Installation Problems

During installation I got the following error message: "The amount of memory available to PHP processes should be at least 64MB". I have checked my server’s PHP settings and I see that it does have enough memory available. What are the possible issues here?

Normal operation of the shopping cart software requires 64 MB of memory available for PHP. The installer checks the actual available memory before proceeding. Available memory can be limited either by PHP or by Apache (usually, only *nix systems can have memory limits).

However, if memory is limited by Apache with the RmemLimit directive (for more info go to http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/core.html), then the memory_limit setting in php.ini makes no difference. The actual amount of available memory will be determined solely by RMemLimit.

To determine the actual available memory for a PHP process, use the following script:
http://www.Avactis.com/tools/_memory_test.php
Upload it to your server and open it in a browser window.

Note: Make sure PHP has the write permission for the folder where _memory_test.php is located.

•	Creates a file 1048576 bytes or 1 MB in size.

•	Runs a loop, on each iteration reading the created file and adding it to an array (i.e. to memory).

•	At every step (64 total), it outputs the amount of consumed memory using the PHP function memory_get_usage() (http://php.net/memory_get_usage).

•	Each iteration uses 1 MB of memory, excluding the overhead of running the script itself.

•	The script keeps working until it either uses up 64 MB of memory or hits the memory limit set by PHP or Apache, in which cases the script stops. As a result, the available memory will display on the screen, precise up to ±2 MB.

If less than 64 MB of memory is available, you should contact your hosting provider (ISP) and find out the memory limit on the server and how it is enforced (PHP, Apache or something else), and raise the memory limit if possible. If memory limit cannot be raised, we suggest switching to a different hosting provider.

During installation I received an error message telling me the system cannot install (write) some files. How do I fix this?

To install the shopping cart on your web server and operate it properly, the PHP process must have a write permission for the installation folder of the shopping cart software. For details about file permissions, refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system_permissions.

If you received an installation error message saying that PHP doesn’t have the permission to write to the current folder, you need to change this permission accordingly. You can consult your hosting provider (ISP) for help or do it yourself.

To change permissions, first you have to find out what operating system your server runs on. If it is UNIX or a similar OS, you should set the permission to 777 for the shopping cart installation folder. After installation is complete, you can reset the permission (the default value is usually 755).

•	Use the File Manager of your Hosting Control Panel (contact your web hosting provider for assistance).

•	Use any FTP client if you have FTP access. A suitable FTP client can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTP_clients.

•	Use the system command ‘chmod’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chmod) if you have SSH access. This can be determined by asking your web hosting provider.

After installation is complete, normal operation of Avactis Shopping Cart requires that PHP have write permissions for the following folders:

Avactis-downloads
Avactis-images
Avactis-system/cache
Avactis-system/backup
Avactis-uploads

Permissions may change if you migrate your software from one server to another. If write permissions are missing, set permissions to 777.