Upgrade 3.3.4 to 4.3.3 failing due to File.php

[Millipede]

I’m (very belatedly, I know!) trying to upgrade a small test forum before attempting to do so on my actual forum, from v.3.3.4 to v.4.3.3, and am having a problem even getting started with it.

I go to /admin/upgrade and keep getting:
“Some source files are not correct for the latest version. If you uploaded the files to your server manually, the process may have failed or not completed yet, or a new version may have been released since you downloaded. Download latest version from your client area and upload the files again in order to continue.
If you are sure the files have been uploaded correctly, make sure the permissions are set correctly on them.”

and it lists this file:
/home/xxxxx/public_html/xxxxx/system/File/File.php (the forum is in a sub-directory)

I’ve tried 3 times and each time I get the same thing.

If I look inside /system/File/ on the server before going to /admin/upgrade to check it exists, the File.php file is there and then it almost instantly disappears never to return, as if it’s deleted itself.

Would anyone have any idea why this might be happening, please? I urgently need to upgrade my forum due to an imminent major change on the server, where I believe 3.3.4 won’t work properly.

[Stuart Silvester]

32 minutes ago, Millipede said:

I’m (very belatedly, I know!) trying to upgrade a small test forum before attempting to do so on my actual forum, from v.3.3.4 to v.4.3.3, and am having a problem even getting started with it.

I go to /admin/upgrade and keep getting:
“Some source files are not correct for the latest version. If you uploaded the files to your server manually, the process may have failed or not completed yet, or a new version may have been released since you downloaded. Download latest version from your client area and upload the files again in order to continue.
If you are sure the files have been uploaded correctly, make sure the permissions are set correctly on them.”

and it lists this file:
/home/xxxxx/public_html/xxxxx/system/File/File.php (the forum is in a sub-directory)

I’ve tried 3 times and each time I get the same thing.

If I look inside /system/File/ on the server before going to /admin/upgrade to check it exists, the File.php file is there and then it almost instantly disappears never to return, as if it’s deleted itself.

Would anyone have any idea why this might be happening, please? I urgently need to upgrade my forum due to an imminent major change on the server, where I believe 3.3.4 won’t work properly.

Your description would lead me to believe that your server has some kind of security software on it that is possibly identifying something in File.php that it doesn't like. I would recommend asking your web host to look at this.

[Millipede]

Thanks, Stuart, I'll ask them, and let you know if that was indeed the problem.

[Millipede]

I've had a reply from my web host after asking them about it this moring. This is what they said:

Quote

Our anti malware software deleted the file. It seems there is a note in the code referring to /etc/passwd. This lead to a false positive detection.
{
/* Don't allow something/../../../../etc/passwd */
if( mb_strpos( rawurldecode( $url ), '../' ) !== FALSE )

We cannot exclude the check for /etc/passwd in our scanner but we can add an exception for the file and restore it once deleted. Or you can edit the file and delete the comment prior to uploading it to the server.

I'm not quite sure what they mean about adding an exception, as this sort of thing isn't my strong point. With either option, I imagine it would have to be repeated each time there's a forum upgrade that has that file in it?

I take it that it would be OK to delete this comment, as it's only a comment?

[Millipede]

Hmmm... Well, I just tried it, having deleted that commented line, and now I get a blank page when I go to /admin/upgrade

What do I do now?

[Stuart Silvester]

4 hours ago, Millipede said:

Hmmm... Well, I just tried it, having deleted that commented line, and now I get a blank page when I go to /admin/upgrade

What do I do now?

Submit a support ticket at https://invisioncommunity.com/clientarea and we'll be happy to take a look.

[Millipede]

I got the login page back. The version of PHP on the domain had somehow mysteriously changed itself to PHP 5.4; when I changed it back to PHP 5.6, the login page showed again.

However, despite deleting the apparently offending commented line in File.php, I'm still being shown it being a problem as in my original message.

It's only a test site and not a replica of the real forum. I think what I might do is wipe it completely and do a fresh install of 4.3.3, if for no other reason than to see what it's like, find my way round it and to test a couple of things etc.

My concern is the real forum, as I've only got maybe a week now to get it upgraded before the server upgrade (probably) breaks it (having wasted 2 days with trying to upgrade the test site). I'm not in good health (I have MS) and any kind of stress only makes things worse for me. If I were to open a priority support ticket to do the upgrade to the real forum for me, roughly when might it be possible to get the real forum upgraded?

[Millipede]

I downloaded the package yet again, as I noticed the dates of directories can be different day to day, and.... YAY, this time the upgrade worked! So, thank you for whatever changes you may have made, however minor they may have been.

What's more, in my desperate and boggled mind, I forgot this time to delete what was the apparently offensive comment in File.php.

This is only a very small test forum, whilst the real forum is 14 years old and a bit bigger (not that big as it's a bit niche), so I hope it upgrades without problem (so far) too.