Lost my Admin Panel

[markgrigsby]

The only other log I can find that might relate to the admin panel has a whole bunch of cfgkey statements with the last one being

{s:6:"cfgkey";s:32:"MODULE_PAYMENT_PAYFLOW_DEBUGGING";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:3:"Off";} }

One of the things we (me and PayPal technical rep) were doing just before we had this problem was implementing PayFlow Pro. It seems odd that the log file ends with the statement above. Maybe the problem is with PayFlow and I should back those modifications out to try to get the admin panel back.

What do you think?

[mc12345678]

The only other log I can find that might relate to the admin panel has a whole bunch of cfgkey statements with the last one being

{s:6:"cfgkey";s:32:"MODULE_PAYMENT_PAYFLOW_DEBUGGING";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:3:"Off";} }

One of the things we (me and PayPal technical rep) were doing just before we had this problem was implementing PayFlow Pro. It seems odd that the log file ends with the statement above. Maybe the problem is with PayFlow and I should back those modifications out to try to get the admin panel back.

What do you think?

You say error log "ends" with something, but the error is what is at the beginning not the end. Error occurs, is logged and then sometimes other things continue to process, albeit unsuccessfully or with warnings. As time moves on more information is added to the end of the log.

Also, would want to check your host's error logs in case something has been logged outside of ZC's control. Also, if you just implemented/activated some new file(s), those files may not have been "successfully" uploaded initially and only now that they are active in the flow they may be causing a problem.

[markgrigsby]

1. I checked the error log from my hosting company and there are no entries for my IP address in that file.
2. I checked the RAW Access Log file from my hosting company for my IP address and found the following related to my trying to log in to my admin panel:

my.ip.add.ress - - [30/Dec/2013:20:36:49 -0700] "GET /myadminpaneldirectory/login.php HTTP/1.1" 200 4330 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/31.0.1650.63 Safari/537.36"

and then

my.ip.add.ress - - [30/Dec/2013:20:37:10 -0700] "-" 408 4084 "-" "-"

I'm not sure what either of these mean!

3. The error log in my cache folder starts off with the following (this is line 1 in the file):

a:732:{i:0;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:10:"STORE_NAME";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:26:"Discount Embroidery Supply";}i:1;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:11:"STORE_OWNER";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:22:"Mark and Susan Grigsby";}i:2;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:13:"STORE_COUNTRY";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:3:"223";}i :3;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:10:"STORE_ZONE";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:2:"13";}i:4;a:2:{s:6:"cf gkey";s:22:"EXPECTED_PRODUCTS_SORT";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:4:"desc";}i:5;a:2:{s:6:"cfg key";s:23:"EXPECTED_PRODUCTS_FIELD";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:13:"date_expected";}i:6;a:2 :{s:6:"cfgkey";s:29:"USE_DEFAULT_LANGUAGE_CURRENCY";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:5:"false";} i:7;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:25:"LANGUAGE_DEFAULT_SELECTOR";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:7:"Defau lt";}i:8;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:27:"SEARCH_ENGINE_FRIENDLY_URLS";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:5 :"false";}i:9;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:12:"DISPLAY_CART";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:5:"false";} i:10;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:32:"ADVANCED_SEARCH_DEFAULT_OPERATOR";s:8:"cfgvalue";s: 3:"and";}i:11;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:18:"STORE_NAME_ADDRESS";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:173:" Discount Embroidery Supply

The cfgkey statement I posted earlier is on line 15, but line 15 is very, very long. Interestingly enough, there are a bunch of unnumbered blank lines after the statement I posted earlier, but these lines are not numbered. Then line 16 to line 114 are all blank, but the lines are numbered by the code editor.

I'm going to try to backout the PayPal PayFlow code, but I sure don't want to mess up my customers being able to checkout on my website.

Please let me know if you have other ideas!

Thanks!

[mc12345678]

1. I checked the error log from my hosting company and there are no entries for my IP address in that file.
2. I checked the RAW Access Log file from my hosting company for my IP address and found the following related to my trying to log in to my admin panel:

my.ip.add.ress - - [30/Dec/2013:20:36:49 -0700] "GET /myadminpaneldirectory/login.php HTTP/1.1" 200 4330 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/31.0.1650.63 Safari/537.36"

and then

my.ip.add.ress - - [30/Dec/2013:20:37:10 -0700] "-" 408 4084 "-" "-"

I'm not sure what either of these mean!

3. The error log in my cache folder starts off with the following (this is line 1 in the file):

a:732:{i:0;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:10:"STORE_NAME";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:26:"Discount Embroidery Supply";}i:1;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:11:"STORE_OWNER";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:22:"Mark and Susan Grigsby";}i:2;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:13:"STORE_COUNTRY";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:3:"223";}i :3;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:10:"STORE_ZONE";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:2:"13";}i:4;a:2:{s:6:"cf gkey";s:22:"EXPECTED_PRODUCTS_SORT";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:4:"desc";}i:5;a:2:{s:6:"cfg key";s:23:"EXPECTED_PRODUCTS_FIELD";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:13:"date_expected";}i:6;a:2 :{s:6:"cfgkey";s:29:"USE_DEFAULT_LANGUAGE_CURRENCY";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:5:"false";} i:7;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:25:"LANGUAGE_DEFAULT_SELECTOR";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:7:"Defau lt";}i:8;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:27:"SEARCH_ENGINE_FRIENDLY_URLS";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:5 :"false";}i:9;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:12:"DISPLAY_CART";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:5:"false";} i:10;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:32:"ADVANCED_SEARCH_DEFAULT_OPERATOR";s:8:"cfgvalue";s: 3:"and";}i:11;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:18:"STORE_NAME_ADDRESS";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:173:" Discount Embroidery Supply

The cfgkey statement I posted earlier is on line 15, but line 15 is very, very long. Interestingly enough, there are a bunch of unnumbered blank lines after the statement I posted earlier, but these lines are not numbered. Then line 16 to line 114 are all blank, but the lines are numbered by the code editor.

I'm going to try to backout the PayPal PayFlow code, but I sure don't want to mess up my customers being able to checkout on my website.

Please let me know if you have other ideas!

Thanks!

The above list of information does not appear to be an "error" log, at least not one made by ZenCart... The first my.ip.address entry indicates with the 200 that that particular load was successful. The 408 error implies that the system timed out... How much data do you have in your cache directory? Mostly wondering how many files? I have seen once before where I had too many files in my cache directory and couldn't complete the login process, and would actually get a timeout warning.

As far as paypal processing, the typically accepted methods of payment accepted through ZenCart are PayPal express and PayPal Standard/IPN (depending on how it is listed/identified). Pick a time when there are few to no clients on the site to do thiis work, otherwise copy things to a local computer/test site to see if/how the problem could be resolved.

BTW, upon looking at the above a little more, the records may be from ZenCart; however, they sure seem ambiguous...

[markgrigsby]

My cache directory is purged every night - I have a cron job that deletes everything in the cache directory every day. So, that's not the problem.

For PayPal processing, they actually have a product called PayFlow which replaces Authorize.net, PayPal Express, PayPal Standard/IPN and PayPal Payments Pro. I think Payments Pro requires Express, but right now I'm not sure about anything. I can tell you that we are saving lots by switching from a wholesale processor in combination with Authorize.net to everything being done by PayPal.

Hopefully, things settle down a little and we can do some work over New Years.

If you think of anything else, I'm wide open to suggestions!

[mc12345678]

My cache directory is purged every night - I have a cron job that deletes everything in the cache directory every day. So, that's not the problem.

For PayPal processing, they actually have a product called PayFlow which replaces Authorize.net, PayPal Express, PayPal Standard/IPN and PayPal Payments Pro. I think Payments Pro requires Express, but right now I'm not sure about anything. I can tell you that we are saving lots by switching from a wholesale processor in combination with Authorize.net to everything being done by PayPal.

Hopefully, things settle down a little and we can do some work over New Years.

If you think of anything else, I'm wide open to suggestions!

So, without removing anything from the server, I might try to create another admin directory (different named folder and not admin) and put together at least the new/temp admin directory that way. Once created and functional (albeit needing a changed admin/includes/configure.php file) I would then download both directories for comparison and troubleshooting.

[RodG]

3. The error log in my cache folder starts off with the following (this is line 1 in the file):

a:732:{i:0;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:10:"STORE_NAME";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:26:"Discount Embroidery Supply";}i:1;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:11:"STORE_OWNER";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:22:"Mark and Susan Grigsby";}i:2;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:13:"STORE_COUNTRY";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:3:"223";}i :3;a:2:{s:6:"cfgkey";s:10:"STORE_ZONE";s:8:"cfgvalue";s:2:"13";}i:4;a:2:

This is NOT an error log file. It is a SESSION DATA file and can/should be ignored.

My cache directory is purged every night - I have a cron job that deletes everything in the cache directory every day. So, that's not the problem.

You may not think so, but tell that to the customer that has a cart full of products that suddenly disappear because you've purged the session data while its still in use.
There really should be no need to purge these files, either manually of via a cron job. The PHP processor should automatically purge them after a predetermined amount of time.

[29-Dec-2013 19:05:10] PHP Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home1/databasename/public_html/includes/templates/template_default/templates/tpl_modules_products_quantity_discounts.php on line 93

This won't cause an admin blank page problem.

One of the things we (me and PayPal technical rep) were doing just before we had this problem was implementing PayFlow Pro. It seems odd that the log file ends with the statement above. Maybe the problem is with PayFlow and I should back those modifications out to try to get the admin panel back.

What do you think?

I think this is on the right track. My suggestion would be to delete the PayFlow php files (from the admin section) and see if the problem goes away.
Also, DO NOT keep a backup of files in any of the folders (or if you do, ensure that you rename them so they don't end with ".php"). Zencart will automatically load all files with the .php extension from some folders, and this will cause problems, including the 'blank screen'.

Cheers
RodG

[markgrigsby]

RodG -

Thanks for the input. I have a couple of questions. First, are all of the files associated with the admin panel in the admin directory? If not, what other files are touched by the admin panel?

Next, if I stop PayFlow Pro, won't it stop accepting customer orders causing more confusion for customers?

Then, I do have backup admin panel files in another directory under the catalog. I can move these outside the catalog directory, but want to make sure that doing so will not cause the "Zencart will automatically load all files with the .php extension from some folders, and this will cause problems, including the 'blank screen'." you mentioned. I have had these backup admin files under the catalog directory for years without any problems, so I really don't think this is the issue, but I'm willing to try anything at this point. My admin panel is highly customized by a coder who is no longer available to me. I don't know all of what he's done.

Finally, on purging the cache directory every night - I wrote this cron job to do this because the cache directory kept getting massive - nothing was deleting anything in this directory. I can certainly change the cron job to delete files older than a couple of days, but I've never had a customer complain about losing the contents of their cart overnight.

Thanks again for your help!
Mark

[mc12345678]

RodG -

Thanks for the input. I have a couple of questions. First, are all of the files associated with the admin panel in the admin directory? If not, what other files are touched by the admin panel?

Next, if I stop PayFlow Pro, won't it stop accepting customer orders causing more confusion for customers?

Then, I do have backup admin panel files in another directory under the catalog. I can move these outside the catalog directory, but want to make sure that doing so will not cause the "Zencart will automatically load all files with the .php extension from some folders, and this will cause problems, including the 'blank screen'." you mentioned. I have had these backup admin files under the catalog directory for years without any problems, so I really don't think this is the issue, but I'm willing to try anything at this point. My admin panel is highly customized by a coder who is no longer available to me. I don't know all of what he's done.

Finally, on purging the cache directory every night - I wrote this cron job to do this because the cache directory kept getting massive - nothing was deleting anything in this directory. I can certainly change the cron job to delete files older than a couple of days, but I've never had a customer complain about losing the contents of their cart overnight.

Thanks again for your help!
Mark

Hope you don't mind a response from someone other than RodG. At least about some of what you were discussing.

Your admin panel. I'm not sure I can frame the discussion to directly answer the subtle questions you asked, but here's a basic overview of the associated files:

Your admin files live in a location, this location has a connection to the main site through the configure.php file location in ADMIN/includes. You can have many admin directories, each with their own files. When accessing that admin directory, the associated database (which typically will be the same for both admin and store because I can't think of a situation where they would not be) is used to control whatever settings are applicable to that database, but what is seen on screne is a result of the code in that admin area.

There are some files (depending on the setup) that are used in both the admin and storeside, so the question of all files residing only in the admin panel is not necessarily true, but that/those files are accessible because of information in the admin panel side.

So if you are having difficulty with your existing admin panel, you can go about things a few different ways. Obviously if the problem is preventing something related to a sale, then need to get functional quickly. If it's just an annoyance, then suggestion is to fix it as able. In regards to what you have stated (highly suctomized admin panel) well, you need to get back to basic functionality at least, and this should not be something prevented by using a default admin panel. After getting it to work and getting things to keep moving, then can compare the two. Depending on level of understanding of php and ZC code, the problem should present itself in review.

[RodG]

RodG -

Thanks for the input. I have a couple of questions. First, are all of the files associated with the admin panel in the admin directory?

Most, but not all.

If not, what other files are touched by the admin panel?

The admin configure.php file is the best guide to let you know which folders (and therefore files) are not located in the /admin/ folder.

Next, if I stop PayFlow Pro, won't it stop accepting customer orders causing more confusion for customers?

Possibly, but the idea is to identify/confirm the source of the error. The suggestion isn't meant to be a cure.

Then, I do have backup admin panel files in another directory under the catalog.

Although it isn't something I'd personally recommend, as long as this isn't one of ZenCarts own folders/directories this won't be the cause of your problem(s).

I can move these outside the catalog directory,

For security purposes backup files are best stored outside of the /www/, /public_html/ or /htdocs/ folders.

but want to make sure that doing so will not cause the "Zencart will automatically load all files with the .php extension from some folders,

The "some folders" I was referring to are the Zencart folders (those defined in the configuration files). These are the ones you should avoid keeping backup files in.

and this will cause problems, including the 'blank screen'." you mentioned.

The backup files can only cause a problem if they are are store in certain folders used by ZenCart itself (and only if they have the .php extension).

I have had these backup admin files under the catalog directory for years without any problems, so I really don't think this is the issue,

But you haven't been trying to install the payflow mod for years and I have no way of knowing when doing this you found a existing payflow mod in one of the folders, and simply renamed it like "payflow_backup.php" so that you could install a later/newer payflow.php file. I mentioned it because this is quite a common scenario. If it doesn't apply to you then you don't need to worry about about it.
(Note 'payflow.php' is merely an example. The same applies with any .php file)

but I'm willing to try anything at this point. My admin panel is highly customized by a coder who is no longer available to me. I don't know all of what he's done.

You don't need to know. All you need to know is that it was working OK until you tried to install this mod, so the 1st thing to do is uninstall it to get the admin side of things working again.

Once you've got it working again THEN you can consider re-installing and trying to identify exactly what is causing the error. I've already given one possibility (a backup file stored in the same folder that you are trying to install the new/updated mod). The problem could also be caused by an incomplete upload of one or more of the files, and even the file being uploaded into the wrong directories. This is why you need to backout of the module installation so that you can start afresh, and hopefully not make the same mistakes (assuming you did make a mistake).

Finally, on purging the cache directory every night - I wrote this cron job to do this because the cache directory kept getting massive - nothing was deleting anything in this directory.

All you've really done here is hide the symptoms of a problem. It is far better to fix the problem itself (you may even need to contact/work with your host to take care of this).

I can certainly change the cron job to delete files older than a couple of days,

That's still not really fixing the problem.

but I've never had a customer complain about losing the contents of their cart overnight.

That doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It just means that they've gone to another store to purchase the items. It isn't your customers responsibility to report problems they find with your site. Only a very small minority of customers will do this.

Cheers
RodG