Support

 I actually don't know whether the problem originates with Admin Tools or Akeeba Backup, as I can only tell that it involves fof.

I get errors when clearing Joomla's cache because the cache/fof folder and the files it contains cannot be deleted. When I FTP to the site, it shows the folder and files owned by root (UID 0), so I can't manually delete them either. I have had my hosting provider chown them so I could delete them, but they were recreated with root ownership again.

The problem first occurred with PHP 5.5.16-DEV. My host downgraded me to 5.4 for a couple of days and the problem did not recur; in fact, I never saw the fof folder reappear at all, even after exercising both Admin Tools and Akeeba Backup. Host upgraded me to PHP 5.6.4 and the problem returned.

I agree that this is a hosting provider problem; I'm trying to convince them that's the case. But there is something different about the way the fof folder is created, and it seems to be relevant to the issue.

There are plenty of other cache folders, as you can see in the screenshot attached to this message, but only the fof folder is owned by root. I've watched the other folders disappear when I clear the cache and be recreated as I use the site.

Under what circumstances is the cache/fof folder created? I only seem to see it when it's a problem. Does it normally get created and then quickly deleted before I see it?

I'm giving you and my hosting provider the following testing information. In all cases I'm running with global caching set to Progressive. I'm hoping one or the other of you has some kind of insight.

Nucleus web hosting

PHP 5.4.37
The problem never occurs. I never see the cache/fof folder appear at all. Lots of other cache folders are created with the correct UID and deleted without issues when I clear cache.

PHP 5.5.16-DEV
The cache/fof folder and files in it are created with UID 0 as the owner. I can't delete them by clearing the cache or manually via FTP. Lots of other cache folders are created with the correct UID and deleted without issues when I clear cache.

PHP 5.6.4
Same as PHP 5.5.16-DEV above.

My dev server

Upgraded my server to 5.6.5-1 since the problem happens with higher version numbers on Nucleus. Copied the site to my server and exercised fof extensions. The problem never occurs. I never see the cache/fof folder appear at all. Lots of other cache folders are created with the correct UID and deleted without issues when I clear cache.

I was on PHP 5.5.something before and never encountered this problem with any similarly-configured Joomla site.

Thanks for your help, Davide. I'm closing this ticket because I am more than satisfied that Nucleus is the problem, not FOF. I've told them to stop dancing around the problem and fix it or I'm switching providers.