upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -
Number of replies: 12

I am trying to upgrade from 2.9 to 3.0 on a rental vps running linux with apache 2.2.24. The server php version is 5.4.32, but at my request the support staff enabled 7.0 by having me add these lines:

FcgidWrapper /usr/local/cpanel/cgi-sys/php7 .php

AddHandler fcgid-script .php

to the .htaccess file in the desired directory. 

That enabled the upgrade script to clear the server checks. But then on the plugins check screen, when I click on “upgrade Moodle database now”, after more than 5 minutes I get the blue 500 internal server error screen.

Whenever I access home or admin, I am returned to the plugins check screen. But I found that I was able to access and turn on debugging by using a direct URL. And from there, I am able to access all the courses and other parts of the site. But if I try to go to the home screen, I am directed back to the plugins check. Debugging is now on, but I don’t know how to find the error messages that should result.

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In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Howard Miller -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Peer reviewers Picture of Plugin developers

A 500 error tells you nothing useful. You need to check (or get support to check) what was logged in the web server's error log. 

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In reply to Howard Miller

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -

The server log has this error repeated many times:

[Thu Feb 25 00:10:50 2016] [error] [client 108.179.236.73] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/wp-includes

presumably once for each time I tried executing the install script.

At the end it also has this message repeated three times with different client ip addresses: 

[Thu Feb 25 00:10:37 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.3] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931

Which might be occurring when to users attempt to access the site, which is in maintenance mode.

Any ideas what is going wrong?

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In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Ken Task -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

This error line: File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/wp-includes

was an attempt to access something word press.   Did you/do you have a mix of files/directories at public_html/ that begin with 'wp'?   Check the contents of index.php (which is the 'default' page served out by apache).  At the very top you will see a comment that "This file is part of Moodle." If, you see this: "Front to the WordPress application." in the index.php file it's obviously for WordPress.

In your error log, many references to hotpot or parts to hotpot.  That's not part of core code.  Doesn't come in the moodle.zip you downloaded.

PHP Notice:  Plugin hotpotreport_scores does not declare valid $plugin->component in its version.php

You might have to download the hotpot plugins ... they are zips.   Unzip them locally.  And then FTP the extracted diretories to the proper locations ... the mod for hotpot into the public_html/mod/ directory ... as an example.

https://moodle.org/plugins/mod_hotpot

Best guess, given info.

'spirit of sharing', Ken


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In reply to Ken Task

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -

Thanks for the ideas, Ken.

The wordpress error mystifies me. We have never installed WP on this server, and there is no mention of it in index.php, and no files beginning wp in public_html.

I had copied the hotpot module and question format directories from the old moodle folder to the new one before upgrading. I have just downloaded and replaced them with the lastest versions, and tried the database upgrade again, but still no go. The new set of error messages (attached) is still full of references to hotpot. 

If I simply deleted the hotpot module and question format for the time being and tried upgrading again, what would happen? If the upgrade goes through, I could reinstall them after the fact...

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In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -

Okay, now maybe we're getting to the heart of the matter. I removed the hot pot module and question format for the time being, and tried the upgrade again. That resulted in about 13 errors in the server log (see attached). Please advise if you have any idea of what the errors mean.

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In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Ken Task -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

First line in the text file (which you could have copied and pasted in here to save time):

File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/admin/sys_cpanel

Is that IP address your IP address (the ip address you are using to upgrade)?

There is no 'sys_cpanel' in moodle code.

referer: http://yoursite/admin/index.php?cache=0&confirmplugincheck=1

** Indicates that is coming from your server. **

Suggest removing the contents of moodledata/cache/

as well as the contents of moodledata/localcache/

NOT the directories ... just the contents of.

no need to restart apache server, just attempt to login.

You might need to contact hosting provider ... Joe's Web Hosting Inc. about the sys_cpanel thing.

I don't host with Joe.

'spirit of sharing', Ken


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In reply to Ken Task

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -

Thanks again, Ken. Yeah, Joe's is a provider chosen for us by the university media guy. Next year we are switching back to SiteGround, this time to a real solid state managed server. So almost done with this nightmare.

Tried deleting the contents of moodledata/cache and .../localcache, to no avail. The error messages this time (there were many repetitions of some of the [warn] errors, which I have abbreviated:

  • [Thu Feb 25 13:37:06 2016] [error] [client 183.76.114.236] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/admin/sys_cpanel, referer: http://ktu-e-learn.net/admin/index.php?cache=0&confirmplugincheck=1
  • [Thu Feb 25 13:35:45 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.17] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 13:27:57 2016] [error] [client 208.115.113.93] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/robots.txt
  • [Thu Feb 25 13:25:39 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.17] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 13:09:55 2016] [warn] [client 217.69.133.247] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 59 of /course/view.php: call to require_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 13:09:49 2016] [warn] [client 217.69.133.242] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 59 of /course/view.php: call to require_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 13:09:47 2016] [error] [client 217.69.133.190] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/robots.txt
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:57:03 2016] [error] [client 104.131.79.107] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/administrator
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:46:40 2016] [warn] [client 46.4.120.3] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 49 of /user/profile.php: call to require_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:42:16 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.49] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:33:02 2016] [error] [client 46.4.120.3] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/robots.txt
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:27:46 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.74] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:25:18 2016] [error] [client 76.185.194.247] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/local/sys_cpanel, referer: http://ktu-e-learn.net/local/
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:25:18 2016] [error] [client 76.185.194.247] Directory index forbidden by Options directive: /home/ktuelear/public_html/local/
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:21:30 2016] [error] [client 76.185.194.247] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/favicon.ico
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:21:29 2016] [error] [client 76.185.194.247] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/xxx
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:01:33 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.84] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 12:00:16 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.46] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 11:40:06 2016] [error] [client 104.131.79.107] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/administrator
  • [Thu Feb 25 11:39:39 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.23] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931
  • [Thu Feb 25 11:38:50 2016] [error] [client 66.249.79.214] File does not exist: /home/ktuelear/public_html/robots.txt
  • [Thu Feb 25 11:38:11 2016] [warn] [client 51.255.65.38] mod_fcgid: stderr: PHP Notice:  Coding problem: $PAGE->context was not set. You may have forgotten to call require_login() or $PAGE->set_context(). The page may not display correctly as a result<ul style="text-align: left" data-rel="backtrace"><li>line 453 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to debugging()</li><li>line 768 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to moodle_page->magic_get_context()</li><li>line 1353 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->__get()</li><li>line 1135 of /lib/pagelib.php: call to format_string()</li><li>line 2778 of /lib/weblib.php: call to moodle_page->set_title()</li><li>line 2682 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to print_maintenance_message()</li><li>line 2970 of /lib/moodlelib.php: call to require_login()</li><li>line 92 of /calendar/view.php: call to require_course_login()</li></ul> in /home/ktuelear/public_html/lib/weblib.php on line 2931


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In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -

Issue resolved. Turns out, as Ken suspected, it was the server's problem. CGI timeout was preventing the script from executing. The support guy command-line line performed the upgrade for me. Thank god we'll be leaving Joe's in the near future! 

Thanks again, Ken. 

Average of ratings: Useful (1)
In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Ken Task -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

Glad to hear it's resolved.   CGI timeouts like that fail at some point in the upgrade and thus report strange things that others may not have seen ... ever1

As far as moving back to SiteGround, can a shared hosting package offered by them handle a version 3 of Moodle?  Just viewed their pages ...

While they do say "... easily installed through the Fantastico ..."

Think we've seen over here that Fantastico isn't so 'fantastic'.

https://www.siteground.com/tutorials/moodle/moodle_upgrade.htm

Recommends upgrading by overwriting the files ... something Moodle
doesn't recommend doing.  And yet, SiteGround points to these forums
for support.   Hmmmmmm ....

So have we moved off SiteGround to do the upgrade, and we're now gonna move it
back to SiteGround?   Might be jumping out of the pan into the fire. ;)
Might work, dunno ... not going to invest $4.95 a month to find out.
But, you could report back here if it works and what had to be done to get it to work.
Would help others that follow your path.

Best of luck!

'spirit of sharing', Ken


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In reply to Ken Task

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Henry Foster -

No, Ken, not the $4.95 a month plan. I use that for my little test moodle installation. The university has agreed to rent us one of their dedicated "power server" plans for $329 a month. And no, never Fantastico. Even on SiteGround, I have always done the installing and upgrading manually (cPanel and FTP). They do endorse some flaky solutions like Fantastico, but overall their support pages are very useful, and their support staff itself is prompt and professional. They made it perfectly clear before we left them the first time that for our demands we should upgrade to a more powerful (= more expensive) plan. At the time it was not an option, but now it is. Since the university is footing the bill, and since I like their support, I am very pleased with the situation.

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In reply to Henry Foster

Re: upgrade to 3.0 stuck on plugins check

by Ken Task -
Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers

Glad to hear it.  Hard to tell via these forums a users situation if not disclosed.    Good to hear you're happy with it.  This brief discussion and what you've said might help others when considering / using SiteGround.

'spirit of sharing', Ken

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