While trying to install Moodle 2.2 via the script intsaller, all goes well until I click on 'next' after Moodle installer does system checks... then it hangs for a while and finally displays:
Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, [no address given] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log. Apache/2.2.14 (Ubuntu) Server at drteethband.com Port 80
--
At that point, I hit refresh and get an error message from Moodle saying
"Could not find a top-level course! "
... which is delivered from Moodle's script at index.php?lang=en&agreelicense=1
I took a look at the Moodle forums but couldn't find much info about it.
I tried installing this in subdirectories of different domains on my virtualmin so as to rule out something wrong with that specific virtual server setup.
If it's worth anything, I have a movie of my steps posted at
https://mobilek16.com/demo/virtualmin/mdlInstallErrorVirtualmin.mov
Thank you in advance for some much needed guidance.
Comments
Submitted by andreychek on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 11:36 Comment #1
Howdy -- hmm, I just did a couple of test installations of Moodle, and wasn't able to reproduce that problem.
Whenever that occurs, what errors do you see in your error logs -- located in $HOME/logs/error_log?
Also, which PHP Execution Mode are you using? You can see that in Server Configuration -> Website Options.
Submitted by support0 on Sun, 04/15/2012 - 10:32 Comment #2
I get a million of these in the error log
[Sun Apr 15 09:46:24 2012] [error] [client 68.206.76.99] PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with '#' are deprecated in /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/mcrypt.ini on line 1 in Unknown on line 0, referer: http://northharlingenrotary.org/moodle/admin/index.php [Sun Apr 15 09:46:24 2012] [error] [client 68.206.76.99] PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with '#' are deprecated in /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/imap.ini on line 1 in Unknown on line 0, referer: http://northharlingenrotary.org/moodle/admin/index.php [Sun Apr 15 09:46:24 2012] [error] [client 68.206.76.99] PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with '#' are deprecated in /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/mcrypt.ini on line 1 in Unknown on line 0, referer: http://northharlingenrotary.org/moodle/admin/index.php [Sun Apr 15 09:46:24 2012] [error] [client 68.206.76.99] PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with '#' are deprecated in /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/imap.ini on line 1 in Unknown on line 0, referer: http://northharlingenrotary.org/moodle/admin/index.php [Sun Apr 15 09:46:24 2012] [error] [client 68.206.76.99] PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with '#' are deprecated in /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/mcrypt.ini on line 1 in Unknown on line 0, referer: http://northharlingenrotary.org/moodle/admin/index.php [Sun Apr 15 09:46:24 2012] [error] [client 68.206.76.99] PHP Deprecated: Comments starting with '#' are deprecated in /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/imap.ini on line 1 in Unknown on line 0, referer: http://northharlingenrotary.org/moodle/admin/index.php
And as for the exec mode, I was using FCGId but switched to CGI a few days ago.
Submitted by andreychek on Sun, 04/15/2012 - 10:39 Comment #3
It sounds like in your /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/mcrypt.ini and /etc/php5/cgi/conf.d/imap.ini files, that it's using a # as a comment, which is deprecated in PHP 5.3... you can replace the # character in those files with a ; character.
As far as your Moodle install goes, that doesn't explain the problem you're having there, as the above messages are just warnings.
Someone recently reported a similar issue with Moodle, where they needed to increase the PHP timeout in order to allow it to have enough time to finish.
To do that, go into Server Configuration -> Website Options, and increase the script runtime option.
Submitted by support0 on Sun, 04/15/2012 - 10:52 Comment #4
I tried again and now it gets past the moodle system check then contstantly redirects itself to
http://index.php/?sessionstarted=1&lang=en
for some reason it now shaves the domain off...
Submitted by andreychek on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 15:01 Comment #5
That's a puzzling problem you're seeing... I've done some testing, and I can't seem to reproduce the problem you're having.
Using the same PHP Execution Mode you have there, I was able to do a Moodle install, and complete the post-install wizard.
Do you have that same problem on other domains, where during the post-install wizard they do an improper redirect?
I was wondering if maybe this one particular domains has something unusual about it, maybe a .htaccess file that was causing a problem with the Moodle install.
Submitted by support0 on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 17:09 Comment #6
I agree quite strange. And it does happen on any domain I try. Can I purchase a premium ticket and have someone just ssh in and fix it once and for all? I am overwhelmed and short-staffed.
Submitted by andreychek on Sun, 04/22/2012 - 21:21 Comment #7
Is there any chance I could log into your server myself, and perform a Moodle installation?
If so, could you email the details for an account to eric@virtualmin.com? Thanks!
Submitted by andreychek on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 13:49 Comment #8
I received your email, thanks!
Can I uninstall the version of Moodle that's on there now? I just wanted to make sure you hadn't done any configuration tweaks that you didn't want to lose.
Submitted by support0 on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 14:14 Comment #9
Go ahead an uninstall - it's not a production domain ;-)
Submitted by andreychek on Mon, 04/23/2012 - 15:54 Comment #10
Well, installing Moodle wasn't flawless -- I ran into the timeout issue you were initially seeing. The only way I was able to get around that was by reloading the page once it timed out, at which point it continued.
What I couldn't do though was to reproduce the redirect problem you were seeing.
Looking into that a little deeper, it appears as if your server is behind a NAT router. Are you by chance accessing your server from the same LAN as the server itself?
Submitted by support0 on Thu, 05/03/2012 - 16:37 Comment #11
Yes I was accessing the server from the same LAN as the server itself but we found that wasn't the problem.
Mostly it looks as if the timeout issue during the moodle install was the main culprit, and we have just decided to manually install and config moodle instead of using the script installer.
Thanks so much, closing this ticket now..
Dallas Ray Smetter
Submitted by Mintra on Wed, 08/28/2013 - 14:07 Comment #12
Hi
This is not a solution, there are only two reasons to buy professional as I see it to get the script installers and to support the work being done.
I have this same problem on Moodle 2.5.1 this is accessing from the LAN I will try from the WAN
Submitted by Mintra on Wed, 08/28/2013 - 14:20 Comment #13
Hi
OK deleted and tried again but this time not from LAN got really long time out and just left it, watched video on you tune of mcdonald burger decomposing then came backstill waiting for server, so put cursor at end of url bar and pressed enter seems to be progressing. Install
So it seems that it may need to be run externally or you need to leave it for a while before refreshing the page.