I tried installing elgg on a 1and1 shared server. After completing the initial installation process successfully, I got the following error:
Elgg isn't ready to run. :(
Configuration problem: The PHP setting 'register_globals', which is a huge security risk, is turned on. There should be a line in the .htaccess file as follows: php_flag register_globals off If the line is present but has a # at the start, remove the # character.
Please read the INSTALL and config-dist.php files for more information,or click here to use the friendly installer.
This "Elgg isn't ready to run" error report has three problems. First, it doesn't recognise the problems elgg has with shared servers. Secondly, it was written for previous versions that simply had a '# php_flag register_globals off' commented out. And thirdly, all the reccommended solutions all fail:
- "Uncomment the following line in the .htaccess file: '# php_flag register_globals off' ". This is invalid in many ways. There is no such line commented out. There are already a number of similar (equivalent) lines not commented out, within <IfModule?> conditions. These also fail on 1and1. Apparently because 1and1 shared hosting doesn't let you change things in a way that would affect other sites hosted on the same server. Adding such a line does not work - I get a "Internal Server Error. The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request...Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument? to handle the request.".
- I try going to config-dist.php as reccommended. I get a blank page, so thats no help.
- I try going to the "click here to use the friendly installer" (/_elggadmin) link, and get this error "Not Found. The requested URL /_elggadmin/ was not found on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument? to handle the request.".
I have described the problem and practical solutions at http://elgg.org/mod/mediawiki/wiki/index.php/Common_installation_issues#Turning_.27Allow_globals.27_Off and http://elgg.org/admin/weblog/1153.html.0#cmt4581. In short, the best way is to add this line to your .htaccess: 'AddType? x-mapp-php5 .php'. The only reason why this would not work as a generic solution would be if PHP5 was not available (which I suspect is highly unlikely these days). So why not add something to the .htaccess that says if PHP5 is available, use it (via the AddType? line above), and if PHP5 is not available, produce an error along the lines of:
Elgg isn't ready to run. :(
Configuration problem: The PHP setting 'register_globals', which is a huge security risk, is turned on. This is automatically turned off in the .htaccess file, but for some reason, your server can not turn it off as expected.
The most likely reason is that you are on a shared server, and that you do not have PHP5 available. Please see [http://elgg.org/mod/mediawiki/wiki/index.php/Common_installation_issues#Turning_.27Allow_globals.27_Off] for more information.
I am sorry that I do not have the .htaccess skills to do this all myself, but I hope I have provided enough material to help. I made it high priority, because hopefully this small change could be implemented before 0.9.1 is released in a few days.
