#39437 Unable to complete "Restoration of site's main database" page: Fails with vague message

Posted in ‘Akeeba Backup for Joomla! 3’
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Latest post by nicholas on Thursday, 07 September 2023 02:37 CDT

Wednesday, 06 September 2023 11:03 CDT

Dr_Bob_Miller

I have been struggling to install an upgraded version of my working public site, to a private site at my preferred hosting company.  I have a working version of that site that runs on my main PC under XAMPP v7.3. I have made an Akeeba Backup of the local XAMPP site, intending to install it on the "DEV1" site, make a few more upgrades, migrate to Joomla 4, and then copy that to the public site.  Unfortunately, the installation of the DEV1 site FAILS at the "Restoration of site's main database" page.

This is especially urgent because of the need to migrate to Joomla 4.  I have purchased Migrate Me 4 to do the conversion to Joomla 4, but I need to upgrade the DEV1 site first. 

I SUSPECT that some time in the past year, I might have made a change to one of the setting required on the "Restoration" page, but failed to immedietly document that change, due to the press of time.

When the "Restoration" fails, it only gives vague information: "one or more of the database host name, user name and password you have provided is incorrect." I have been struggling with this problem for a month now.

Since this is a valid program that has been developed by me, I would expect that there OUGHT to be some way to find WHICH parameter or parameters is/are wrong. I have been an Akeeba user since 2013, but haven't been modifying my website for about a year, so I am undoubtedly rusty.

Is there some way I could find the values of these parameters? Is there any way to even find out WHICH parameters are wrong?  Even that would be a big help.

By the way, I count 6 required fields:

⦁ database type : e.g. MySQLi
⦁ database host name : e.g localhost
⦁ database name : 
⦁ database username : 
⦁ database password : 
⦁ table name prefix : p8d14_

 

I have been in touch with my (small) hosting company about this.  When I called him last night, he noticed that the failing DEV1 site does not contain any databases, and I found that as well.  Is that the way Akeeba Backup is supposed to work?  I had naively thought that the database would get unpacked, and that "Reconstruction" page just decided whether or not it contained the right parameter to complete the connection of the database, but I suppose that the word "Reconstruction" might mean that the database doesn't even get unpacked unless the parameters are right.

PLEASE HELP! I can provide whatever information you need, including access to the site if necessary.

Best regards,

Dr, Bob Miller

Trace Systems Inc.

 

 

Thursday, 07 September 2023 02:37 CDT

nicholas

You must have created a database, a database user, and give that database user adequate privileges beforehand. Please see https://www.akeeba.com/documentation/akeeba-backup-joomla/abidatabase.html.

As for narrowing down what is wrong with the connection information, PHP does not provide this information. The database type selects which of two available PHP functions we will use to connect to the database. Then, we have to pass the hostname, username, and password to that specific function which either returns true (the connection to the database server succeeded) or false (the connection to the database server failed). That's the reason why ANGIE tells you that one of these three items is wrong; that's the most it is reasonably possible to narrow it down.

Finally, do note that the word we use is not “Reconstruction”, it is “Restoration”. The former implies that we can magically recreate the entire database server configuration which is not the case, and can never be the case as it would require administrative privileges PHP does not have. The latter implies that we are restoring just the database data into a preconfigured database server, with a database, and database user already created; that's exactly what we do.

You may want to take a look at the video tutorials. They are short and they will jog your memory, especially if you're mostly used to restoring to the same site you backed up from (meaning the database and database user already exists).

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

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