UnlimitedMB]

Your admin page is blank because you have an empty index.html file in your admin area
when you goto http://byx.ulmb.com/administrator/ you are seeing http://byx.ulmb.com/administrator/index.html

What you want is here
http://byx.ulmb.com/administrator/index.php

Why do you have two index files?

[byx]

Hey.. :) I just now figured this out too.. dang! I dunno! I just deleted the index.html. All that did was display a white page. I got it working, and session_save points to tmp.php. I probably didn't have to go through all that, but what the heck, it's good practice. Thanks for the attention.. I know you can't pay attention to every person that has problems installing the neato frito program "turtle" to their web site.

Installs with just two mouse clicks! Yeah-right.