Blank page when trying to install phpBB

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Henry1941
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Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Henry1941 »

My first venture with phpBB, so far, not great.
Alma 8.6 on VMWare ESX
Downloaded the latest version. unzipped into /var//www/MyForum
Created a Database, MyForum
https://MyForum/MyDomain/install/app.php

All I get is a blank page

What's wrong?
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Mick
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Mick »

Did you unzip on the server?

Also, does your server meet the requirements of phpBB?
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Henry1941
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Henry1941 »

unzipped into /var/www/MyForum - Doesn't that answer the question? Would I not get an error message if the file app.php wasn't there?
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Mick
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Mick »

Steady on, just trying to help. Blank pages are very often suppressed PHP errors. Try removing the phpBB files and folders that you have now from your board folder then unzip the phpBB archive on your desktop and upload the contents to your server using FTP.

Does your server meet the requirements for phpBB?
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david63
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by david63 »

There are occasions when unzipping on the server does not always create the correct directory structure which it is preferable to unzip on your local machine and ftp the files to the server.
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Henry1941
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Henry1941 »

The HP Proliant Server running VMWare ESX 6.0 is about 3 metres away from where I'm sitting. Why would I want to use FTP when I can access it directly with VCentre Server?

There is vsftp on the alma server. I'll try it, but I can tell you now, it won't make the slightest bit of difference.

Just to clarify I may be a noob to phpBB, but I was an EMEA support engineer for Novell for a LONG time, so I do know where the ON/OFF switch is.
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warmweer
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by warmweer »

I'm probably overlooking something but the order MyForum / MyDomain doesn't fit with
MyDomain being what just about everyone thinks: namely phpbb.com, yahoo.com, google.com etc..
and
MyForum would be the directory to which the phpBB files (and directories ) are copied
e.g. the url would be https://MyDomain/Myforum/
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Henry1941
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Henry1941 »

OK to be clear. On the server, that's the Alma 8.6 server, running on VMWare ESX 6.0 with PHP 7.4, Apache (configured - and it works because I have an SMF forum on a different directory and name)

The directory strutcture is /var/www/spammers

Inside the directory spammers are all the unzipped phpBB files and folders. Is that clear?

To run the installer I type thre magicx words https://spammers.TheNameOfMy Domain/install/app.php

I did as asked. I uploaded the files with FTP and guess what? IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE. I get a blank page.

Without giving you the IP address and name of my domain and inviting every hacker and spammer on the planet to overload my firewall, that's the best I can do. If it's not enough - forget it and I'll go with SMF or Joomla or something.
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Mick
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Mick »

Check the PHP error logs they may give you a clue to the problem.
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Henry1941
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Henry1941 »

[17-Aug-2022 15:22:16 UTC] PHP Fatal error: require(): Failed opening required '../phpbb/class_loader.php' (include_path='.:/usr/share/pear:/usr/share/php') in /var/www/support/install/startup.php on line 31
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warmweer
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by warmweer »

Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:05 pm The directory strutcture is /var/www/spammers
That's as expected (in many configurations)
Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:05 pm Inside the directory spammers are all the unzipped phpBB files and folders. Is that clear?
So I gather that /spammers is your board root.
Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:05 pmTo run the installer I type thre magicx words https://spammers.TheNameOfMy Domain/install/app.php
IIRC that will only work if spammers is defined as a subdomain of TheNameOfMyDomain with redirect to the /spammers
Although having said this, there are a couple of (even other) possibilities and without more info I won't speculate any further.
Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:05 pmI did as asked. I uploaded the files with FTP and guess what? IT MADE NO DIFFERENCE. I get a blank page.
I take it that you uploaded the files and directories within the phpBB3 directory in the phpBB338.zip (or equivalent) package.
Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:05 pmWithout giving you the IP address and name of my domain and inviting every hacker and spammer on the planet to overload my firewall, that's the best I can do. If it's not enough - forget it and I'll go with SMF or Joomla or something.
Ow, I wasn't aware that posting an IP or a domainname automatically resulted in spam and hack attacks. I learn something new every day ;-)
OK, hope you get better results with SMF and/or Joomla (BtW there are other (free) forum packages) although I doubt the problem lies with the forumpackage(s) as such.
Be sure to check out the Joomla forum (they seem to be using a phpBB board, albeit a 3.2.4 version :idea: )
Last edited by warmweer on Wed Aug 17, 2022 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Spelling is freeware, which means you can use it for free.
On the other hand, it is not open source, which means you cannot change it or publish it in a modified form.


Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.
Henry1941
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Henry1941 »

My career with Novell would jhave been VERY short-lived, had i responded to problems in this manner, I was told not to try to blame the user if there was a known bug and that there's a problem somewhere with the software is pretty obvious if a person can't install it on a new, updated machine.

The very first response would probably have got me into the Supervisor's office. Maybe it only works with Ubuntu or SuSE
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warmweer
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by warmweer »

Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:59 pm My career with Novell would jhave been VERY short-lived, had i responded to problems in this manner, I was told not to try to blame the user if there was a known bug and that there's a problem somewhere with the software is pretty obvious if a person can't install it on a new, updated machine.
Which known bug is that?
BTW I edited my previous post to inform you about the boardsoftware Joomla is using.
Spelling is freeware, which means you can use it for free.
On the other hand, it is not open source, which means you cannot change it or publish it in a modified form.


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david63
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by david63 »

Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:59 pm The very first response would probably have got me into the Supervisor's office
However had you read this first https://www.phpbb.com/support/ especially
Support Request Template

We've created a tool to help you provide us with the information we need to help you in the Support Forum. Please run this tool whenever you create a new support topic.
then such questions would not have been necessary.

For the record I, along with several others on here, have had over 20 years in the IT support world so please don't try telling us "how to suck eggs"
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Re: Blank page when trying to install phpBB

Post by Noxwizard »

Alright folks, let's all relax.

Henry1941 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 4:59 pm Maybe it only works with Ubuntu or SuSE
phpBB runs fine on CentOS/RHEL, so it should work on the CentOS fork you're running. Having said that, CentOS brings with it SELinux which requires additional configuration. One thing to check is that the files all have the correct security context on them. If the zip file was in the web directory already, it should be fine, but you can check by running ls -alZ in your forum root. If you're using httpd, you're going to be looking for a context with: httpd_sys_content_t in it. An example output looks like this:

Code: Select all

$ ls -alZ
...
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 posting.php
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 report.php
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 search.php
drwxrwxr-x. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_rw_content_t:s0 store
drwxr-xr-x. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 styles
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 ucp.php
drwxrwxr-x. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 vendor
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 viewforum.php
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 viewonline.php
-rw-r--r--. apache apache    unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 viewtopic.php
Even if the security contexts are wrong, the installer will usually still appear, you will just get errors about directories being unwritable. To fix that, you would use chcon:

Code: Select all

chcon -t httpd_sys_content_rw_t /path/to/forum/cache/
chcon -t httpd_sys_content_rw_t files
chcon -t httpd_sys_content_rw_t images/avatars/upload
chcon -t httpd_sys_content_rw_t store
chcon -t httpd_sys_content_rw_t config.php
The other thing to check is that you aren't tripping any SELinux rules. You can skim through /var/log/audit/audit.log to see if there's any error messages. Since you already have SMF running, I wouldn't really expect you to be encountering anything new at this point though.


As Mick mentioned, a blank page typically indicates that there is a PHP error. The error you posted in response shows a different directory structure than your most recent posts (/var/www/support vs /var/www/spammers), so it might not be valid any longer, but that error message indicated that there were missing files (phpbb/class_loader.php). Can you check that the file does exist?
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