HELP! Where did my site go???? It vanished...

[calguy1000]

well, we can't shed any light on anything if you don't have, or can't find the logs to find out who accessed what, when, and what the results of those accesses were.

If your site works well one evening, you go to sleep, and you wake up and it's not working (or you go away for a weekend or whatever), then somebody, somewhere has done something to your site.  and without sufficient information we can't shed any light on anything.

if you don't have access to your logs, then you need to talk to your ISP and get them.  if you do, and you can't parse them, then google is a good way to learn.  keep in mind, you may need to read many days worth of logs to find out when the time was when things went wonky.  You may also may need to do alot of reading in google.  Many of us have spent hundreds of hours reading the results of google searches.  We expect nothing more of you.

We've seen circumstances here where host companies have moved websites from one server to another and either messed up the dns stuff, and/or the permissions, or missed some files, etc. and we've seen hack attempts from external packages on the same host, and we've seen bugs in CMS itself.  Anything could happen. We can't tell anything without accurate and detailed information.

I've said it before, (see the post about 'questions to ask your hoster').  When running a web application like this (drupal, joomla, mambo, phplist, wordpress, etc, etc, etc) there is an amount of knowledge that you are required to have to be able to maintain your site.  if you don't know it, you need to be able to figure it out.  It is not our job to teach you all of these things. 

if you can determine that the problem is a CMS issue, I'll certainly be amongst the first to be diving into this issue to figure it out and solve it for you, me and everybody.

we need more homework from you.

[faglork]

Sorry, but isn't this distressing to anyone else here? You go through the trouble of building a site and POOF!....its gone one day FOR NO REASON?

Believe me, there IS a reason.

Works one day, and the next its gone.

IF this should happen I just restore from my backup. No sweat here. So what.

If its an ISP problem, can someone shed some light on it?

How could someone do that? So far, only you and your hosting company know what happened.

If its a CMSMS problem, can someone tell me why?

Most likely not. I run about 20 CMSMS sites, absolutely error free. It is impossible that the website is up one day and down the next without any major changes.

I did a lot of software support - in many similar cases it was just unscheduled  maintainance work by the hosting company. Or sth. along that way.

The really weird part is that I have a webmaster account so have several sites running under one ISP account. Other sites I nade with CMSMS are up, while others go down........

So you should find detailed information in the error logs.

they were fine for 2 weeks and then ....gone. Nothing done to them, nothing changed.

This is *impossible*. *Someone* changed *something*. Get your error logs.

As it is my faith is shaken in this software. I like it enough however to keep using it provided there is an answer somewhere.

a) you are fighting the wrong enemy, so to speak. This is as far as I see  no CMSMS issue.
b) the answer is blowing in the ... not the wind, but most likely the log files.

hth,
Alex

[senorcosta]

Faglork,
Yes there is a reason...the answer is blowing somewhere. For the record, you guys are not my enemy. But at this point, I need to know whether to find a new ISP or revert to using a different CMS. Here is what I KNOW for sure.
1. No changes were made by me and no one else has access to the sites.

2. The sites that went down were all CMSMS. Yet, NOT ALL. www.SSYSO.com and www.casapineiro.com are still standing as we speak. I am using Website Baker for some old sites and they are still standing as they have been for about 2 years now.

3. This is the SECOND time this happened. Last time I had to have the sites restored.

4. I did a lot of software support - in many similar cases it was just unscheduled  maintainance work by the hosting company OK, I respect that. Are there any PARTICULAR questions I should ask them that would pertain to something like this happening?

5. Below are the error logs from a couple of the sites. I notice that it looks like certain files are missing.
www.piyi.org Using CMSMS 1.1.4.1
Error Logs:
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:26 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:26 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
*** When I look on the server, I see favicon_cms.ico but not favocon.ico and no 404.shtml at all. Also, when I open the original ZIP that I downloaded from the site, they are not in there either.
www.dessert4sale.com
Error logs:
[Tue Nov 27 08:43:12 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FCKeditorX/FCKeditorX.module.php on line 133
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php on line 194
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:50 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php on line 194
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:42 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:42 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/favicon.ico

PS THIS IS NOT PERSONAL. I just want to find an answer...

[alby]

Error Logs:
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:26 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:26 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
*** When I look on the server, I see favicon_cms.ico but not favocon.ico and no 404.shtml at all. Also, when I open the original ZIP that I downloaded from the site, they are not in there either.

404.shtml : Have you enable mod_rewrite (check sintax of .htaccess vs your config.php) or server configuration?
favicon.ico : mozilla browser get always favicon.ico

[Tue Nov 27 08:43:12 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FCKeditorX/FCKeditorX.module.php on line 133
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php on line 194

Check server date of this files and re-upload this files

Alby

[faglork]

1. No changes were made by me and no one else has access to the sites.

Well last time someone told me that ... the site had been hacked. Are your installations up to date? Just to make sure.

2. The sites that went down were all CMSMS. I am using Website Baker for some old sites and they are still standing as they have been for about 2 years now.

So static pages are ok. Which may indicate a php or mysql issue.

3. This is the SECOND time this happened. Last time I had to have the sites restored.

What exactly did they restore?

Are there any PARTICULAR questions I should ask them that would pertain to something like this happening?

Server changes. Server move (are you still on the same IP?).  Software upgrades. Anything around the PHP / MYSQL config, for a start. Tip: Compare running/non-runnig sites with phpinfo. Look here:
http://fundisom.com/phpsnippets/snip/in ... n/phpinfo/

5. Below are the error logs from a couple of the sites. I notice that it looks like certain files are missing.

The missing files are the 404 error page and the favicon. Nothing critical.

www.piyi.org
Error Logs:
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:26 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:26 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico

Is that *all*??? When you NOW visit the site and then immediately download the log file, what are the last couple of lines?

www.dessert4sale.com
Error logs:
[Tue Nov 27 08:43:12 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FCKeditorX/FCKeditorX.module.php on line 133
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:58 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php on line 194
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:50 2007] [error] PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php on line 194
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:42 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 08:42:42 2007] [error] [client 91.19.30.201] File does not exist: /home/dessert/public_html/favicon.ico

404/favicon as above. But:
PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in /home/dessert/public_html/modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php on line 194

This is interesting. Assuming that you have the ORIGINAL files still on you local PC, please do the following:

Download the /modules/FormBuilder/FormBuilder.module.php via FTP (make sure you download in ASCII mode)  and compare it 1:1 with the ORIGINAL FormBuilder.module.php (triple check that you don't confuse files and don't overwrite the original).

Don't do the comparison manually, use  the COMPARE function of an editor such as ULTRAEDIT or the like.

Are those files *identical*?

Cheers,
Alex

[senorcosta]

OK, I'll do it. Here are the latest logs from PIYI

[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 10:39:11 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 10:39:11 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 10:38:57 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 10:38:57 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico

[senorcosta]

ISP is www.hostforweb.com


OK, here is what I sent my ISP and their response:
OK guys, here's my problem. This is a BIG problem for me and I need an answer please. Take a minute to read and think about this.
I have been using CMS systems to build websites and they have unexpectedly been crashing. I promise you, this has nothing to do on my part as they crashed arbitrarily and I had made absolutely no changes of any kind from the last successful access. Its one particular CMS system (CMSMadeSimple.com) and have been dogging them as to why this happened. The developers are adament this may be an ISP issue. I am not blaming you per se, but need to find an answer. Below I have included the site, UN and PW for the site and the error logs.
This happened before and I had to have you restore the sites. IS THERE ANYTHING ON YOUR SIDE THAT MAY HAVE CAUSED THIS? Any changes in PHP? Errors in moving anything on a shared server? Anything you can think of?
I know this is outside the realm of your support, but I'm asking for your help to make sure its not something on your side.
Thanks

From ISP
I am not sure how much I can help with this, as we really do not support CSM, however I am more then willing to give you my input. As far as anything we have placed on the server itself that may have caused this, I am not really seeing anything that stands out. What is on the server itself is very standard services that all web-servers would hold. being MySQL, apache and PHP. are there perhaps particular versions of these services (MySQL,PHP and apache) that your CSM script requires?

[JohnnyB]

Hi,

Just a noteworthy mention, CMSMadeSimple.com is not the same as CMSMadeSimple.org.

I have to lean toward the ISP as causing the problem accidentally.  When files go missing and sites disappear, it is a hardware or software config issue on the server.  It could be as simple as the ISP moving accounts form one server to another to accommodate growth, or moving the database to a different server, or even upgrading the PHP version, or changing how php is installed, i.e., as an Apache module or as CGI.

Hopefully you'll get to the bottom of it.

[faglork]

OK, I'll do it. Here are the latest logs from PIYI

[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 10:39:11 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 10:39:11 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico
[Tue Nov 27 10:38:57 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 10:38:57 2007] [error] [client 70.60.55.38] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico

Well, didn't you say that the files are still there?
These log entries tell that they are NOT.
Only other possibility: index.php is no longer part of the DirectoryIndex server directive.

Can you please verify the one or other?
a) ftp in and verify the CMSMS  files are there
b) ask your hosting company about the current  config of the DirectoryIndex server directive

Cheers,
Alex

[senorcosta]

Well, didn't you say that the files are still there?
No, I said they are NOT there nor are they in the original ZIP file (but I meant TAR file) I downloaded from the site. So does that mean that the scripts are looking for those files (which were not there to begin with in the TAR) and thats causing this??????
Does that mean if I put these files in there, it should work again???
Also, why was it working before (assumably without the files) and now isn't?

I cut & pasted the program requirements to my ISP and received this:
Yes, all of our servers have all of those requirements.

Can you please verify the one or other?
a) ftp in and verify the CMSMS  files are there
See attachment of server side of FTP

Heres my config file...MAYBE SOMETHING IN HERE?
Global Settings in the admin panel)
#after making any changes to path or url related options

#-----------------
#Database Settings
#-----------------

#This is your database connection information.  Name of the server,
#username, password and a database with proper permissions should
#all be setup before CMS Made Simple is installed.
$config['dbms'] = 'mysql';
$config['db_hostname'] = 'localhost';
$config['db_username'] = 'XXXXXXX';
$config['db_password'] = 'XXXXXXX';
$config['db_name'] = 'piyi_cmsms';

#If app needs to coexist with other tables in the same db,
#put a prefix here.  e.g. "cms_"
$config['db_prefix'] = 'cms_';

#Use persistent connections?  They're generally faster, but not all hosts
#allow them.
$config['persistent_db_conn'] = false;

#Use ADODB Lite?  This should be true in almost all cases.  Note, slight
#tweaks might have to be made to date handling in a "regular" adodb
#install before it can be used.
$config['use_adodb_lite'] = true;

#-------------
#Path Settings
#-------------

#Document root as seen from the webserver.  No slash at the end
#If page is requested with https use https as root url
#e.g. http://blah.com
$config['root_url'] = 'http://www.piyi.org';
if(isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS']=='on')
{
$config['root_url'] = str_replace('http','https',$config['root_url']);
}

#Path to document root. This should be the directory this file is in.
#e.g. /var/www/localhost
$config['root_path'] = '/home/piyi/public_html';

#Name of the admin directory
$config['admin_dir'] = 'admin';

#Where do previews get stored temporarily?  It defaults to tmp/cache.
$config['previews_path'] = '/home/piyi/public_html/tmp/cache';

#Where are uploaded files put?  This defaults to uploads.
$config['uploads_path'] = '/home/piyi/public_html/uploads';

#Where is the url to this uploads directory?
$config['uploads_url'] = $config['root_url'] . '/uploads';


#---------------
#Upload Settings
#---------------

#Maxium upload size (in bytes)?
$config['max_upload_size'] = 2000000;

#Permissions for uploaded files.  This only really needs changing if your
#host has a weird permissions scheme.
$config['default_upload_permission'] = '664';

#------------------
#Usability Settings
#------------------

#Allow smarty {php} tags?  These could be dangerous if you don't trust your users.
$config['use_smarty_php_tags'] = false;

#CMSMS Debug Mode?  Turn is on to get a better error when you
#see {nocache} errors.
$config['debug'] = false;

#Automatically assign alias based on page title?
$config['auto_alias_content'] = true;

#------------
#URL Settings
#------------

#Show mod_rewrite URLs in the menu? You must enable 'use_hierarchy' for this to work for modules
$config['assume_mod_rewrite'] = false;

#Extension to use if you're using mod_rewrite for pretty URLs.
$config['page_extension'] = '';

#If you don't use mod_rewrite, then would you like to use the built-in
#pretty url mechanism?  This will not work with IIS and the {metadata} tag
#should be in all of your templates before enabling.
$config['internal_pretty_urls'] = false;

#If you're using the internal pretty url mechanism or mod_rewrite, would you like to
#show urls in their hierarchy?  (ex. http://www.mysite.com/parent/parent/childpage)
$config['use_hierarchy'] = false;

#If using none of the above options, what should we be using for the query string
#variable?  (ex. http://www.mysite.com/index.php?page=somecontent)
$config['query_var'] = 'page';

#--------------
#Image Settings
#--------------

#Which program should be used for handling thumbnails in the image manager.
#See http://wiki.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php ... ge_Manager for more
#info on what this all means
$config['image_manipulation_prog'] = 'GD';
$config['image_transform_lib_path'] = '/usr/bin/ImageMagick/';

#Default path and URL for uploaded images in the image manager
$config['image_uploads_path'] = '/home/piyi/public_html/uploads/images';
$config['image_uploads_url'] = $config['root_url'] . '/uploads/images';


#------------------------
#Locale/Encoding Settings
#------------------------

#Locale to use for various default date handling functions, etc.  Leaving
#this blank will use the server's default.  This might not be good if the
#site is hosted in a different country than it's intended audience.
$config['locale'] = '';

#In almost all cases, default_encoding should be empty (which defaults to utf-8)
#and admin_encoding should be utf-8.  If you'd like this to be different, change
#both.  Keep in mind, however, that the admin interface translations are all in
#utf-8, and will be converted on the fly to match the admin_encoding.  This
#could seriously slow down the admin interfaces for users.
$config['default_encoding'] = '';
$config['admin_encoding'] = 'utf-8';

#---------------------------------------------
#Use the old stylesheet logic?  It's much slower, but it works with older
#versions of CMSMS.  You'll also need this set to true if there is a module
#that uses a stylesheet callback.  Leave it as false instead you really
#need it.
$config['old_stylesheet'] = false;

# URL of the Admin Panel section of the User Handbook
$config['wiki_url'] = 'http://wiki.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php ... dmin_Panel';

#Enable backwards compatibility mode?  This basically will allow some
#modules written before 1.0 was released to work.  Keep in mind that this
#will use a lot more memory and isn't guaranteed to fix the problem.
$config['backwards_compatible'] = false;

#Not used anymore... kept around, just in case
$config['disable_htmlarea_translation'] = false;
$config['use_Indite'] = true;
?>

[JohnnyB]

[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/404.shtml
[Tue Nov 27 11:00:51 2007] [error] [client 208.115.202.52] File does not exist: /home/piyi/public_html/favicon.ico

These are not part of the default CMS MS install package.  You would get these error regardless if of the current situation.

Are you on a shared host account?  If so, unfortunately this error log will not help you diagnose the problem because log that is needed is the server's log file, not your accounts error log.  I doubt the host will make those available though b/c it will contain information about all of the accounts they have on that server.

[faglork]

If so, unfortunately this error log will not help you diagnose the problem because log that is needed is the server's log file, not your accounts error log.

Normally, the account error_log will suffice.


Ok.

Please. We NEED to confirm two things.

a) ask your hosting company about the current DirectoryIndex server directive.
cf. http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_dir.html

b)
- open an editor
copy this code:

Code: Select all

<?php
phpinfo();
?> 

- save it as anyfilename.php (anyfilename: pick any filename ... like info.php or i.php or ...)
- ftp it to your server
- call it in a browser: http://piyi.org/anyfilename.php
(rename/delete it immediately afterwards)
--> what happens?  does it produce any output?

--> if yes: we'll work from there ...
--> if NO: There you are ... PHP isnt working ...


Just noticed ...

a) can you please  ftp into /modules/FileManager and have a look whether there are all files there?
b) according to your config.php you do NOT use mod_rewrite - so what is the contents of your .htaccess file?

Cheers,
Alex

[senorcosta]

Please. We NEED to confirm two things.

a) ask your hosting company about the current DirectoryIndex server directive.
cf. http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_dir.html

FROM MY ISP:
It is :
DirectoryIndex index.html index.wml index.cgi index.shtml index.jsp index.js index.jp index.php4 index.php3 index.php index.phtml index.htm default.htm default.html home.htm

- open an editor
copy this code:

Code: Select all

<?php
phpinfo();
?> 

- save it as anyfilename.php (anyfilename: pick any filename ... like info.php or i.php or ...)
- ftp it to your server
- call it in a browser: http://piyi.org/anyfilename.php
(rename/delete it immediately afterwards)
--> what happens?  does it produce any output?

Works fine>> see www.piyi.org/test.php


--> if yes: we'll work from there ...
--> if NO: There you are ... PHP isnt working ...

a) can you please  ftp into /modules/FileManager and have a look whether there are all files there?
b) according to your config.php you do NOT use mod_rewrite - so what is the contents of your .htaccess file?

[/quote]

- NO File Manager under /modules >> see screen shot below
- .htaccess file is empty

[faglork]

- .htaccess file is empty

Just to make sure.
There are at least 2 .htaccess files, both are not empty:

- the .htaccess in main directory has 35 bytes
Perhaps everything commented out?

- the .htaccess in /modules directory has 61 bytes
what is the purpose of this file? Normally, there is no .htaccess in the /modules subdirectory

When did the Site stop working? Seems that there was an upgrade on 11/24/2007? Did the site stop working before or after?

Cheers,
Alex

BTW: It is 3:00 in the morning here in Germany and I have to get some sleep. I'll come back tomorrow ... maybe someone else in another timezone can take over ... wish you luck.

[senorcosta]

- the .htaccess in main directory has 35 bytes
Perhaps everything commented out?

Here's what's in there (woops)>> php_value upload_max_filesize 10M

- the .htaccess in /modules directory has 61 bytes
what is the purpose of this file? Normally, there is no .htaccess in the /modules subdirectory

I have no idea, I didn't put it there. Here's whats inside>>
Options -MultiViews
ErrorDocument 404 //modules/includes.php

When did the Site stop working? Seems that there was an upgrade on 11/24/2007? Did the site stop working before or after?

I noticed it yesterday, Mon Nov 26th

BTW: It is 3:00 in the morning here in Germany and I have to get some sleep. I'll come back tomorrow ... maybe someone else in another timezone can take over ... wish you luck.

Gute Nacht! Thanks for the help. Please come back