TOPIC:

Hello,

We have XOT 3.10 running on an old CentOS 7 server, and are now looking to move this to a new server with XOT 3.12.
The new server is running Rocky Linux 9.3, PHP 8.1.14, Apache 2.4.57 (with php-fpm) and XOT 3.12 (git v3.12.23)

The installation went okay, no reported problems during setup. The user files are in a shared directory using CIFS; the database was imported to the new server from the old one (for testing purposes this is fine). Running update.php after installing the latest patches also showed no errors.

Logging in is fine, and shows my projects, the 'Workspace' folder and recycling bin. Selecting a project shows its details (the right-hand side pane). However, if I try to edit or preview the project I get shown a blank page or a spinner.
Using the (Firefox) browser console shows:

09:55:14.394 Start processing of USER-FILES/762-jhorne-Nottingham/preview.xml data.js:79:21
09:55:14.401 XML Parsing Error: syntax error
Location: xerte.plymouth.ac.uk/xerte/edithtml.php?template_id=762
Line Number 1, Column 1: edithtml.php:1:1
09:55:14.401 Uncaught Error: Invalid XML: Not found!
jQuery 2

In trying to resolve this I came across a similar report from 5 years ago(!): www.xerte.org.uk/index.php/en/forum/inst...o-project-to-work-on
The user sorted out the problem himself by modifying the 'USER-FILES/.htaccess' file. I tried this, but it did not work. I also tried removing the .htaccess file completely, but still got the above error. As mentioned in the previous report I also checked the database 'sitedetails' entries, and they are fine.

I have enabled the 'development' variable in the config file, but no errors are shown in the php-fpm log files, nor in the usual Apache log files.
I have disabled SELinux (although I don't think it is a permissions problem as I can create a new project, but again just can't edit it. The data.xml and preview.xml files are created in the new project).
I disabled the use of HTTP/2 (enabled on this server but not on the 3.10 server), but that made no difference.

So, I am now a bit stuck with what to try next. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Hi
just a quick reply from me (unwell at the moment)...

As it's a new server have you checked all the system requirements are in place? xot.xerte.org.uk/play.php?template_id=81#systemrequirements

Are you sure the paths in sitedetails are correct? Or do you have 2 installations on the same server? e.g. I can see that you have the subdomain of xerte.plymouth.ac.uk which is v3.10 but you also have xerte.plymouth.ac.uk/xerte/ which also seems to be v3.10 so neither appears to be v312 and it's only 3.11 and later that works with PHP 8.1 and later.

HTH
Ron

Thanks for the reply - especially if you're unwell at the moment.

Yes I checked through the requirements, they are all met.

Yes the setup may appear confusing! The current live server is referenced by 'xerte.plymouth.ac.uk', and is running XOT 3.10.
We have a separate server running XOT 3.12, but to keep all the same settings etc, it is also referenced via 'xerte.plymouth.ac.uk'. To make this work, the local '/etc/hosts' file on my PC is modified to point to the new server, and so is the hosts file on the server itself. That way, I can test XOT 3.12 but keep all the same URLs and not interfere with the live service.

Further searching seems to indicate this may be a Firefox issue. I'm just going to take my dog for a short walk, and will test using Chrome when I get back. (I gather that Chrome does not suffer from the Firefox problem.)

It's not a Firefox issue - Chrome gives the same result.

Taking a further look at this problem, it stems from the file 'modules/xerte/parent_templates/Nottingham/common_html5/js/xenith.js' line 212.
Basically there is an ajax call to get the preview.xml file and look for the string 'learningObject' inside it. This fails, and so we end up with an 'Invalid XML' error along with the 'Not found' part. I.e the preview file doesn't look like XML because it couldn't find 'learningObject' within it.
I modified xenith.js to print out browser console log messages, to pin point where things were going wrong.

The preview file is the same as used under Xerte 3.10, and that works, so I am loath to think that the file itself is incorrect or corrupt.

Trying to get the ajax call 'success' function to show what the 'text' it has obtained is is proving difficult, but that would be the next step.

You can find the xml file in your filesystem.

Suppose your installation is in /var/www/html/xertetoolkits.
Than the files for each project are stored in /var/www/html/xertetoolkits/USER-FILES
If the template_id of your project is for example 24, then the folder of your project starts with 24- (followed by the loginname of the creator and the name of the used template). In that folder you will find the preview.xml.