Question regarding install

[lhungil]

Typical Hosting Provider Setup (with cPanel):

root -+ (FTP root / private)
      |
      +- logs (often used by providers for Apache, FTP, etc logs)
      |
      +- public_html (WEB root / public; Zen Cart installed here)
      |      |
      |      +- logs (default location used by Zen Cart for logs)

OR

root -+ (FTP root / private)
      |
      +- logs (often used by providers for Apache, FTP, etc logs)
      |
      +- public_html (WEB root / public)
      |      |
      |      +- store (Zen Cart installed here)
      |      |      |
      |      |      +- logs (default location used by Zen Cart for logs)

The "logs" folder in the FTP root is often configured to not allow USERS to write, modify, or delete. This is where the hosting provider usually stores SERVER logs related to your domains.

The "logs" folder in the WEB root is not usually present on most cPanel based hosting providers. This folder is created when you upload Zen Cart. Zen Cart should be installed in the WEB root (or a subfolder under the WEB root).

The "logs" folder used by Zen Cart should physically exist and be writable during installation (in order to log any errors encountered). The Zen Cart "logs" folder location can be changed after installation to a different location if desired.


Some "lazy" hosting providers may provide something like the following:

root -+ (FTP & WEB root / public)
      |
      +- logs (used by provider for Apache, FTP, etc logs)

I say "lazy" because there is no COMPELLING reason in this day and age to not provide a private area outside the WEB root. If your host is doing the above, you may want to look for a new hosting provider.

If you cannot change providers, you will need to create a new folder to hold the Zen Cart debug logs (such as renaming the Zen Cart logs folder to "zc-logs"). You can then adjust the location to match after installation of Zen Cart (edit both configure.php files). To start out, you may choose to simply install Zen Cart in a folder (instead of the WEB root) and move it to the WEB root at a later date (after changing the Zen Cart log folder) to capture any error logs during installation. Otherwise you can install (with no error logging) and change the folder after installation.

[dfontana]

Typical Hosting Provider Setup (with cPanel):

root -+ (FTP root / private)
      |
      +- logs (often used by providers for Apache, FTP, etc logs)
      |
      +- public_html (WEB root / public; Zen Cart installed here)
      |      |
      |      +- logs (default location used by Zen Cart for logs)

OR

root -+ (FTP root / private)
      |
      +- logs (often used by providers for Apache, FTP, etc logs)
      |
      +- public_html (WEB root / public)
      |      |
      |      +- store (Zen Cart installed here)
      |      |      |
      |      |      +- logs (default location used by Zen Cart for logs)

The "logs" folder in the FTP root is often configured to not allow USERS to write, modify, or delete. This is where the hosting provider usually stores SERVER logs related to your domains.

The "logs" folder in the WEB root is not usually present on most cPanel based hosting providers. This folder is created when you upload Zen Cart. Zen Cart should be installed in the WEB root (or a subfolder under the WEB root).

The "logs" folder used by Zen Cart should physically exist and be writable during installation (in order to log any errors encountered). The Zen Cart "logs" folder location can be changed after installation to a different location if desired.


Some "lazy" hosting providers may provide something like the following:

root -+ (FTP & WEB root / public)
      |
      +- logs (used by provider for Apache, FTP, etc logs)

I say "lazy" because there is no COMPELLING reason in this day and age to not provide a private area outside the WEB root. If your host is doing the above, you may want to look for a new hosting provider.

If you cannot change providers, you will need to create a new folder to hold the Zen Cart debug logs (such as renaming the Zen Cart logs folder to "zc-logs"). You can then adjust the location to match after installation of Zen Cart (edit both configure.php files). To start out, you may choose to simply install Zen Cart in a folder (instead of the WEB root) and move it to the WEB root at a later date (after changing the Zen Cart log folder) to capture any error logs during installation. Otherwise you can install (with no error logging) and change the folder after installation.

If appears the host chose the latter from what I can see, as I already have Zen-Car installed, may try and move the Zen-Cart log to another folder and change the config files.

Thanks for the info, but out of curiosity, if I leave the log folder where it is with current permission does that pose a problem? I will try and move the folder later.

[lhungil]

... Thanks for the info, but out of curiosity, if I leave the log folder where it is with current permission does that pose a problem? ...

Yes, because if Zen Cart cannot write to the folder it cannot create debug / error logs. So if something does break (or an error occurs), you will not get any logs. The log files are vital to help narrow down causes if something does go awry (hopefully it never does).

I recommend my clients check for the presence of debug logs a semi-regular basis (or I check these if the client has a maintenance contract). Why? Because many customers may never report an issue if it occurs; Instead they just go shop somewhere else. The presence of a log is not guaranteed for all errors, but if one is present something usually needs to be fixed / updated. So this helps identify potential issues w/o waiting for a customer to report an issue.

So yeah, I would change the Zen Cart log folder as soon as possible to another location (for example "zc-logs"). Just create the folder, set the appropriate permissions, and add the files from the Zen Cart distribution's "logs" folder. Then configure Zen Cart to use the new location by altering "DIR_FS_LOGS" in the configure.php files (both - should be full path w/o tailing slash).

[dfontana]

Yes, because if Zen Cart cannot write to the folder it cannot create debug / error logs. So if something does break (or an error occurs), you will not get any logs. The log files are vital to help narrow down causes if something does go awry (hopefully it never does).

I recommend my clients check for the presence of debug logs a semi-regular basis (or I check these if the client has a maintenance contract). Why? Because many customers may never report an issue if it occurs; Instead they just go shop somewhere else. The presence of a log is not guaranteed for all errors, but if one is present something usually needs to be fixed / updated. So this helps identify potential issues w/o waiting for a customer to report an issue.

So yeah, I would change the Zen Cart log folder as soon as possible to another location (for example "zc-logs"). Just create the folder, set the appropriate permissions, and add the files from the Zen Cart distribution's "logs" folder. Then configure Zen Cart to use the new location by altering "DIR_FS_LOGS" in the configure.php files (both - should be full path w/o tailing slash).

Thank you for the explanation, I already created the zc_logs folder on one of the sites I am working on now, will create the folder on the other site and set permission to 777 correct?

[lhungil]

Thank you for the explanation, I already created the zc_logs folder on one of the sites I am working on now, will create the folder on the other site and set permission to 777 correct?

Only the hosting provider can provide a definitive answer.
The answer will depend on how the hosting provider has configured the server. I would ask the hosting provider "If I need a folder to be writable by PHP (and me via FTP or a control panel), what permissions do I need to set on the folder?".

[dfontana]

If appears the host chose the latter from what I can see, as I already have Zen-Car installed, may try and move the Zen-Cart log to another folder and change the config files.

Thanks for the info, but out of curiosity, if I leave the log folder where it is with current permission does that pose a problem? I will try and move the folder later.

took your advice done