Automatic update from 3.6.2 to 3.6.3 fails

ℹ️ Support
1

I tried to update my dev env from 3.6.2 to 3.6.3 using the automatic updater. For some reason the update process stops at the “Perform Update” phase with the message “Not a downgrade!”.
The “NEXT” button is grayed.

I tried several times with Firefox and Chromium.

To be able to restart the automatic updater, I had to clear the maintenancemode value “Update process” (not cleared in half an hour as implied) and to remove the tmp_uploaded_update folder.

One time the update seemed to succeed and I upgraded the db as suggested. Then after a couple of minutes phpList was back in 3.6.2.

My environment is:
OpenSuse Leap 15.2
Apache 2.4.46
php 7.4.13
MariaDB 10.4.17

2

The automatic update succeeded in another dev env with php 7.2.10. The config.php files are identical.

The error_log of the failed update stops at the third:
[PHP Notice: Constant HASH_ALGO already defined in /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/config/config.php on line 293
[PHP Stack trace:
[PHP 1. {main}() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:0
[PHP 2. updater->addMaintenanceMode() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:913
[PHP 3. updater->getConnection() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:371
[PHP 4. include() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:305
[PHP 5. define() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/config/config.php:293

In the successfull update, the error_log continues with:
PHP Notice: Constant UPLOADIMAGES_DIR already defined in /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/config/config.php on line 28
PHP Stack trace:
PHP 1. {main}() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:0
PHP 2. updater->removeMaintenanceMode() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:987
PHP 3. updater->getConnection() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:395
PHP 4. include() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:305
PHP 5. define() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/config/config.php:28
…

Both error_log files contain (line 225):
PHP Notice: Undefined index: update_in_progress in /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php on line 360
PHP Stack trace:
PHP 1. {main}() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:0
PHP 2. updater->addMaintenanceMode() /opt/lampp/htdocs/tiedotteet/updater/index.php:913

It looks like the problem is somehow related to the php version. Firefox versions are identical. Apache version is 2.4.34 and MariaDb 10.1.36.

3

Now I figured out the reason for failure. It wasn’t related to the PHP version at all.

I saw the following error in the browser console:

Uncaught SyntaxError: JSON.parse: unexpected character at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data
executeNextStep https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:893
takeAction https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:821
executeNextStep https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:892
executeNextStep https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:903
takeAction https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:821
executeNextStep https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:892
https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:926
EventListener.handleEvent* https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:920

The response contained a bunch of php notices like Constant UPLOADIMAGES_DIR already defined …
Because of this the JSON data got corrupted.

Then I found that my php.ini in this environment had DISPLAY_ERRORS = On. In the environment where the update succeeded the DISPLAY_ERRORS was Off.

After changing DISPLAY_ERRORS to Off, the update succeeded.

The updater should disable DISPLAY_ERRORS.

There were a couple new exceptions in the browser log:

Uncaught TypeError: steps[stepActionMap[step]] is undefined
setCurrentActionItem https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:883
executeNextStep https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:890
https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:926
EventListener.handleEvent* https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/updater/:920
updater:883:13

Uncaught TypeError: $(…).dialog is not a function
https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/admin/ line 2 > injectedScript:1
jQuery 14
initialiseTranslation https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/admin/ui/phplist-ui-bootlist/js/dist/phpList_ui_bootlist.min.js?v=3.6.3:3
https://my.dev.env.fi/lists/admin/:205
line 2 > injectedScript:1:14

4

You should correct this in the config.php file, where you have multiple define statements for some constants.

5

Thanks,
but the DEFINEs occur only once in the installed config.php. The problem arises when the updater includes the config.php again, as seen in the stack trace above. Otherwise I should see the same notices whenever I run phpList.
This can easily be reproduced,if you have log_errors enabled and run the updater.
I ran the updater in another dev env, where display_errors=off and log_errors=on. Now the update succeeded and the error_log contained all those “already defined” notices.

Probably most phpList users do not have display_errors=on in the php.ini of there environments. My production setting is off, of course.
I’m developing and maintaining a web shop, where I’ve integrated phpList using the restapi3. So, I always test a new update first. In this particular php 7.4 dev env I happened to have display_errors=on as the system setting.

6

@veltsu Yes you are right, I had not realised that the updater was including the config file more than once. I can see why that has been done but think that is is a poor approach. You can raise a bug on GitHub GitHub - phpList/updater: Automatic Updater for phpList for this but I’m not sure that the original developer is involved any longer.

7

Well, include_once has been available since php4 :blush:
I raised an issue about updater disabling display_errors.
Anyway, now we know what happens if display_errors is enabled.