UNiTE, Remote CLI, eXtract Wizard

Friday, 15 April 2011 13:15 CDT

user21968

What is an HTTP status 406 error??

I think I've followed the documentation, but I can't figure out why it isn't connecting:

Akeeba backup latest version on website YES
Enable frontend backup YES
Plugin NOT NECESSARY (doc says 4.0.7 doesn't need it)
Install Remote Control on Desktop YES

but it's not working...
???

Friday, 15 April 2011 13:45 CDT

nicholas

If your secret key contains certain characters (usually that means anything except letters and numbers) it is possible that the server denies to serve the request and throws a 406 error. Do note that it is the web server that blocks the request. At the time the request is blocked Joomla! has not even run yet, so there is none of our code being executed. As a result we can not provide any solution other than to tell you to use a less complex secret word, ideally consisting of at least 14 letters and numbers (but no punctuation or other special characters).

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!

Friday, 15 April 2011 20:06 CDT

user21968

Interesting. Well my secret word definitely isn't causing the issue (since I'm using a very basic password)

Can you recommend: is there a certain "setting" that the server needs to switch ON or OFF for this program to connect? Or do I need to adjust certain "permissions" in my public_html?

(I feel dumb contacting my host with only "duh, I can't get this program to work...")

Saturday, 16 April 2011 01:21 CDT

nicholas

It is possible that your server's mod_security (that's an Apache module, not a Joomla! extension) configuration is blocking the JSON request sent by Remote Control. The only way to find out if that's the case is asking your host to take a look at the log files of your 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!

Saturday, 16 April 2011 13:09 CDT

user21968

Hi Nicholas
Thanks very much for your reply. I've contacted the host who is requesting from me a more specific set of instructions to address this issue:

"Hello,Please let us know how to recreate the issue from my side. As you know your account is hosted in a shared server, making a sudden change in the configuration file for a single account will affect the performance of other users in the system. First we need to recreate the issue and find the exact reason which caused the issue."

Therefore I was wondering if you might know (as the developer) the precise Apache configuration that might allow this program to work on a shared system?

Again, thx

Saturday, 16 April 2011 15:55 CDT

nicholas

You can just tell your host to use Akeeba Remote Control on your site (remember to give them the secret key as well) and keep an eye on the server's log file.

I can not give you a specific server configuration. Each host has setup mod_security in a different way and may require changes to completely different rules to work around this issue. Most likely their mod_security configuration is intercepting JSON data as malicious and that's why you get this error. That's just an educated guess. Your host really has to investigate it and give a definitive answer.

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!

Sunday, 17 April 2011 14:45 CDT

user21968

Hi Nicholas
Yes you were right. My hosting provider looked into it and sure enough it was a mod security issue. They simply edited the rules which solved it! (very quick).

BTW I'm hosting with semoweb.com which I have to say is a fantastic provider (for anyone who's looking). I mean, really, would many hosting providers look into &/or change mod security rules over an entire host on account of a complaint from one user? Smart business tho - defines them as a Joomla-friendly host (and I'm blabbing, aren't I?)

:)

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