Installation and Configuration Trouble-shooting

Table of Contents

Using the Built-in Debugging Tools

Debug Commands

Resolving RELAY-DENIED Errors When Trying to Send Emails to Contacts
Configuring PHP to Handle Import Files from/on Macintosh Computers

Trouble-shooting Resources

You can often find solutions to your issue by searching the installation support section of the community forum OR the community mailing list archives. You can also check out the Installation section of our FAQs.

If you don't find an answer to your problem in those places, the next step is to post a support request on the forum.

Using the Built-in Debugging Tools

CiviCRM provides several URL-param debug settings which can help debug and resolve problems such as corrupt sessions and obsolete template caches. In order to use these URL parameters, you must first enable debugging from Administer CiviCRM » Global Settings » Debugging.

Do NOT Leave Debug Turned On in Production Sites

It is critical that the DEBUG features are disabled in production sites. When debug is enabled - system paths and other internal settings may be exposed to browsers.

Debug Commands

Smarty Debug Window - Loads all variables available to the current page template into a pop-up
window. To trigger, add '&smartyDebug=1' to any CiviCRM URL query string.

Session Reset - Resets all values in your client session. To trigger, add '&sessionReset=2'

Directory Cleanup - Empties template cache and/or upload file folders.
- To empty template cache (civicrm/templates_c folder), add '&directoryCleanup=1'
- To remove temporary upload files (civicrm/upload folder), add '&directoryCleanup=2'
- To cleanup both, add '&directoryCleanup=3'

Stack Trace - To display stack trace at the top of the page when an error occurs, set Enable Backtrace from Administer CiviCRM » Global Settings » Debugging.

Resolving RELAY-DENIED Errors When Trying to Send Emails to Contacts

(under construction)

Configuring PHP to Handle Import Files from/on Macintosh Computers

In order for CiviCRM to properly handle CSV import files created on Macs, you may need to update a PHP setting for detecting line endings. The symptom of this problem is that the "Import Contacts: Match Fields" step shows the file as one big record - rather than recognizing the end of each row.

Open /opt/local/etc/php.ini in your favorite editor (you may need root privileges to do this).
Look for the following setting in the Fopen wrappers section (near line 525):

If this line is commented out, or set to Off, change the value to On as shown above.
Stop and start your local instance of Apache