Another SLL issue

[Wayne Luke]

You can also try adding your path to the /core/includes/config.php.

Find this code:

// ******** FULL PATH TO FORUMS DIRECTORY ******
// On a few systems it may be necessary to input the full path to your forums directory
// for vBulletin to function normally. You can ignore this setting unless vBulletin
// tells you to fill this in. Do not include a trailing slash!
// Example Unix:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/users/public_html/forums';
// Example Win32:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = 'c:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs\vb3';
$config['Misc']['forumpath'] = ''; 

And change it to:

// ******** FULL PATH TO FORUMS DIRECTORY ******
// On a few systems it may be necessary to input the full path to your forums directory
// for vBulletin to function normally. You can ignore this setting unless vBulletin
// tells you to fill this in. Do not include a trailing slash!
// Example Unix:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/users/public_html/forums';
// Example Win32:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = 'c:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs\vb3';
$config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html'; 

[Lexus!]

When vBulletin builds a directory name, it asks the server what our current directory is. The most common method to do this is the __DIR__ constant in PHP. From there, we can traverse the vBulletin file structure as needed because we know where everything is. We expect the value to be correct. If the file is in /home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html/core/includes/ that is the answer that we expect. If the server returns /home/dc015/domains/, our software has to assume it is true. Now if there are permission issues where PHP cannot see some subdirectories for whatever reason, they won't be included in the returned path. PHP thinks it is in /home/dc015/domains/.

This is not something under our control and a pure server configuration issue that comes down to the user that PHP executes under and the permissions granted. It has nothing to do with pointers unless the PHP user does not have access to an endpoint for some reason.

Please note that in many environments, PHP is not a distinct user and is accessed using the same user as the web server. However, if the server is using something like SUEXEC, these users will be different and must have their own permissions.

Unzip the attached file and put it in the /core/ directory. Load it in your browser. What is the output?

Thank you, glad there are still some options to check

The output is: /home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html/core

You can also try adding your path to the /core/includes/config.php.

Find this code:

// ******** FULL PATH TO FORUMS DIRECTORY ******
// On a few systems it may be necessary to input the full path to your forums directory
// for vBulletin to function normally. You can ignore this setting unless vBulletin
// tells you to fill this in. Do not include a trailing slash!
// Example Unix:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/users/public_html/forums';
// Example Win32:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = 'c:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs\vb3';
$config['Misc']['forumpath'] = ''; 

And change it to:

// ******** FULL PATH TO FORUMS DIRECTORY ******
// On a few systems it may be necessary to input the full path to your forums directory
// for vBulletin to function normally. You can ignore this setting unless vBulletin
// tells you to fill this in. Do not include a trailing slash!
// Example Unix:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/users/public_html/forums';
// Example Win32:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = 'c:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs\vb3';
$config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html'; 

I just tried to change this setting, but also then (when switching to https urls) the error 500 comes up. In the Direct Admin log I still see these errors:

[Fri Aug 18 10:33:28.443168 2017] [:error] [pid 15966] [client ip:60559] PHP Warning:  require_once(/home/dc015/domains/config.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html/includes/vb5/config.php on line 65
[Fri Aug 18 10:33:28.443331 2017] [:error] [pid 15966] [client ip:60559] PHP Fatal error:  require_once(): Failed opening required '/home/dc015/domains/config.php' (include_path='.:/usr/local/php56/lib/php') in /home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html/includes/vb5/config.php on line 65

After saving the settings changing 3 urls from http to https, I get the screen with comment settings successfully saved. After the redirect, I got a white, empty screen in the admin. The menu still exists, but the content frame is empty. When I try to open the admin on a new page, I get the error 500.

Then I have 2 ways to recover the forum. The first is restoring a backup, the second (I discovered today.. lol) is going 2 pages back in the browser where I set the setting, change the https back to http, and save. Trying to recover the setting after closing the browser is not possible.

[Wayne Luke]

You're hosting provider will need to figure out why the path isn't working properly. Something is providing the incorrect path. We have thousands of sites running vBulletin under SSL without issue including every single vBulletin Cloud site and this site without modifying the software.

[Lexus!]

I understand you've thousands of sites running vBulletin under SSL. But I thought we checked the proper functioning of the path with the provided files? Every time I set the forum to https, the error 500 comes up directly.

In the following folder I found another config.php, is it possible there is something wrong with this one? We use this forumsoftware from early in the beginning, so maybe there are old, incompatible files or settings left over?

/home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html/includes/vb5/config.php

[Wayne Luke]

Only if you have edited it. However since the site works without SSL and using HTTP, the file is fine. There are not specific files for HTTP and HTTPS. That file processes the files that can be edited so the system works. Still, the fact of the matter is that the server is trying to load a file from a non-existent location on your server. Specifically this path:

 /home/dc015/domains/config.php

We would not call this path in the software. Only your hosting provider can determine why it is calling the file with this truncated path instead of the full path that is required. Until that is resolved, you will continue to get a PHP fatal error under HTTPS and the 500 server error will be shown. There should be absolutely no difference running vBulletin under HTTP or HTTPS. On a properly configured server, if one works then the other will.

[Lexus!]

It's a long time ago, but we are trying again. Now, still the same issue..

 
 [Wed Mar 06 07:58:39.581467 2019] [php7:warn] [pid 9337] [client xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:9931] PHP Warning:  require_once(/home/dc015/domains/config.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/dc015/domains/wijhebbensarcoidose.nl/public_html/includes/vb5/config.php on line 65 [Wed Mar 06 07:58:39.581531 2019] [php7:error] [pid 9337] [client xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:9931] PHP Fatal error:  require_once(): Failed opening required '/home/dc015/domains/config.php'

This error only appears when accessing https:// in stead of http://

Today I installed vBulletin on a different domain, on the same server. https://www.lexusonline.nl/forum/. Works like a charm, also with SSL. So the server should be ok. I compared the htaccess, config.php, core/includes/config.php and did not see strange differences.

[Mark.B]

The advice remains the same. That is not a path called by vBulletin. You need to speak to your hosts.