Installation problems of 4.2.3 on Dotster

[TerryC]

I installed vBulletin once years ago and am now installing it again on a different website. I am trying to install 4.2.3. Following the instructions of the vBulletin manual I created a MySQL (ver 5.5.32) database on the control panel of my webhost Dotster. I renamed the config.php.new to config.php and made the necessary edits (database name, database username and database password.) I uploaded the vBulletin files via FileZilla and attempted to run the install. I got the following message:

Due to the following errors, the install/upgrade can not continue:
The database has failed to connect because you do not have permission to connect to the server. Please confirm the values entered in the includes/config.php file
Error description: mysqli_real_connect(): (HY000/2002): No such file or directory /hermes/bosnaweb24a/b2336/dot.lanscforumcom/public_html/forums/includes/class_core.php on line 1359

So I searched and found many posts on this error stating the problem might be in the config.php. I confirmed all the info is correct. I re-extracted the config.php.new and re-edited it. I tried creating a new MySQL database. I tried changing the servername in config.php to 127.0.0.1. I tried changing dbtype to mysqli.

Nothing worked so I reached out to Dotster and this is their reply:

"vBulletin is using MySQLI method to connect to the database which is not yet supported in PHP 5.5. Thus, you are receiving database error message while installing the application. Our engineering team will be making necessary changes to MySQL server to support MySQLI but we cannot provide you the exact time frame when it will be completed.

Thus, I request you to downgrade PHP version to 5.3 at https://www.dotster.com/controlpanel...nt/PHPplus.bml and complete the installation. Select the PHP version from drop down bar and click on the button 'Set'.

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console."

I made the recommended change to PHP 5.3 and got the following message when trying to re-run the install:

Due to the following errors, the install/upgrade can not continue:
This version of vBulletin requires PHP version 5.4.0 or greater. Your PHP is version 5.3.29, please ask your host to upgrade.

The database has failed to connect because you do not have permission to connect to the server. Please confirm the values entered in the includes/config.php file

Error description: mysql_connect(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock' (2) /hermes/bosnaweb24a/b2336/dot.lanscforumcom/public_html/forums/includes/class_core.php on line 317

Do I need to use an earlier version of vBulletin? Any other things I can try? Thanks in advance.

[LockedOnLaw]

Your host is wrong according to php.net.

It is recommended to use either the mysqli or PDO_MySQL extensions. It is not recommended to use the old mysql extension for new development, as it was deprecated in PHP 5.5.0 and was removed in PHP 7. A detailed feature comparison matrix is provided below. The overall performance of all three extensions is considered to be about the same. Although the performance of the extension contributes only a fraction of the total run time of a PHP web request. Often, the impact is as low as 0.1%.

http://php.net/manual/en/mysqlinfo.api.choosing.php

[TerryC]

Thanks for the reply albeit mainly over my head. If I can't get my host to help me further will an earlier version of vBulletin work (4.2.1 or 4.2.2) if I downgrade to PHP 5.3...looking at the requirements it sound like they should. I see that 4.2.2 requires cURL...is that a simple install?

[LockedOnLaw]

Thanks for the reply albeit mainly over my head. If I can't get my host to help me further will an earlier version of vBulletin work (4.2.1 or 4.2.2) if I downgrade to PHP 5.3...looking at the requirements it sound like they should. I see that 4.2.2 requires cURL...is that a simple install?

You shouldn't need to downgrade PHP. I have a site that runs vBulletin 4.2.3 on PHP version 5.4.43 without issue.

cURL requires root server or command line access to install. If you're on shared hosting or VPS I would suggest you ask your host to install it.

Assuming you have a linux-based web server, MySQL, and PHP 5.x you can install cURL by running the following commands:

sudo apt-get install php5-curl
sudo service apache2 restart

[TerryC]

If I leave PHP at 5.5 and vBulletin at 4.2.3 the original error message indicates a possible issue with my config.php. Are there any other edits I can make to it? Anything else I can try?

[LockedOnLaw]

If I leave PHP at 5.5 and vBulletin at 4.2.3 the original error message indicates a possible issue with my config.php. Are there any other edits I can make to it? Anything else I can try?

My first thought, based upon the error message, is that one of your values in the config.php file is incorrect.

[TerryC]

My first thought, based upon the error message, is that one of your values in the config.php file is incorrect.

The only values I've changed are (using Wordpad) : dbname, technicalemail, username and password. I also re-extracted the config.php.new, overwrite the original. I tried creating a new MySQL database. I tried changing the servername in config.php to 127.0.0.1. I tried changing dbtype to mysqli.

[LockedOnLaw]

The only values I've changed are (using Wordpad) : dbname, technicalemail, username and password. I also re-extracted the config.php.new, overwrite the original. I tried creating a new MySQL database. I tried changing the servername in config.php to 127.0.0.1. I tried changing dbtype to mysqli.

Did you remove the ".new" extension from the file?

[Mark.B]

The only values I've changed are (using Wordpad) : dbname, technicalemail, username and password. I also re-extracted the config.php.new, overwrite the original. I tried creating a new MySQL database. I tried changing the servername in config.php to 127.0.0.1. I tried changing dbtype to mysqli.

Don't use Wordpad. It is not a code editor and will add spurious characters that will break your site.

Use a proper Texteditor, eg Notepad++:

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

You'll need to start again with a fresh copy of the config file. Don't try to use the one you already have.

[TerryC]

Did you remove the ".new" extension from the file?

Yes.

[TerryC]

Don't use Wordpad. It is not a code editor and will add spurious characters that will break your site.

Use a proper Texteditor, eg Notepad++:

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

You'll need to start again with a fresh copy of the config file. Don't try to use the one you already have.

I installed Notepad++ and started with a fresh config file. I'm still getting the error.

[TerryC]

Nothing worked so I reached out to Dotster and this is their reply:

"vBulletin is using MySQLI method to connect to the database which is not yet supported in PHP 5.5. Thus, you are receiving database error message while installing the application. Our engineering team will be making necessary changes to MySQL server to support MySQLI but we cannot provide you the exact time frame when it will be completed.

Thus, I request you to downgrade PHP version to 5.3 at https://www.dotster.com/controlpanel...nt/PHPplus.bml and complete the installation. Select the PHP version from drop down bar and click on the button 'Set'.

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console."

I replied to Dotster with the info that ProSportsForum shared about php and their reply was this:

"We are aware of the issue with MySQLi / PDO connection in higher
versions of PHP (5.5 and 5.6). Our Engineers are aware of this issue and are working on to fix this. As a result, no further contact will be made through this ticket but your issue will be resolved at the earliest time possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause in the meantime.

I would suggest that you downgrade PHP version to 5.3 at https://www.dotster.com/controlpanel...nt/PHPplus.bml and complete the installation. Select the PHP version from drop down bar and click on the button 'Set'.

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console."

I'm not sure what to do next.

[Mark.B]

Two issues here, based on the error messages:

This version of vBulletin requires PHP version 5.4.0 or greater. Your PHP is version 5.3.29, please ask your host to upgrade.
That is straightforward enough...vB 4.2.3 will not work on pho 5.3. Needs to be php 5.4 or above.

Error description: mysql_connect(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket
The MySQL server details are wrong. These are specified in config.php and by default it is 'localhost'. Sounds like that's the wrong value for your setup. Only your host can tell you what the value should be.

[Mark.B]

"vBulletin is using MySQLI method to connect to the database which is not yet supported in PHP 5.5."
This is complete nonsense.You may be better finding a host that actually knows how to configure a server for php and MySQL.

[TerryC]

Two issues here, based on the error messages:

This version of vBulletin requires PHP version 5.4.0 or greater. Your PHP is version 5.3.29, please ask your host to upgrade.
That is straightforward enough...vB 4.2.3 will not work on pho 5.3. Needs to be php 5.4 or above.

Error description: mysql_connect(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket
The MySQL server details are wrong. These are specified in config.php and by default it is 'localhost'. Sounds like that's the wrong value for your setup. Only your host can tell you what the value should be.

The "version of vBulletin requires PHP version 5.4.0 or greater" error occurred when I followed their recommendation of downgrading PHP in the control panel.

I will see if they can help me with the localhost value.