Changes made to settings in back end do not save

[pttr]

Hi all,

I'm experiencing an odd problem where I'm unable to save any changes made in the System>Settings back end module.

Any values I change are overwritten with the old values when I click Save or Save and close.

For example, if I change Account locking time from 300 to 1, once I click Save, 300 reappears in the input text field. If I then go to System log, I can see the message: Global configuration variable "lockPeriod" has been changed from "300" to "1" but this has not happened.

My Contao website is otherwise functioning fine - does anyone have any suggestions as to what may be causing this problem?

[xchs]

Hi pttr,

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what may be causing this problem?

The local configuration file "localconfig.php" (and maybe others too) is not writable by the PHP process on which Contao runs.

Try to check your installation with the Contao System Check Tool. Maybe you'll get there a hint that you will need the Safe Mode Hack (SMH).

[pttr]

Hi xchs,

Thanks for the reply, and for identifying the problem. I've just now run the System Check Tool and it does suggest that I run the Safe Mode Hack.

The System Check Tool also reports that a number of files are "corrupt" which is disturbing.

I am unable to run the Safe Mode Hack, as FTP is not available on the server, and I'm unable to change servers or to enable FTP. I can make the local configuration file - and any others as necessary - writable, but I note that the System Check Tool says: "Under no circumstances should you try to solve this problem by changing the file permissions!"

In the short term, I have solved the problem by directly editing the "localconfig.php" file, eg:

$GLOBALS['TL_CONFIG']['lockPeriod'] = 1;

and this works OK, although it's not an ideal work around long term.

If I can ask a couple further questions:

Is there a recommended way to enable Safe Mode type functionality in the absence of FTP?

What are the dangers if I ignore the System Check Tool warning message and change the "localconfig.php" file permissions (and other files as required)?

What is the best way to deal with files reported as "corrupt" by System Check Tool - can I simply replace these files from Contao core on source forge?

Thanks for your attention.

[Vera]

Can you move to a server that is not as restrictive instead? Seems like less work to me...

[xchs]

I am unable to run the Safe Mode Hack, as FTP is not available on the server, and I'm unable to change servers or to enable FTP. [...] Is there a recommended way to enable Safe Mode type functionality in the absence of FTP?

In such a case, the standard way would be to configure PHP as CGI (or the even better FastCGI).

What is the best way to deal with files reported as "corrupt" by System Check Tool - can I simply replace these files from Contao core on source forge?

Yes. If you made no own modifications on these files you can overwrite them as well.

[pttr]

Can you move to a server that is not as restrictive instead? Seems like less work to me...

Unfortunately not

In such a case, the standard way would be to configure PHP as CGI (or the even better FastCGI).

I understand, thanks.

Yes. If you made no own modifications on these files you can overwrite them as well.

Great.

Cheers for the help!