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December 13, 2008 11:02am

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#1 / Dec 13, 2008 11:02am
Ricky Irvine
16 posts
I am moving an EE site from a MediaTemple Grid Server to a Dedicated Virtual server. I’ve already moved a few WordPress sites over without trouble. However, after moving all the EE files and database over, and redirecting the domain, I only get this:
```
<html> 
<body> 
 
</body> 
</html>
```
Accessing the EE site via the IP address works just fine, and it also works for its domain aliases. Only when I access the main domain on the new server it messes up.

Any ideas? Let me know if I can supply any other helpful info. Thanks.
#2 / Dec 13, 2008 11:21am

Derek Jones
7561 posts

Have you put a support ticket into (mt)? It sounds like the Apache vhosts config file is pointing to the wrong server location for your primary domain record, but that’s just a guess; are they also your DNS registrar, could be some issue there perhaps.
#3 / Dec 13, 2008 1:29pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

I’ve been talking with MT about it, but they don’t know what is going on, and seem to think the problem is with EE. However, since my domain aliases are working, that leads me to believe EE is working fine.

Where do you edit the Apache vhosts config file? Is that something MT would do, or me? (Sorry, I’m new to VPS…)
#4 / Dec 13, 2008 1:47pm

Derek Jones
7561 posts

If that’s the problem, then yes, you’d have to edit Apache’s configuration files, which is something your server admin would have to do (which, keep in mind, on a VPS may very well be you, and many hosts do not provide assistance on self manage servers). If you can access EE via the IP address, it’s certainly not EE, as EE doesn’t control anything at a server level - your browser can either make a request to the index.php file or it cannot. Can you access any files via the root domain? For instance, if you upload a JPEG file to the same folder as your ExpressionEngine index.php, can you access it at http://example.com/image.jpg?

And do you know where that HTML file that’s being output is located? It’s not a file provided with EE, and you can make sure it’s not an EE template by searching your templates (left hand side of the Template Manager) for the word ‘default’ to see if that HTML content is in any of your templates.

One other possibility is a bad .htaccess file; if you are using one, you may consider removing it for the time being until you get this sorted out.

As an aside, any particular reason you switched to a dedicated VPS?

Summary:
1) Can you access a newly uploaded image file placed in the same folder as EE’s index.php?
2) Is that HTML content in an EE template, or do you know of an HTML file on the server with that content?
3) Are you using .htaccess, and if so, does removing it help?
4) Optional (:😁:) - why did you switch to VPS?
#5 / Dec 13, 2008 2:15pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

I cannot access any files from the root domain. (Although, it worked for about 5 minutes, and then not.) That’s what was really confusing me. The markup that’s being output, I have no idea where it’s coming from. I’ve also tried getting rid of the htaccess file to see if that helped, but no cigar.

I moved to VPS because MT’s Grid Service has become so incredibly unstable and unreliable, it was driving me crazy. Their DV service is great so far (this issue aside). The website in question is an ecommerce store that I’m intending to rebuild on Magento, too, so I needed something more solid. (It’s hosted on another commerce site right now.)
#6 / Dec 13, 2008 2:22pm

Derek Jones
7561 posts

I would return to (mt) with the information about not being able to access static file resources on the root domain; having eliminated ExpressionEngine as a culprit, they should be able to fix the issue, or at least point you in the right direction.
#7 / Dec 13, 2008 2:39pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

They know about the inaccessible static file, but they are still assuming the problem is with EE. Sounds like I’m screwed! :(
#8 / Dec 13, 2008 2:50pm

Derek Jones
7561 posts

What, exactly, is their response to not being able to access the static resource? Is the support ticket public? I’d hate for you to have to backup and remove EE entirely just to make a point, but…
#9 / Dec 13, 2008 3:18pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

Not public. I don’t want to make it seem like they aren’t being helpful. They have helped me with many things in the past. Essentially, though, they don’t seem to know what the problem is this time around.
#10 / Dec 13, 2008 3:33pm

Derek Jones
7561 posts

Ok, though I make myself available to help you communicate to them that ExpressionEngine is not in play; you say that “they are still assuming the problem is with EE”, and it could just be a simple misunderstanding due to that the way the issue has been framed that’s causing them to focus on the wrong thing.
#11 / Dec 13, 2008 4:46pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

I threw the ball back in their court. We’ll see how they respond. Meanwhile, an error log from the server reports back: “Directory index forbidden by Options directive: /var/www/vhosts/[domain]/httpdocs/”

Obviously! But, why? What, or where, is Options directive?
#12 / Dec 13, 2008 5:05pm

Derek Jones
7561 posts

What, or where, is Options directive?

In the Apache configuration and/or .htaccess files. 😊

That error sounds like you’re accessing a directory without specifying a file that either doesn’t contain a directory index (index.html, index.php, etc.), or that the directory index directive is not configured properly. It wouldn’t affect directly accessing a JPEG, though.

I feel I should go ahead and make a biased promotion of EngineHosting here. With the right host, you don’t have to go self-managed and deal with any of this just to get stable servers. EH as well as many other high quality hosts can provide what you’re looking for without having to go the VPS route, as that is really only appropriate for experienced server administrators. (mt) may even have more appropriate options for you; I’m not familiar with all of their services. And of those who are experienced with server management, many will still choose non-VPS solutions just so they don’t have to deal with it (ick!).
#13 / Dec 13, 2008 5:08pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

I can’t argue that I don’t know what I’m doing, ha! But, I haven’t had any trouble moving other sites to the VPS. No trouble at all. Plesk is decently easy to use, and most questions are answered by The Googles. Just this one dang thing! I must conquer it. I cannot give up.
#14 / Dec 13, 2008 5:17pm

Derek Jones
7561 posts

I admire your tenacity! Let me know if we can be of any additional assistance, or to let us know the resolution.
#15 / Dec 13, 2008 5:20pm

Ricky Irvine
16 posts

Um, I just pointed the site over to the DV server and it is working. I don’t know how or why. I’ve been messing with this for 2 or 3 days. It’s a miracle.

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