Critical Problem With Restored Backup of Site

ZC v1.3.9

Ok, so I accidently deleted a ZenCart site, but fortunately we have an automated backup on the server.

I restored the backup, replacing all of the current files. The backup was from last night, and the files haven't been touched in months anyways. Nor have passwords been changed.

The shopping cart is loading fine, but all of the files in the Admin section are displaying below text for the entire page. If you go to "page source" in the browser, you get the same thing:

‹»þZRfunctions_bmz_image_handler.php…PMoÛ0½ûWð@vÐÚNºƒ» ’55–¦Eín‡®›±È’+ËùدŸœ¥†zA>¾G>êÓUS5N880€u'sÕléªþEyÍJ¤“…@ô4KÉ™p™‹®@HnFe°Öª¶Ã„*-»|f©”Èx _µÂ5xJó’K&àO×?0sÕì-^˜¾e£(:?µáâÀ etc.etc. (for entie page)

I used the Linux "file" command to ensure that they are ASCII encoded. I've restarted Apache and also the VM server that this is running on.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

all of the files in the Admin section are displaying below text for the entire page
I do not understand what you mean that "files" are displaying???

In the browser, when accessing the Admin area (index.php or any of the files), the entire file being displayed is scrambled and (broken).

Instead of the admin section, it looks like this:

‹»þZRfunctions_bmz_image_handler.php…PMoÛ0½ûWð@vÐÚNºƒ» ’55–¦Eín‡®›±È’+ËùدŸœ¥†zA>¾G>êÓUS5N880€u'sÕléªþEyÍJ¤“…@ô4KÉ™p™‹®@HnFe°Öª¶Ã„-»|f©”Èx _µÂ5xJó’K&àO×?0sÕì-^˜¾e£(:?µáâÀ¥“Ùm²„ø<”¾ù~^ý‡‹¼þZRproduct_music_functions.php½T[oÚ0çW!$@…Àèx¡[»Ž± ‰– ØÃ6M‘ˆ·GŽCÊÆþûì„´\Ú5L¬(BØá|ç|ûÍEà…FC?pR?ÊçÄ##"¯»DÈa,"é"ôꮘÏÑüÌ÷Y}.èŠ)ÙÌSPq«Ðj6Oaâ!ÜÏKq¾P†Ï͵ÊI"ÇxJF#Žc+›ÅÒj5§xgi—À:æ\·B*&xø˜p"ìæóó?ø8ñXaš«)óÌ2r¾£«@ XhõØвš ¦ ´ÅW·ð™‹<ÄÚ6GåeꝈS)ÄLyzSïÄýAfœ'I£A¿Û»÷j@85UÛXdA˜Oý?åIͼ¤0Ò§õ˜Q¬Çè€n—À ß1ã3ˆ¤ßÙ×þ©L¬Y4ZvÓRwÊÊãc Ke¸P ÑE¶@ àj_3‰îOÁºCB‘H„ˆ'”2½G- S¡YƒÀG¢QB40¦/šÚ##¹ÖÞmÔ¾BŒàs##f2øzP¦óFQè/##ŽÇÌ”ú´4r•=BæÚÓˆ»ÉQHNã«WͶ9ízóµ~ Õê4۝Óöp˜¤Ž4ê”ÌÍ ú+½G¨"™Ie¡ áÓhe‹#R=ŸðY¤#WÈ[ì*{]eë´TJÙ‚Ñ”²*½ªÂ¯‚Ñdæ‡øP¢ÎY²^À[³U?ïÝ¡)¬CôÍ™ÙÀ.<9L¥v©L.ßzö¨×Ž>Ø—£I<Ûý›Cý®˜(öPÞË¡§×ã• n…qUÝàhàÊ9ðL31öñ6dJ‹Õ³B*SkÖ ëçS†> ¿–7T)3:þ~ÌͺBR}CΗš*“bÛM‹Sowör[¼]÷”ÕûÿÙñîðúöòæóáŽï1Ü6jÿõËø¿Ý÷!û’eqx,×æ¾€+äšèaaHoš™©L“°¹‘;EOe§ÑË›Ø¶M;ï^Æú¦¾ïÈ”™~q^ø#I?:‹¼þZRendicia_labels.phpÍXmÚHþœùuÉpf.»º]eç&+ƒ Ag0²™L¢hd5¸+ÆͶÛó’SþûV·1ÆÆæn#?0Cw×SÕOU=Ýø_¿oV›‹EÍEÀ"X“ ôæ!‰ãV3"kz ͘†t.¨· iø}C8NÊã6üçâM37ñçäש¿##ôS|

etc...

And to clarify, the rest of the ZenCart site that was also restored, works fine (the shopping cart). Only when I go to the Admin section do I get the scrambled, broken text instead of a functional website.

Looks to me like a file corruption.

This could be the result of something going amiss when the files were restored, or it could have occurred when the backup was created.

I'd suggest another restoration attempt using the most recent backup and if you get the same results again you should try an even older backup.
Oh, this is assuming that when you view the files (using a text reader of some sort) They also look corrupted. If they view like a PHP file should then the problem is elsewhere.
The Linux file command can be easily fooled.

Cheers
RodG

Thanks, Rod. I've tried restoring the backup several times now, including a previous (2nd) backup from several days ago. Still same results. Just the admin area is effected.

The files do not appear corrupted when viewed with a text editor.

Could this be a problem with permissions or file ownership? Who is supposed to be the 'owner' of the files in the Admin folder?

I have a clue. Using Linux's "file" command, the PHP files are being described as "HTML document, ASCII text". It should say "PHP script, ASCII text".

Why are these .PHP files being read as HTML? Why are they not being recognized as .PHP, when being restored from a backup?

So I'm attempting to correct the permissions on the files and folders, and at least now I'm beyond the garbled text, now it's just a 500 server error, but nothing in the error log.

So it turns out I had to change the permissions of every folder or subfolder in the Admin area to 755. It's fixed now!

jonathan824:

So it turns out I had to change the permissions of every folder or subfolder in the Admin area to 755. It's fixed now!

Thanks for the update that all is fixed.

I have to admit though, I'm quite surprised that this turned out to be a permissions issue. It certainly isn't a symptom that I would associate with permissions.

Can anyone think of an explanation? 'cos if there is one it is currently eluding me (as as almost anyone that know me will know that I don't like unsolved mysteries like this).

Cheers
RodG

So it turns out I had to change the permissions of every folder or subfolder in the Admin area to 755
Would you care to elaborate on what the permissions were before you changed them?
and maybe the group & owner if you know??
Also, how you restored this from backup?