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Site Restoration

#41491 install script error

Posted in ‘Site restoration’
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Environment Information

PHP version
8.1.10
CMS Type
Joomla!
CMS Version
3.6.5
Backup Tool Version
Akeeba Backup Core 6.4.0
Kickstart version
8.0.6

Latest post by nicholas on Tuesday, 14 January 2025 07:59 CST

dyfrig

I have been asked to try and sort out a joomla 3 site that hasn't been updated for a long time (version 3.6.5). My intention is to create a new Joomla 5 site and migrate the contents. I have access to the backend and cpanel on the server.

I do not wish to update the working live site in case that takes it down so I installed Akeeba Backup (free version as it's not my site but can install pro if necessary and then uninstall later) , created a backup and downloaded it via cpanel file manager (i don't have access to ftp but I can get that if necessary).

I copied the backup file and kickstart.php to my localhost development server on XAMPP. The backup file was unzipped by kickstart but when the installation script (localhost/<foldername>/installation/index.php tried to run I had an error - (it was in Welsh, my default language for the browser, and so the error below is my translation not necessarily what would appear in an English version)

This page is not working at this time
localhost cannot deal with this request at this time
HTTP ERROR 500
RENEW

Can you suggest what could be causing this issue or diagnostic steps I can take.

nicholas
Akeeba Staff
Manager

Please keep in mind that Joomla! 3.6 was released in July 2016; eight and a half years ago. Back then the latest PHP version which had been released was PHP 7.0 (released in December 2015).

Your local server is using PHP 8.1 which was first released in November 2021.

The old software you are trying to use predates the PHP version you are using by five years. In computer terms, that's an equivalent measure of time as that between the invention of wheel and that of manned space exploration. The ancient software you are trying to use won't work on PHP 8, and it would even crash with PHP versions as low as 7.1. You'd have to use PHP 5.6.

On a similar note, your local server is probably using MySQL 8.0 or 5.7. Joomla! 3.6 predates MySQL 8 by several years. Even MySQL 5.7 was pretty new (having been released just a few months before Joomla! 3.6), meaning it's probably not fully compatible. You need a more vintage version, possibly something like 5.5.

You are now entering the realm of PHP archaeology. There are two ways to proceed.

One way is to install Windows 8.1 (or a very old Windows 10 version) on a virtual machine and install an old WAMPServer version. I would guess the last version from late 2015 would probably have the right versions of PHP and MySQL.

If you are on a Mac that's not an option. In this case, you need to use Docker to run a server environment of the right vintage. A couple of years ago I did just that: https://github.com/nikosdion/php_archaeology. The default settings are PHP 5.6, Apache 2.4, and MySQL 5.5 which is indeed what you need to restore your ancient site.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

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