Akeeba Backup for Joomla!

Friday, 17 March 2023 06:55 CDT

wd5mush

I realise this may not be an Akeeba problem, but it might be (or something you have come across)

My site that was converted from J3 to J4 with much sweat and tears is now working - except it will not update from J4.2.8 to J4.2.9

I click the start update button on the "Update your site to "Joomla! 4.2.9" page. Instead of starting the Akeeba Backup, it jumps to the install screen for a second or so and then comes up with the message

"Access forbidden

Joomla cannot communicate with the file administrator/components/com_joomlaupdate/extract.php which performs the update. This typically happens because of one of the following reasons:

- A server configuration file in your site's root, such as .htaccess or web.config, prevents access to this file.
- Your server configuration prevents access to this file.
- The ownership and permissions of this file do not allow your server to access this file.
- Your site is behind a load balancer or CDN but its configuration does not allow access to this file or blocks sending commands to it.
- Even though the file can be accessed, sending commands to it is blocked by your server's protection such as mod_security2.

If you are not sure please contact your host."

I've posted a similar query on the Joomla forum where one other person has had a similar problem, but no solutions.

There is a suggestion that it is a problem with sites that have been converted from J3 to J4 as it does not appear to be a problem with native J4 sites.

Also, how do I check that the automatic backup is enabled?

Edited by wd5mush on 2023-03-17 06:58 CDT

Friday, 17 March 2023 08:02 CDT

nicholas

Make sure the plugin System - Backup on Update is published. When you go to the update page you will see a message at the top of the page which tells you if backup on update is enabled or not, and gives you a button to toggle it.

Regarding the error message, if you are using Admin Tools Professional for Joomla and its .htaccess Maker please make sure that in Components, Admin Tools for Joomla, Control Panel, .htaccess maker, Allow direct access to these files you have both of the following entries:

administrator/components/com_joomlaupdate/restore.php
administrator/components/com_joomlaupdate/extract.php

If not, add them and click on Save & Create .htaccess. The former is used in older Joomla 4 versions, the latter in newer ones. Normally they are both added automatically when you first install Admin Tools but stuff can happen — especially when we're talking about a painful upgrade ;) Kindly note that I am the same same person who has written Joomla Update and Admin Tools. Also note that restore.php is basically an old version of Kickstart without the user interface code, whereas extract.php is a purpose-built, slightly faster script, with more detailed error reporting I wrote for Joomla 4 (it just took a while to get it merged into Joomla itself).

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!

Tuesday, 21 March 2023 07:43 CDT

wd5mush

Thank you Nicholas, great advice as always.

The Backup plugin was not enabled, so that is now working.

I checked the settings for the .htaccess file and they looked OK but didn't actually look at the file itself. I was wary of generating a new file as I didn't want to risk overwriting the original one. However, when I did all now works.

So happy bunny - for the moment.

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