Server move php errors on live site!

[athena]

155f was moved by the host without our knowledge to an updated php server. The site is live! No warning to put down for maintenance.

MAIN ISSUE:
The admin login is not accessible but the shop appears to be letting customers log in and go to paypal however no orders coming in since the site was moved yesterday.

WHAT'S BEEN TRIED WORKING WITH FOUR TECHS OVER THE LAST 12 HOURS:

1. Techs at our host reinstalled the SSL but we still can not get a login page to pull up for the admin.
2. They believe admin/includes/application_top.php hardcoded the php version so I changed every instance of php version in that file to indicate the 7.1 version we now have.
3. I uploaded zc_install to see what zencart could find and it indicated no curl. Tech fixed that. Zen install also indicated also a problem with the .htacess file but the techs did not see an issue there.

I want to upgrade from 155 eventually but this does not seem to be the time with all our mods being complicated, which is why we are happy to stay on the new server. They can move us back to the old server with php 5.4 in hopes we will be able to stay open but to upgrade they will just have to move us back.

I am thinking to follow the faqs for moving to another server and create a new database for the shop moving through the install steps.

Can someone help me know if that is necessary and if it will fix our store? Anyone else run into this sort of thing? I can pm the url of our admin if necessary.

[athena]

The biggest obstacle to working with the database and upgrading is that I can't put our site down for maintenance.

[dbltoe]

part of your problem may just be a redirect problem. If your access bookmark does not match the SSL or configure.php files it can cause a failure to login. It's more likely that your host upgraded your PHP versus moving to another server without your request. Just too much work for them without getting paid.

You didn't provide a URL so I can't check but, make sure your SSL link in both configure.php files are set to https:// first. Then make sure they both match the www or non-www of the new SSL. Lastly, make sure you are not trying to get to https://yoursite.com with https://www.yoursite.com if the SSL is non-www and vice versa if thee SSL is www

JIC make sure you don't have a cPanel redirect or one in the root .htaccess that doesn't match the new SSL.

[dbltoe]

Whey can't you put the site down for maintenance? Does your host not provide phpMyAdmin of something similar?

Should be in the configuration table around configuration_id 430 to 460 based on your version of ZC

[athena]

the www does not make any difference. So you are saying I can put the site down for maintenance without logging into the admin? I've never done that. I have cpanel and phpMyAdmin... do not know where to go from there to change config 403 to 406? is that right? Would it show our site down for maintenance page? We are blind without being able to log in.

I did install an updated zencart in a subfolder that is working. I can log in to that admin. To add in all our mods had been proving to be beyond my talents. If someone would like to do that for me I'd be onboard with hiring someone.

The host changed the IP address so they did, I believe, really move it. The tech told me it is still the same database... not sure how they did that or if I'm still using the MySql 5.6. The new server cpanel is indicating MySql 5.7.

[dbltoe]

Before you do something drastic, let us know the link to your site so we can look. If you want, just enter it as yoursiteDOTcom to stop the world from looking right now. Or PM

In phpMyAdmin, you would double-click on the database, double-click on the configuration table, scroll to the bottom and change the Number of rows: to 500.

Then scroll down until you see DOWN_FOR_MAINTENANCE. It will be the first in a series of DOWN_FOR_MAINTENANCE.... Calls. Setting it to true will put your site Down for Maintenance.

NOTE: I would also make sure your IP address is listed about seven lines lower at EXCLUDE_ADMIN_IP_FOR_MAINTENANCE Having your IP address there will allow you to see the storefront while testing.

[athena]

Thanks for chipping in, dbltoe. I got a good tech on the line who knew zencart and hung in there with me for another 2 hours and we decided to move it back to the old server and it is back up and running. He assured me this would not be a problem in the future as they are in the process of a long term solution to their server upgrade challenges. We've been with them 20 years already. The-devil-you-know sort of scenario we will stick with for now. Still... such a waste of 24 hours.

[dbltoe]

Glad you found someone with enough knowledge to help. Since we host only ZC, all of our techs are knowledgeable.

Unfortunately, you are not out of the woods yet.

Your configure.php files are not set for full SSL. Your site opens insecure and does not go secure until login or checkout. Both config files should show https://top.... For all site links and SSL set to true.

Next, you need to set a 301 redirect in either cPanel or an .htaccess file in your site's root. That 301 should force all combinations of your URL to redirect to https://top....

Your longevity has brought you up in the search engines but, both of these things will kick you off the front page completely if it hasn't already done so.

Those should be taken care of immediately, then start a build process on the latest version of ZC. Our recommendation in a cPanel environment is at https://myzencarthost.com/index.php?...th-cPanel.html

[athena]

Thank you, just catching my breath after reconstructing orders that missed the boat...

Your configure.php files are not set for full SSL. Your site opens insecure and does not go secure until login or checkout. Both config files should show https://top.... For all site links and SSL set to true.

I do have both config files set to "true" for SSL but have long wondered why the site looked unsecured. We do have our own SSL Certificate, not shared.

We used to have an .htaccess file in our site's root to manage some redirects but an exhaustive search has turned up nothing and I'm baffled by what examples I'm seeing online. Will work on it with a clearer head later later in my cp.

Thank you so much for taking the time...

[carlwhat]

Thank you, just catching my breath after reconstructing orders that missed the boat...



I do have both config files set to "true" for SSL but have long wondered why the site looked unsecured. We do have our own SSL Certificate, not shared.

We used to have an .htaccess file in our site's root to manage some redirects but an exhaustive search has turned up nothing and I'm baffled by what examples I'm seeing online. Will work on it with a clearer head later later in my cp.

Thank you so much for taking the time...

in looking through all of this, i would suggest the problem was most likely the new server had a newer version of php. while v155 can go to php7.1, i'm not sure your mods would be ready. and without knowing what version of php your host is running on the new server.... well you got me....

furthermore, the admin login would, in all likelihood, not be affected by any mod; so without seeing the error log, it is hard to ascertain what your problem might have been on the new server. again, v155 goes only up to php 7.1; so a php version greater than that might cause a problem....

in addition, you say the old server is running php 5.4. 2 things: v155 is not supposed to run php 5.4; it starts at php 5.5. that's not to say it was not working, but these elements are important when troubleshooting what potential problems might be. 2nd: if you are on a server running php 5.4, i would HIGHLY suggest testing your ZC installation against a higher version of php and moving said install to a server with a supported version of php. php 5.4 is EOL over 5 years ago (https://www.php.net/eol.php). that's a problem.

a less likely culprit on your problem is DNS. if you host moved you to a new server, with a new IP address, did they update your DNS? did they shorten the DNS TTL prior to the move? if you have hosted with them for 20 years, i would guess they kind of know what they are doing; but the caching of DNS records could potentially be a problem with paypal.

without logs, we are just guessing... but you are in a better place to plan for a PHP upgrade and server move.

again, without logs, we are just making guesses, but a move to a new server should NOT involve any changes to your configure files unless the directory structure on the new server is different from the old server, which is entirely possible and more likely probably.

best.