CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

So after working out my database disconnect issue, I attempt to install the component. Having never successfully completed the install I was shocked to see:

Component Install: Another Component is already using directory: "<HOSTIN DOMAIN>/www/<DOMAIN NAME>/components/com_civicrm"

OK, delete the directory and move on...right. What do you do when there is nothing in the /components to match what the error messages says?

I've had that message when I had a faulty extension installation (it crashed during installation and then I went back to try reinstalling), because the installation process sees the directory structure and thinks the extension already exists. Look for com_civicrm in BOTH /components/ AND /administrator/components/ and delete the directories if they exist. Then try reinstalling.

It could also be a caching issue.

In Joomla, you can turn off caching through the global config menu. You can also empty your cache through the browser settings (Tools > clear private data -- in Firefox).

No, Joomla doesn't tag the install directory for extensions with a session id. There's no need. You would never need to have an extension installed more than once within a single Joomla installation. And tagging it with a session id would potentially complicate extension upgrades. The installer will get confused if a folder or related files exist for an extension, even if it's only an empty folder. Which is why you needed to check to make sure the com_civicrm directories didn't exist.

Another thought --
Open up your MySQL database and look in jos_components. If there are any records associated with CiviCRM, remove them. Normally, I wouldn't think this would be the problem. But I guess it's possible that the installer could be reading the existence of the component directory from the database rather than the file structure.

Did you delete /components/com_civicrm and /administrator/components/com_civicrm before reinstalling?

-Brian

You asked about a manual install --
Here's a quick take. No guarantees or warranties. Personally, I would continue working on the normal install. Go through your files and database one more time and make sure it's clean. Make sure your php settings are adequate (memory_limit and max_execution_time). Then try reinstalling. But if you want to manual install, this is what I think you need to do:

1) Download and unpack the install files on your local computer.

2) Run the SQL files on your db. You need to run civicrm.mysql and civicrm_data.mysql (found in /civicrm/sql/).

3) Install the files to your server. See this article (http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Upgrade+Joomla+2.0+Sites+to+2.0.2), and look at "option 2" under step 3. One change: you don't need to delete the administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/civicrm.config.php file. You need to open it, select all the text, delete it, and replace it with:
<?php

require_once '/home/USER/public_html/administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm.settings.php';

?>(you need to find the actual location of your files -- I'm just giving you my standard location)

4) You need to recreate your two settings files. I've attached a sample one (stripped of my data) for v2.0. There are five variables that must be completed. There's lots of commenting to help you. One copy of the file goes in /components/com_civicrm/ and one goes in /administrator/components/com_civicrm/. In my installations, the two files are identical except for the CIVICRM_UF_BASEURL variable -- the version in the administrator folder has www.yourdomain.com/administrator/ (the other is just your root domain). You'll need to change the extension to the file I'm uploading (it's uploaded as a txt).

5) You need to add the menu items for CiviCRM so it shows up in the components menu. Here's the dump from one of my installs for the Civi pieces (into jos_components). I've attached the sql file. Also note, this was a dump from Joomla 1.5 -- I don't have the energy to check and see if it's the same for 1.0.


I *think* this covers the steps for a manual install. It's slightly painful, which is why, of course, they built an automated installer. And why I would recommend pushing in that direction first.

-Brian

Well, I took your advice and persevered. I reinstalled Joomla completely and tried the install again. It worked. I had the increased memory and execution time using .htaccess file in my site root.

the settings are :

php_value memory_limit 64M
php_value max_execution_time 600
As always with these things it is impossable to say what worked as I just started from scratch and did a few things a little more carefully!

A couple of minor notes:

I noticed when I compared the files in the local and remote directories that FireFTP reported several mis-matches in file size. (In the tools menu top right, for anyone using FireFTP). Civicrm is a large number of files for sure. I did try the script that would unzip the files online but it didn't work on my server. I did hack together something similar in the days of Mambo but it did require you to upload the unzip functions file as well as the interface file. Still I digress.

The only comment i have is that if Civicrm was available as a tar.bz2 I would have been able to uncompress it online via my server control panel. But then nearly every server interface is different.

I would vote for this though as the uploading of a few thousand files with all the error checking definitely takes longer than uploading one compressed file and then uncompressing it on the server.

Just a comment for us people who don't have root access to our server space.....

Thanks again for your prompt response. I look forward to trying to set the whole thing up now!!!

Dave

Ok thanks again Brian.

I do have 7-zip, I didn't see that as an option I had always assumed .tar.bz files were a Linux only thing although  I did know they could be unpacked ok. I'll look into it a bit more. It will make life easier if I have to do another install. Thanks again for your encouragement.

Dave

Maybe these instructions should be a sticky post with a new subject?