Copying Store to Test Directory before Upgrade -- why is admin/images directory 644?

I'm doing a test upgrade in a test directory before upgrading my store. I tried it once already by installing a clean copy of ZenCart 1.5.0, importing a copy of my CurrentStore database, then upgrading everything in increments to 1.5.5. All worked well except the images/customizations.

I am now re-doing the test by copying the entire store to the TestStore directory, importing a copy of the current database and following the same procedures I did previously in test 1.

QUESTION 1: While copying the files from CurrentStore to TestStore, I could not access the admin/image directory. I finally went in through the file manager and changed directory settings from 644 to 755. Do I have to change permissions back to 644 in the final store and, if so, why? (We actually have been having problems with some of the admin images showing currently ... and I suspect it's due to the permissions.) I want to be sure to keep file permission secure but do I need to re-set it back to 644?

QUESTION 2: I did not copy all the .log files over to the TestStore cache directory (there were thousands of them) -- I just copied .htaccess and index.php into the cache file. Will that affect performance?

QUESTION 3: Are there any other steps I'm missing that you can think of? I will have to re-add my shipping plug-in but otherwise, all prior customizations should be in the CurrentStore files I'm copying, yes?

Many thanks!

Permissions can be a funny thing.
Consider this:

a) Your "account" on the server has a userID associated with it,both a username (that's the part "you" see) and an internal "number" that the server uses.
Let's say yours is user number 1001.
Everything "you" do in your account is based on that user number, including all your FTP uploads to add/change files, and of course any downloads you try to do via FTP. And anything you do in your web control panel (ie: cPanel, etc).

b) But then Apache and PHP often run under a different user ID, let's say that's user "www-data", with user ID number 33.
So, anybody (including you) surfing on your site from a browser, interacts with the server using services operating under user number 33.

c) Permissions have certain meanings. in "755" the 7 means "user" permissions, the first 5 means "group" permissions, and the last 5 means "world"/everyone permissions. Same with "644", first digit is user, then group, then world.
7 means "everything (read, write, execute)".
6 means "read+write"
5 means "read-only and execute"
4 means "read-only"
(ignore what "execute" means here; just focus on read/write)

d) The FTP program your server uses to allow you to login via FTP might also have some permissions filtering that trumps some permissions rules

Now, when you upload files to the server, "you" "own" those files, and so you're getting the "6" or "7" permission.
But if you use a web browser in your Admin (or a customer uploads an image as part of the artwork on a purchase they're making for certain products on your store), then it's Apache/PHP (user 33) that's putting that file into the directories in your account, but it's also still Apache/PHP that "owns" those files.

And if the permissions on a certain file or directory are read-only for "group" or "world", then "you" won't have access to change/delete them.
(And in some server configurations, where an additional permissions "filter" and/or FTP configuration rules on the server, "trump" the permissions tools, sometimes even a read-only file might be denied to you when trying to download via FTP.)

Long story short, yes, it's a permissions issue.
Often you can use your cPanel's "file manager" tool, via your browser, to access those "denied" files, and even download them.
But sometimes you may need to ask your hosting company's tech support team for some assistance with accessing those files ... such as asking them to reset the "owner" to "yours", or change the permission setting on the files for you. (changing owner is probably fastest, and is the ideal first choice).

Other answers to your questions:

QUESTION 1

• Since this is a "test copy" of your store, and won't be your actual live store, if the images it's not letting you copy aren't important (ie: you don't mind seeing a broken-image-placeholder when your store tries to display that image), then you can just ignore the issue.
  I find in 99% of cases the images are insignificant and I leave those to take care of themselves back on the live site, and ignore them during the upgrade-testing.

QUESTION 2

• Ya, ignore the *.log files.
  In fact, you probably want to delete those. Fortunately in the new version (can't remember if it was also in your old version), in Admin->Tools->Store Manager there's a log-file cleanup button that'll delete them all. Error-log files are there because of errors, so should be reviewed. But if they're being generated because you're using an old ZC version on a newer PHP version, then after your upgrade you'll probably want to delete those old logs and see what new errors happen, since the new ZC version probably fixes a lot of the errors that were being reported previously.
  Also note that the new version puts the *.log files in /logs/ instead of /cache/ so you'll want to review that directory in the future.

QUESTION 3
Sounds like you're on track.
You're probably already following it, but I recommend this: http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-How-do-I-rebuild-my-site-on-the-new-version-instead-of-upgrading

Thank you so much, DrByte! I will work on things this afternoon and check back in this thread if any complications arise.
Very much appreciate your help and explanations!

Ran into a problem fairly early on. My store is version 1.5.0 and per the upgrade/rebuild instructions, I'm trying to install a copy of it in a test directory to check how the upgrade proceeds.

I've uploaded the original ZenCart 1.5.0 files and created a new database with the appropriate "all" user permissions.

However, I get to database checkup, fill in all the appropriate info and each time I try, get an error message:

Installation In Progress...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.

(Incidentally, I know I'm putting the right database/user/pw info because I double-checked on a brand new version of ZenCart (1.5.5) and have no trouble.

My hosting company says it's because this older version of ZenCart doesn't work with their version of php.

Is there a workaround for this? Otherwise, how can I upgrade from 1.5.0 to 1.5.5? Should I just copy all the CurrentStore (1.5.0) files into a new directory, import the database, then upload the new 1.5.5 into the same directory, and try an upgrade from there instead of starting by installing the 1.5.0?

I'm enclosing a copy of the system check just prior to the database checkup, just in case that's helpful.

Thanks

Actually -- in reviewing, I may have screwed up the configure.php files. Srry -- board wouldn't let me delete my prior post. Will hammer on this a bit more and then ask question if still having problems.

Thanks so much,

DrByte:

Permissions can be a funny thing.
Consider this:

a) Your "account" on the server has a userID associated with it,both a username (that's the part "you" see) and an internal "number" that the server uses.
Let's say yours is user number 1001.
Everything "you" do in your account is based on that user number, including all your FTP uploads to add/change files, and of course any downloads you try to do via FTP. And anything you do in your web control panel (ie: cPanel, etc).

b) But then Apache and PHP often run under a different user ID, let's say that's user "www-data", with user ID number 33.
So, anybody (including you) surfing on your site from a browser, interacts with the server using services operating under user number 33.

c) Permissions have certain meanings. in "755" the 7 means "user" permissions, the first 5 means "group" permissions, and the last 5 means "world"/everyone permissions. Same with "644", first digit is user, then group, then world.
7 means "everything (read, write, execute)".
6 means "read+write"
5 means "read-only and execute"
4 means "read-only"
(ignore what "execute" means here; just focus on read/write)

d) The FTP program your server uses to allow you to login via FTP might also have some permissions filtering that trumps some permissions rules

Now, when you upload files to the server, "you" "own" those files, and so you're getting the "6" or "7" permission.
But if you use a web browser in your Admin (or a customer uploads an image as part of the artwork on a purchase they're making for certain products on your store), then it's Apache/PHP (user 33) that's putting that file into the directories in your account, but it's also still Apache/PHP that "owns" those files.

And if the permissions on a certain file or directory are read-only for "group" or "world", then "you" won't have access to change/delete them.
(And in some server configurations, where an additional permissions "filter" and/or FTP configuration rules on the server, "trump" the permissions tools, sometimes even a read-only file might be denied to you when trying to download via FTP.)

Long story short, yes, it's a permissions issue.
Often you can use your cPanel's "file manager" tool, via your browser, to access those "denied" files, and even download them.
But sometimes you may need to ask your hosting company's tech support team for some assistance with accessing those files ... such as asking them to reset the "owner" to "yours", or change the permission setting on the files for you. (changing owner is probably fastest, and is the ideal first choice).
Wow, great explanation! This should be turned into a FAQ.

Okay, I've fixed the configure.php files in both the includes and admin/includes directory for installing version 1.5.0 (the current version of my store). As mentioned, per the upgrade/rebuild instructions, I'm trying to install a copy of it in a test directory THEN upgrade that test to check how the upgrade proceeds.

I've uploaded the original ZenCart 1.5.0 files and created a new database with the appropriate "all" user permissions.

However, I get to database checkup, fill in all the appropriate info and each time I try, get an error message:

Code:
Installation In Progress...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.
(Incidentally, I know I'm putting the right database/user/pw info because I double-checked on a brand new version of ZenCart (1.5.5) and have no trouble.

My hosting company says it's because this older version of ZenCart doesn't work with their version of php.

Is there a workaround for this? Otherwise, how can I upgrade from 1.5.0 to 1.5.5? Should I just copy all the CurrentStore (1.5.0) files into a new directory, import the database, then upload the new 1.5.5 into the same directory, and try an upgrade from there instead of starting by installing the 1.5.0?

Incidentally, I tried to replicate the problem to take a screen shot but the second time I tried to "install" from the zc_install directory, the install interface came up and asked me to agree to terms, then once I did, gave me an immediate error. This time I couldn't even get to the database section.

Any help is gratefully appreciated.
Thanks

Any debug-logs generated for that 1.5.0 installation will reside in your store's /cache folder. You might try checking there to see what details that installation error is trying to convey.

Good point re the debug ... checked my cache. Here is the latest debug (after I changed my configure.php files in both admin/includes and includes directory).

Any ideas?

---------------
Sep 17 2016 0:48 -- inspect
System Inspection Results: 
------------------------------
NA: Webserver => Apache
NA: HTTP Host => teststore.frenchteachers.org
NA: Path_Translated => /home/french/www/teststore/zc_install/index.php(SCRIPT_FILENAME)
NA: Real Path => /home/french/www/teststore
NA: Server Free Disk Space => 919.07 GB
NA: PHP O/S => Linux
NA: PHP API Mode => cgi-fcgi
NA: PHP Max Execution Time per page => 120
OK: MySQL Support => ON
OK: PHP Version => 5.6.21
WARN: PHP Version => 5.6.21
OK: PHP Sessions Support => ON
OK: PHP Session.AutoStart => OFF
OK: PHP session.use_trans_sid => OFF
OK: Suggested SQL Cache Folder => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
OK: PHP GD Support => ON
OK: GD Version => GD bundled (2.1.0 compatible)
OK: PHP ZLIB Compression Support => ON
OK: PHP OpenSSL Support => ON
OK: PHP cURL Support => ON
OK: CURL NON-SSL Capability => Okay
OK: CURL SSL Capability => Okay
OK: PHP Upload Support => ON  upload_max_filesize=20M;  post_max_size=20M
OK: PHP Upload TMP dir => 
OK: Apache .htaccess Support => ON
NA: PHP include_path => .:/usr/local/php56/lib/php
NA: PHP SMTP destination => localhost
NA: PHP sendmail path => /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i 
NA: PHP sendmail 'from' => 
OK: PHP open_basedir restrictions => 
WARN: PHP Output Buffering (gzip) => OFF
OK: PHP XML Support => ON
OK: PHP Session.Save_Path => /home/french/www/teststore/cache-->Writeable
OK: includes/configure.php =>  Writeable
OK: admin/includes/configure.php =>  Writeable
OK: cache => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: images => OK 777 read/write/execute (INCLUDE SUBDIRECTORIES TOO)
OK: includes/languages/english/html_includes => OK 777 read/write (INCLUDE SUBDIRECTORIES TOO)
OK: media => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: pub => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: admin/backups => OK 777 read/write
OK: admin/images/graphs => OK 777 read/write/execute
PHP Extensions compiled: Core, date, ereg, libxml, openssl, pcre, sqlite3, zlib, bcmath, bz2, calendar, ctype, curl, dom, hash, fileinfo, filter, ftp, gd, gettext, gmp, SPL, iconv, session, intl, json, ldap, mbstring, mcrypt, standard, mysqlnd, mysqli, pcntl, mysql, PDO, pdo_mysql, pdo_sqlite, Phar, posix, pspell, Reflection, imap, SimpleXML, soap, sockets, exif, sureacct, tidy, tokenizer, wddx, xml, xmlreader, xmlrpc, xmlwriter, xsl, zip, cgi-fcgi, mhash, ionCube Loader
------------------------------


---------------
Sep 17 2016 0:49 -- database_setup1
Installer - Page: database_setup -- collected information: Array
(
    [language] => english
    [DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE] => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
    [DB_TYPE] => mysql
    [DB_PREFIX] => 
    [DB_CHARSET] => utf8
    [DB_SERVER] => localhost
    [DB_SERVER_USERNAME] => linda
    [DB_SERVER_PASSWORD] => ***private***
    [DB_DATABASE] => french_zctest
    [SQL_CACHE_METHOD] => none
)


---------------
Sep 17 2016 0:49 -- database_setup1
Installer - Page: database_setup -- collected information: Array
(
    [language] => english
    [DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE] => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
    [DB_TYPE] => mysql
    [DB_PREFIX] => 
    [DB_CHARSET] => utf8
    [DB_SERVER] => localhost
    [DB_SERVER_USERNAME] => french
    [DB_SERVER_PASSWORD] => ***private***
    [DB_DATABASE] => french_zctest
    [SQL_CACHE_METHOD] => none
)


---------------
Sep 17 2016 0:49 -- inspect
System Inspection Results: 
------------------------------
NA: Webserver => Apache
NA: HTTP Host => teststore.frenchteachers.org
NA: Path_Translated => /home/french/www/teststore/zc_install/index.php(SCRIPT_FILENAME)
NA: Real Path => /home/french/www/teststore
NA: Server Free Disk Space => 919.07 GB
NA: PHP O/S => Linux
NA: PHP API Mode => cgi-fcgi
NA: PHP Max Execution Time per page => 120
OK: MySQL Support => ON
OK: PHP Version => 5.6.21
WARN: PHP Version => 5.6.21
OK: PHP Sessions Support => ON
OK: PHP Session.AutoStart => OFF
OK: PHP session.use_trans_sid => OFF
OK: Suggested SQL Cache Folder => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
OK: PHP GD Support => ON
OK: GD Version => GD bundled (2.1.0 compatible)
OK: PHP ZLIB Compression Support => ON
OK: PHP OpenSSL Support => ON
OK: PHP cURL Support => ON
OK: CURL NON-SSL Capability => Okay
OK: CURL SSL Capability => Okay
OK: PHP Upload Support => ON  upload_max_filesize=20M;  post_max_size=20M
OK: PHP Upload TMP dir => 
OK: Apache .htaccess Support => ON
NA: PHP include_path => .:/usr/local/php56/lib/php
NA: PHP SMTP destination => localhost
NA: PHP sendmail path => /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i 
NA: PHP sendmail 'from' => 
OK: PHP open_basedir restrictions => 
WARN: PHP Output Buffering (gzip) => OFF
OK: PHP XML Support => ON
OK: PHP Session.Save_Path => /home/french/www/teststore/cache-->Writeable
OK: includes/configure.php =>  Writeable
OK: admin/includes/configure.php =>  Writeable
OK: cache => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: images => OK 777 read/write/execute (INCLUDE SUBDIRECTORIES TOO)
OK: includes/languages/english/html_includes => OK 777 read/write (INCLUDE SUBDIRECTORIES TOO)
OK: media => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: pub => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: admin/backups => OK 777 read/write
OK: admin/images/graphs => OK 777 read/write/execute
PHP Extensions compiled: Core, date, ereg, libxml, openssl, pcre, sqlite3, zlib, bcmath, bz2, calendar, ctype, curl, dom, hash, fileinfo, filter, ftp, gd, gettext, gmp, SPL, iconv, session, intl, json, ldap, mbstring, mcrypt, standard, mysqlnd, mysqli, pcntl, mysql, PDO, pdo_mysql, pdo_sqlite, Phar, posix, pspell, Reflection, imap, SimpleXML, soap, sockets, exif, sureacct, tidy, tokenizer, wddx, xml, xmlreader, xmlrpc, xmlwriter, xsl, zip, cgi-fcgi, mhash, ionCube Loader
------------------------------


---------------
Sep 17 2016 0:59 -- database_setup1
Installer - Page: database_setup -- collected information: Array
(
    [language] => english
    [DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE] => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
    [DB_TYPE] => mysql
    [DB_PREFIX] => 
    [DB_CHARSET] => utf8
    [DB_SERVER] => localhost
    [DB_SERVER_USERNAME] => linda
    [DB_SERVER_PASSWORD] => ***private***
    [DB_DATABASE] => french_zctest
    [SQL_CACHE_METHOD] => none
)


---------------
Sep 18 2016 11:24 -- inspect
System Inspection Results: 
------------------------------
NA: Webserver => Apache
NA: HTTP Host => teststore.frenchteachers.org
NA: Path_Translated => /home/french/www/teststore/zc_install/index.php(SCRIPT_FILENAME)
NA: Real Path => /home/french/www/teststore
NA: Server Free Disk Space => 919.32 GB
NA: PHP O/S => Linux
NA: PHP API Mode => cgi-fcgi
NA: PHP Max Execution Time per page => 120
OK: MySQL Support => ON
WARN: MySQL Version => 5.7.14-percona-sure1-log
OK: PHP Version => 5.6.21
WARN: PHP Version => 5.6.21
OK: PHP Sessions Support => ON
OK: PHP Session.AutoStart => OFF
OK: PHP session.use_trans_sid => OFF
OK: Current SQL Cache Folder => /home/french/www/teststore/cache-->Writeable
OK: Suggested SQL Cache Folder => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
OK: PHP GD Support => ON
OK: GD Version => GD bundled (2.1.0 compatible)
OK: PHP ZLIB Compression Support => ON
OK: PHP OpenSSL Support => ON
OK: PHP cURL Support => ON
OK: CURL NON-SSL Capability => Okay
OK: CURL SSL Capability => Okay
OK: PHP Upload Support => ON  upload_max_filesize=20M;  post_max_size=20M
OK: PHP Upload TMP dir => 
OK: Apache .htaccess Support => ON
NA: PHP include_path => .:/usr/local/php56/lib/php
NA: PHP SMTP destination => localhost
NA: PHP sendmail path => /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i 
NA: PHP sendmail 'from' => 
OK: PHP open_basedir restrictions => 
WARN: PHP Output Buffering (gzip) => OFF
OK: PHP XML Support => ON
OK: PHP Session.Save_Path => /home/french/www/teststore/cache-->Writeable
OK: includes/configure.php =>  Writeable
OK: admin/includes/configure.php =>  Writeable
OK: cache => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: images => OK 777 read/write/execute (INCLUDE SUBDIRECTORIES TOO)
OK: includes/languages/english/html_includes => OK 777 read/write (INCLUDE SUBDIRECTORIES TOO)
OK: media => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: pub => OK 777 read/write/execute
OK: admin/backups => OK 777 read/write
OK: admin/images/graphs => OK 777 read/write/execute
PHP Extensions compiled: Core, date, ereg, libxml, openssl, pcre, sqlite3, zlib, bcmath, bz2, calendar, ctype, curl, dom, hash, fileinfo, filter, ftp, gd, gettext, gmp, SPL, iconv, session, intl, json, ldap, mbstring, mcrypt, standard, mysqlnd, mysqli, pcntl, mysql, PDO, pdo_mysql, pdo_sqlite, Phar, posix, pspell, Reflection, imap, SimpleXML, soap, sockets, exif, sureacct, tidy, tokenizer, wddx, xml, xmlreader, xmlrpc, xmlwriter, xsl, zip, cgi-fcgi, mhash, ionCube Loader
------------------------------


---------------
Sep 18 2016 11:25 -- database_setup1
Installer - Page: database_setup -- collected information: Array
(
    [language] => english
    [DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE] => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
    [DB_TYPE] => mysql
    [DB_PREFIX] => 
    [DB_CHARSET] => utf8
    [DB_SERVER] => localhost
    [DB_SERVER_USERNAME] => linda
    [DB_SERVER_PASSWORD] => ***private***
    [DB_DATABASE] => french_zctest
    [SQL_CACHE_METHOD] => none
)


---------------
Sep 18 2016 11:27 -- database_setup1
Installer - Page: database_setup -- collected information: Array
(
    [language] => english
    [DIR_FS_SQL_CACHE] => /home/french/www/teststore/cache
    [DB_TYPE] => mysql
    [DB_PREFIX] => 
    [DB_CHARSET] => utf8
    [DB_SERVER] => localhost
    [DB_SERVER_USERNAME] => linda
    [DB_SERVER_PASSWORD] => ***private***
    [DB_DATABASE] => french_zctest
    [SQL_CACHE_METHOD] => none
)

Incidentally, the prior debug logs in the cache were pretty simple (probably because I'd forgotten to edit my configure.php files -- here's a sample:

[18-Sep-2016 11:41:02 America/Chicago] PHP Fatal error:  1146:Table 'french_zctest.customers_basket_attributes' doesn't exist :: show fields from customers_basket_attributes in /home/french/www/teststore/includes/classes/db/mysql/query_factory.php on line 101

Am I doing something wrong when editing the configure.php files? That's the only change I made between getting a db error ... and now not even getting the install to work past the "agree to terms" page.

PS
ADDENDUM to my reply above:
Just tried to install again, this time was able to go further than simply the "agree to terms"-then-error (even though I did not change anything, LOL).

Made it to database (again) and again had the same error there as listed above. Per lat9's suggestion, I checked the cache for a new log file but only see one change -- a doc entitled:
sess_525378e19fd2d7984a13dab618fda7e6

This doc does not have a file extension so I don't know how to open it.

you are not in upgrade mode.... you are now looking at re-installing and losing all of your db.

the previous error suggests that you are missing 1 table. i do not know when that table became part of ZC, nor why you would be missing that 1 table.... perhaps you are missing others...

your configure.php probably looks correct, but to me going here and seeing all of this is a little scary:

http://teststore.frenchteachers.org/zc_install/index.php?main_page=inspect

unless all of your data is testdata and you are comfortable losing it all....

good luck!

Er, the customers_basket_attributes table has been around since Zen Cart supported attributes; it sounds like there might be a mismatch between the DB_PREFIX used in the database and that specified ('') in the configure.php file.