Upgrading from admin.php with write protection errors

[Redux]

I've tried upgrading the software from 5.1.5 to the latest version. However I get this error message:

 

Upgrade file extraction failed. Please upload the files with an FTP client and then run the setup script.

 

 

----- Upgrade log to 5.2.1 (07 Feb 2013 - 09:07:29) -----

 

READ ME.txt - Extract Status: write_protected

admin/index.php - Extract Status: write_protected

...

 

Looking at this its obviously a CHMOD file permissions problem. Trouble is I dont want to make every page 777 for security reasons.

 

My current public_html is 775. Is this correct? what should it be so I can upgrade without having to upload the files manually?

[SimChris]

HI, usually when I upgrade my store via FTP, then run the setup script, it will tell me if any files need to have permission changed; on my system this requires changing the config file from 444 to 777. And sometimes one other file, but the setup script will tell you. While the "auto udpate" in the store won't. I have never been able to get the auto update to work due to how my Linux-server with Plesk is configured. If you follow the instructions in the README text file, it's actually really simple

1) make backup of everything (both through the store backup all function)

2) make FTP download backup of everything; note some stray files won't download for whatever reason due to some oddball permission set by the store (a "DE" language file for instance)

3) backup your skins folder if any mods done

4) upload the contents of the update to over-write existing contents (this will "merge" new files and leave unmodded files alone in most cases with modern FTP software like CuteFTP, FileZilla, etc.)

5) go to setup, launch, run; if something doesn't have correct permissions; change that via FTP; often easy to do right after the upload

6) next step in setup; and then it will run - progress bar - done.

7) delete setup folder !!!!

8) change permission of your config file back to 444 from 777 (the store admin panel will warn you to do this also)

9) login to store as admin.... check it.

 

In my case FTP is quick, easy, and the only way that actually works.

 

Hzahhh!

Also heads up for most problems in upgrading come from ownership permissions... whether owned by Apache (or whatever on your server), or by the ftpuser. If owned by the server, the auto-upgrade should work if you simply change the write permissions on the config file to 777 temporarily. If you have ownership of the files by the ftpuser (typically the superuser of the domain on the server), it's often best to do it by FTP anyway, to ensure you can actually edit stuff in future like skins.