Exception: The configuration directory in settings.php is specified as 'files/config_[some-random-CMI-ID-here]/active', but this directory is either empty or missing crucial files.

[klonos]

Every time I try to install Backdrop, right after the stage of enabling modules (progress bar), I am greeted with this error page:

Error
The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.

Exception: The configuration directory in settings.php is specified as
'files/config_[some-random-CMI-ID-here]/active', but this directory is either empty or
missing crucial files. Check that the $config_directories variable is correct in settings.php. in
_backdrop_bootstrap_configuration() (line 2470 of /var/www/backdrop/core/includes/bootstrap.inc).

[quicksketch]

Hi @klonos :) thanks for filing a new issue. Could you describe the environment on which you're trying to install Backdrop? e.g. a Mac with MAMP, or homebrew? Linux distro, Windows + WAMP, etc? This is a pretty important issue, since who knows how many other people haven't even been able to install Backdrop. :(

One more thing to check: Does a "files" directory get created for you in the root directory of your Backdrop install? And inside of it, is there the "config_[hash]" directory? The installer is supposed to check that the files directory either exists or can be created before the installer even starts, but our developer base is pretty small so there are probably circumstances in which we haven't tested.

Really appreciate any information you can provide, I'll try to reproduce and get this worked out.

[klonos]

Sorry, you are right. I'm on Ubuntu 14.04 x64 with the latest stable packages of apache2/php/mariadb10. I have tried this in several similar boxes that already run Drupal 7/8 without an issue.

Hope that makes it more clear. If you need more clarifications or you have any pointers as to what I could possibly do to troubleshoot, please let me know.

PS: ...btw I always got backdrop through the "download zip" link on github.

[quicksketch]

Hm, okay I'll have to spin up a VM. I'll try to test this tomorrow. Does the "files" directory get created in the root of your installation? I think this is likely to be a permissions issue, where Backdrop can't create or potentially read out of the files directory.

[klonos]

I create the /files directory before starting the installation and make sure it has the correct permissions (chown www-data). So after installation (and the error page) there are the following files/directories:

/var/www/backdrop/files/config_a1614e81308b9e6b86be181ef0914335/active/README.txt
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_a1614e81308b9e6b86be181ef0914335/active/system.performance.json
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_a1614e81308b9e6b86be181ef0914335/staging/README.txt
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/active/admin_menu.settings.json
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/active/image.styles.large.json
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/active/image.styles.medium.json
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/active/image.styles.thumbnail.json
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/active/README.txt
/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/staging/README.txt
/var/www/backdrop/files/styles [empty]

[quicksketch]

Ah, wow fascinating. Looks like somehow during the installer it's getting two different hashes for the config directory. In the mean time, if you just move that system.performance.json file into the other directory (/var/www/backdrop/files/config_faf90df4e5aa9cf4e874ddd215172e98/active/), then things should work. Thanks again for the report, this sounds pretty critical.

[dgtlife]

I just installed Backdrop and got the same error at the very end. I also ended up with two config directories. Once I moved the system.performance.json from the duplicate directory to the "official" config directory, like you suggested, and deleted the duplicate directory, then there are no subsequent errors, and everything is fine after that.

[quicksketch]

I've been looking through the install process and I haven't been able to pin this down yet. @dgtlife, thanks for confirming the problem. Are you also using Ubuntu or a Linux distro?

[quicksketch]

Well I'm a little bit stumped. I installed Ubuntu 12.10, PHP 5.4.6, MySQL 5.5.27, and ran through the installer as provided by the 1.x.zip file from Github. I had to chmod 777 the settings.php file temporarily and chown www-data the files directory, then ran the installer. I did not end up with the duplicate config directories. So I haven't been able to reproduce this issue yet. Any other information you guys can provide that might reproduce this problem would be appreciated.

[dgtlife]

@quicksketch, here are my environmental details:
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS x86_64 on a physical server
Nginx 1.4.6
PHP/PHP-FPM 5.5.9
MariaDB 10.0.12
Backdrop 1.x (from the backdropcms.org home page ... which pulls from github)

I made sure settings.php was writable (chmod 664) before running the install, but I didn't create the files directory before hand since it wasn't called out in the install instructions, and I assumed pre-creation wasn't necessary. However, during the install the files directory gets properly created and chowned. I will do another install later with a pre-created files directory and see how that goes.

[dgtlife]

I just did a second install with the same context as above. This time I created the files directory (and made it rwx by www-data) before I started the installation. However, I still got the same error and two config_ directories. The "unofficial" config_ directory contained the system.performance.json file in the active subdirectory along with a README.txt. And once this file is moved to the official config_ directory, everybody's happy.

[quicksketch]

Thanks @dgtlife, very helpful. I was using an old install of Ubuntu because virtualbox.org doesn't have 14.x images yet, but I'll give this another shot.

[dgtlife]

I can retest if you need me to, once you've determined the root cause.

[oadaeh]

@klonos and @dgtlife when going through the install process, did you get a situation where on the Database configuration page you had to click Save and continue twice? IOW, did you click the button and nothing seemed to happen, and then click it again or refresh the page and the installation continued on?

That happened to me the only time I was able to successfully reproduce this. The same thing has happened to me many times with Drupal 7, but there isn't a config directory being created and the installation completes normally, and it's intermittent, so it's hard to reproduce, and so no one has reported it as a bug.

[dgtlife]

@oadaeh No, just the one click. And I've never seen this with Drupal 7 ... yet.

[vrteach]

I can confirm seeing this same problem on Ubuntu 14.04 32bit physical server, new install, running apache & mariadb. After going through backdrop install (including making the ./files directory and doing the user & permissions stuff) I have the exception error as listed in this issue title, and I have two config directories:
config_814544ecf2f9aa2232e9d8e73f6ded53
config_a1614e81308b9e6b86be181ef0914335

The second one contains the system.performance.json file. After copying that over to the "config_8.." directory I get the "congratulations you've installed" page.

The database configuration page only required one click-and-save.

[klonos]

Ok guys, sorry for the late reply. I'll try to answer as many of the questions...

I have no access to the Ubuntu 14.04 x64 box I was using, so I cannot confirm that moving the system.performance.json to the "official" directory solves the issue. I am sure it does, but cannot confirm right now. I will do so as soon as I can.

I can confirm that it took only one click on the db configuration step.

I have just installed this on a Win8 x64 box and everything went smoothly (installation finished without any errors / only one config_ folder under the files directory).

The only thing I need to point is that I've noticed that dgtlife an I have similar environments. That is Ubuntu 14.04 x64 with MariaDB 10.x.

Hope all this helps. Let me know if there's anything else you need to troubleshoot and as I said, as soon as I have access to the Ubuntu box with the actual issue, I'll try and post back.

PS: ...as I've explained in the issue summary, I've been having this issue since forever (= since I first started testing backdrop back in Jan/Feb 2014). I never actually filed an issue because I thought that it was an early stage of development, but now it is so close to the intended 1.0.0 release date.

[klonos]

...ok back again testing on the Ubuntu 14.04 x64 box. Just to confirm that copying the system.performance.json to the other folder solves the problem.

[i-amdroid]

I got this error on the last step, when try to install backdrop-1.0.0 in multisite.

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.
Error messageException: The configuration directory in settings.php is specified as 'files/config_9cc1679c2db04eebc28b082df49ee63c/active', but this directory is either empty or missing crucial files. Check that the $config_directories variable is correct in settings.php. in _backdrop_bootstrap_configuration() (line 2668 of /var/www/backdrop/core/includes/bootstrap.inc).

I had only one config_* directory, same as specified in settings.php. And there is no system.performance.json in it.

Ubuntu 14.04.1, php 5.5.9, apache 2.4.7, mysql 5.5.40

Single site installation went fine.

[quicksketch]

Hi @paulanders! If you're using Backdrop in multisite, each settings.php file needs to point to a different config directory. I'd recommend updating settings.php to hard-code the config directories before you run the installer.

Because keeping track of a bunch of random-hash config directories is going to be difficult, you could name each config directory based on it's site name. For security, you should keep these directories outside of the web root. e.g.

$config_directories['active'] = '../config/site_name1/active';
$config_directories['staging'] = '../config/site_name1/active';

and on the other site:

$config_directories['active'] = '../config/site_name2/active';
$config_directories['staging'] = '../config/site_name2/active';

You may also be the first person to try Backdrop in a multisite installation, Thanks for letting us know about this potential problem.

[quicksketch]

The original report here filed by @klonos was solved in #470. We now specifically hard-code the config directories to prevent multiple directories from being created. @paulanders if multisite installations look like an ongoing problem, let's make a new issue to track that and link it up to the meta of install issues at #531

[iconoclasta-digital]

I am sorry to necropost here, but, it's January 5th, 2019 and I am getting this error, but on a FreeBSD 12.0 box.

I managed to install 1.) FreeBSD, 2.) Apache 2.4, 3.) MySQL Server 8.0 and & 4.) PHP 7.2.

I made sure that the backdrop database was properly created, with its proper user and I made sure that I can login into MySQL and access the database.

I proceeded to download Backdrop 1.13.3 (version to this date), unzipped the file in /usr/local/www/apache24/data and moved the backdrop files unzipped there to the data folder (which is the root folder of any website in Apache, as most might know).

I proceed to change the ownership of all the files in the 'data' folder in order to avoid permission problems, by executing 'chown -R www:www *'.

The 'files' directory is already created in the root site, and it's not empty. It has two (2) files: .htaccess & README.md.

When opening a web browser (Chromium, in my case), and point to http://localhost, I get the nasty error that has been discussed here since 4 years ago.

For some some reason, no config_* hashed directory is created. I'm stuck here. I didn't want to open a new issue since this issue is recurring, but under FreeBSD 12.0.

Any help would be appreciated.

[docwilmot]

@iconoclasta-digital when you attempted this, was there a new settings.php file or did that file already have a line that said $config_directories['active'] = './files/config_SOMETHING/active';?

[iconoclasta-digital]

@docwilmot Yes, there was a new settings.php file already created. I had to modify the $database = 'mysql://my-backdrop-user:password@localhost/backdrop_database'; in order to reflect the proper user and database that I am intending to use for backdrop. Of course, the my-backdrop-user and backdrop_database in the present code in the settings.php file are for sampling reasons. But, I already made sure that the proper backdrop user account for MySQL and the database are both accessible to the system and working.

Also, this settings.php file DID NOT have a hashed database attached to the $config_directories.

This is the code that is actually inside my settings.php, which already was created the moment I unzipped the backdrop.zip installer, downloaded from github.

$config_directories['active'] = 'files/config_' , md5($database) , '/active'; $config_directories['staging'] = 'files/config_' , md5($database) , '/staging';

As you can see, the settings file is fine, but there is no hashing of the database and posterior adding as a configuration string to the settings.php file.

Notice: PHP 7.2 has stopped supporting the mcrypt module, and instead is encouraging developers to use the sodium plugin for hashing and cryptographic reasons.

I don't know if the reason that the system is not creating the hash and then adding it to the configuration string is because of this.

Thanks for reading.

[docwilmot]

I had to modify the $database = 'mysql://my-backdrop-user:password@localhost/backdrop_database';

That the problem. If $database isn't empty, Backdrop assumes this is an existing installation, and assumes there is a config directory named 'files/config_' , md5($database) , '/active', or in other words 'files/config_' , md5(mysql://my-backdrop-user:password@localhost/backdrop_database) , '/active', which doesnt exist. Backdrop also will not create a config directory, because, it assumes this is an existing installation.

Did you plan to use an existing database with existing tables? Or were you trying to avoid using the installer?

[stpaultim]

• Move code
• Move files directory
• Set up database on new server and import database from DEV
• Configure settings.php - make sure that config directory and database are configured correctly
• Copy config files into active directory (if they are not there yet)

Make sure you have done all of these things. Site will not work unless you do them all. I have not seen you mention migrating the database yet. Confirm you have done all of these and then report back error messages. If you do this process, you should never need to run update script or installer.

[auxiliaryjoel]

I just exported my database from localhost mamp, and imported it into my live server cpanel.
I have re-loaded the config files into the active directory (I took them out earlier during troubleshooting).
I've refreshed my main URL and I get the generic error:
The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.

So I guess this is permissions or something? What permissions on what files or folders should I be checking?

[auxiliaryjoel]

I checked the config directories and they are named correctly as per settings.php
SQL: in my settings.php here is how the Database is referenced:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost/backdropdb';
$database_prefix = '';

I rang my hoster and they suggested the Database name is not needed so I tried this:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost';
$database_prefix = '';

But that just loaded a blank white page (no error just empty page)
The hoster also suggested I reference the prefix specifically so I also tried this:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost';
$database_prefix = 'coastto1_';

and this:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost/backdropdb';
$database_prefix = 'coastto1_';

(Note above 2 both specify prefix, first one does not name database and the 2nd one does)
But both times I had no luck either.
Now I reverted back to this:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost/backdropdb';
$database_prefix = '';

and I am left with this error:

(main logo)
Error:
The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.

[stpaultim]

It doesn't make much sense to me that you would not need the name of the database.

This might be a situation in which it makes sense to:

• drop the database
• delete the contents of the active config directory
• start with a fresh setting.php file
  And try to run through the install process. See if you can get a fresh backdrop site running and import the config and database later?

Good luck. I'm going offline soon.

[auxiliaryjoel]

what would a fresh settings.php file look like? the only one I have is the localhost one which already references databases and config files. When you say "fresh settings.php" file - do you mean to just delete the references to Database and Config directory?

[stpaultim]

To get a fresh settings.php simply find default.settings.php (from a fresh Backdrop download) and rename it settings.php.

[auxiliaryjoel]

I found a solution that worked for me.
I changed this:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost/backdropdb';

to this:

$databases['default']['default'] = array (
'database' => 'coastto1_backdropdb',
'username' => 'coastto1_backgropdpbuser',
'password' => '(password)',
'prefix' => '',
'host' => 'localhost',
'port' => '3306',
'driver' => 'mysql',
);

and now the site is working correctly

[stpaultim]

Congratulations!

[klonos]

@auxiliaryjoel wondering if your password had any special characters (other than letters and numbers that is). If so, can you please post which ones?

[auxiliaryjoel]

@auxiliaryjoel wondering if your password had any special characters (other than letters and numbers that is). If so, can you please post which ones?

Hi @klonos no I just double checked and there is only letters and numbers

[klonos]

Thanks for taking the time to reply @auxiliaryjoel. If you had to sum things up, what would you say the problem turned out to be? Was it only the format of the database connection details?

FTR: Backdrop supports both formats, but for different purposes (see https://api.backdropcms.org/database-configuration).

I noticed that you mentioned that $database = '...'; did not work for you, but I also see that you are using a db prefix. In that case, perhaps you should have specified the prefix. Something like this perhaps:

$database = 'mysql://coastto1_backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost/coastto1_backdropdb';
$database_prefix = 'coastto1_';

[irinaz]

Hi, I am testing migration from D7 to Backdrop on Pantheon platform.
I am following steps in instructions here https://docs.backdropcms.org/documentation/step-3-upgrade-the-drupal-site
I am using Pantheon UI to import db and import files (tab Database/files)

In step 5 (copy files) files directory is created via import process

After I run Step 8 https://backdrop-example.com/update.php I get the following message

The configuration directory in settings.php is specified as './files/config_a1614e81308b9e6b86be181ef0914335/active', but this directory is either empty or missing crucial files. Check that the $config_directories variable is correct in settings.php.

I cannot make change suggested previously because pantheon has its workflow on updating db name/username/password when sync from dev/test/prod. I can also see folder files.pantheon_moved that looks like original files folder.

What might be best solution here?

Thanks, Irina

I changed this:

$database = 'mysql://backgropdpbuser:(password)@localhost/backdropdb';

to this:

$databases['default']['default'] = array (
'database' => 'coastto1_backdropdb',
'username' => 'coastto1_backgropdpbuser',
'password' => '(password)',
'prefix' => '',
'host' => 'localhost',
'port' => '3306',
'driver' => 'mysql',
);

and now the site is working correctly

[klonos]

Hello @irinaz 👋🏼 ...I'me reopening this issue, to draw some attention to it.

[irinaz]

Thanks!

On 9/13/21 3:08 PM, Greg Netsas wrote: Reopened #264 <#264>. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#264 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AATBT3OM3IIMZDEP66H35G3UBZY5DANCNFSM4ARKBDWA>. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>.

-- Irina Zaks, Fibonacci Web Studio Web Developer and CoFounder ***@***.*** 650-387-0737

[quicksketch]

I think there may be an error in the documentation that affect Pantheon specifically. Instead of visiting https://backdrop-example.com/update.php, could you try visiting https://backdrop-example.com/core/update.php? The update.php file lives in a subdirectory in Backdrop. On any Apache host, we have a redirect in .htaccess that takes you to the right place, so a lot of devs haven't noticed its new location. Pantheon doesn't run Apache though, so that redirect is not automatic on that hosting platform.

[irinaz]

Nate, thanks! now I am getting different error - I think that I imported db correctly. Happy to give you access to pantheon dashboard if that would help troubleshoot this issue

PDOException: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1034 Incorrect key file for table 'url_alias'; try to repair it: ALTER TABLE {url_alias} CHANGE language langcode VARCHAR(12) NOT NULL DEFAULT '' COMMENT 'The language code this alias is for; if ’und’, the alias will be used for unknown languages. Each Backdrop path can have an alias for each supported language.', ADD INDEX alias_langcode_pid (alias, langcode, pid), ADD INDEX source_langcode_pid (source, langcode, pid); Array ( ) in db_change_field() (line 3127 of /code/core/includes/database/database.inc).

https://dev-fibo-backdrop.pantheonsite.io/core/update.php

[quicksketch]

Great, I'm glad that was the big problem. I updated our upgrading documentation to include that missing /core/ directory in the instructions.

One of the first things Backdrop does before displaying the update.php page is fix the "url_alias" table, so this tells me you're on the right track.

I'm not sure why that error would be occurring though. A quick Google says it's one of two things:

• The /tmp directory is full on the server.
• The table is MyISAM and was exported potentially while the site was in use.

Both answers from https://dba.stackexchange.com/questions/162969/ample-disk-space-with-error-1034-incorrect-key-file-for-table-table-name-tr

How many rows are in that table? Is it a very large number (millions?) Otherwise I think the likely solution is exactly what's recommended by the error: that the table needs repair. Use the Pantheon MySQL connection string to connect to MySQL through the command line, then run REPAIR TABLE url_alias. Then try loading update.php again.

[irinaz]

Nate, thanks a lot. The table should be small, this is site with 100 nodes and three views. Here is what I see when I connect to new backdrop db that I imported and run REPAIR TABLE url_alias.
+--------------------+--------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Table | Op | Msg_type | Msg_text |
+--------------------+--------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| pantheon.url_alias | repair | note | The storage engine for the table doesn't support repair |
+--------------------+--------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.07 sec)

I wonder if I should try to repair db locally and try to re-upload it?

[jenlampton]

By Default pantheon tries to run the config files in the /files/ directory with a random hash. I have a lot more success changing the config location to something I can count on for each pantheon site. I wrote a blog post about this here: https://www.jenlampton.com/blog/move-your-backdrop-site-to-pantheon#config-setup

[irinaz]

Hi Jen, that is very useful post, thanks! I worked through instructions in your post, modified them a little for moving D7 to Backdrop and documented them here. I am now getting the following error - I am not sure if I that is because I am moving D7 to Pantheon, not Backdrop
The staging configuration directory (./config/staging) could not be found. Please make sure it exists and is properly referenced in settings.php.
Not sure why this is happening - I am running /core/update.php not /update.php. Can this be related? Thanks again!

[jenlampton]

As long as you have placed the staging directory that that location, you should be fine. It sounds like maybe you haven't created it yet? (Likely not related to skipping the redirect for update.php)

[irinaz]

Jen, thanks, you are right, I did something wrong with directories/git ignore settings - I can see directories in my local setup but they did not get pushed via git. I added them in sftp mode, and now I am on to the next challenge with url_aliases (that is a different issue :)
Thanks!

[irinaz]

@quicksketch ,
Looks like I cannot repair table on Pantheon. I used this command on local db and I get the same result "The storage engine for the table doesn't support repair ". I deleted all aliases for testing purposes in source D7 db and disabled path related modules. Still when I import db into backdrop and run https://dev-fibo-backdrop.pantheonsite.io/core/update.php I get the same error SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1034 Incorrect key file for table 'url_alias';

What are my options at this point?
Thanks a lot!!

Nate, thanks a lot. The table should be small, this is site with 100 nodes and three views. Here is what I see when I connect to new backdrop db that I imported and run REPAIR TABLE url_alias.

| pantheon.url_alias | repair | note | The storage engine for the table doesn't support repair |

I wonder if I should try to repair db locally and try to re-upload it?

[jenlampton]

@irinaz this looks like a fairly common problem for MySQL databases. A quick google of "The storage engine for the table doesn't support repair" shows lots of results. I would start there :)

It sounds you are focusing in on a separate problem now, and that it is a more general issue with your database (not a related to Backdrop, or even Drupal). This is an old issue relating to the database connection syntax in the settings.php file, and sounds unrelated to the problem you are facing now. (I'm going to close this again since there's not a problem with core that needs to be addressed here)

If you still need help, it might be good to start a specific conversation about database engines & repairing tables in the forum (or even on stack overflow?) where you're likely to get more help. Or ask in Zulip!

[irinaz]

@jenlampton , thanks, I will open new thread about the error SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1034 Incorrect key file for table 'url_alias';
Thanks!!

[bsharp-azhar]

Hi there,
I am trying to upgrade Drupal 7 to backdrop in my Windows environment. I have followed the steps mentioned here (https://docs.backdropcms.org/documentation/step-3-upgrade-the-drupal-site). I am trying to run
http://my-domain/core/update.php. I am facing an error

\files\config_0debc0a99ba77bf3408f30954004a490\active could not be created or could not be made writable. To proceed with the installation, either create the directory and modify its permissions to make it writable, or adjust the permissions on the parent directory to allow the installer to create it automatically.

please help me out here.

Thanks !!
Azhar

[quicksketch]

Hi @bsharp-azhar, I'm not very familiar with either XAMPP or running on Windows, but I think the problem is likely exactly what the error states. XAMPP is probably unable to write to C:\xampp_8_2\htdocs\backdrop_3\files, which is required to operate Backdrop. See if you can configure XAMPP to make that directory writable, or try moving where XAMPP runs to be under your Window user account's directory (C:\Users\<UserName>).

But overall, I'd recommend using DDEV instead of XAMPP, which has both excellent Windows support and Backdrop support:

• https://ddev.readthedocs.io/en/stable/users/install/ddev-installation/#ddev-installation-windows
• https://ddev.readthedocs.io/en/stable/users/quickstart/#backdrop