Troubleshooting

General instructions

1. Make sure error logging is enabled in php.ini (add log_errors=on to /etc/../php.ini and restart apache)
2. Enable debugging ( set $config['debug']=true;). Make sure you change this back after fixing the problem because it will slow Group-Office down.
3. Check the Apache error logs. They are the most important for problem solving!
4. Search this site
5. Search the forums
6. If you have a support contact send a good description of the problem and relevant error messages to Intermesh at http://shop.group-office.com/Support.

Post installation problems

Problems with sending mail

Check the SMTP settings in config.php if you're not sending with the mail module. Look for the values:

$config["smtp_server"]="mail.example.com";
$config["smtp_port"]="25";
$config["smtp_username"]="";
$config["smtp_password"]="";
$config["smtp_encryption"]="";

If you have problems with the mail module the settings can be configured at E-mail -> Right click on account in the tree -> Properties -> Outgoing mailserver

I get the error: "The Group-Office javascripts were not loaded. Check the host property in config.php and see if the file_storage_path folder and it's contents are writable"

Check the value of $config['file_storage_path'] in config.php. The path here should point to an existing folder for and should have a trailing slash. The folder and it's contents should be writable. If this is all right then you should check your webserver log for errors.

I get the error: "The Group-Office javascripts were not loaded. Your local_url and local_path configuration properties are probably configured incorrectly."

This means that the local_url or local_path property in the config.php are not defined correctly. Group-Office needs a directory to write cached javascript files that are accessible through the webserver. So when Group-Office is loaded it will load http://url.to.go/<local_url>/cache/somescript.js. The URL is not valid so you must correct it.

It can also be that Apache does not have write permissions to the local directory. On a Debian server this can be solved with:

chown www-data:www-data /path.to/local

I don't get past "Loading base system " or "Loading modules" The screen just hangs

Take the following steps:

1. View the source of the HTML page to see if there is an error in the source. Press CTRL+U to view the source.
2. Check if there is a Javascript error. In Internet Explorer there is a warning Icon at the toolbar and Firefox shows the errors in the Error console. Firebug is also a useful tool to track down javascript errors but is generally only useful for developers.
3. Check your PHP or webserver error log.

allowed memory size was exhausted

Raise the memory_limit setting in /etc/php5/apache2/php.ini or /etc/php.ini. Path of php.ini might be different on your system.

Problems with synchronization

If you have problems with synchronizing Group-Office then please take following steps first before contacting Intermesh:

1. Double check the setup and read the instructions
2. Make sure error logging is enabled in php.ini
3. Check the logs they are very important. There should be a Group-Office log file in $config['file_storage_path'] /log/error.log as well. If it's not there you probably have a file permission problem. Group-Office tries to move the log file from the temporary directory to a user log file directory. It could be that this process fails and sync fails as well.
4. If you are using ActiveSync, put an empty debug.txt file in modules/z-push/. Make it writable for Apache. This log will be filled with debugging information when you sync.
5. If you're using SyncML (Funambol syncevoution or Nokia's). Put $config['syncml_debug_level']=3; in config.php for debugging. This will create /home/groupoffice/log/syncml.log with debug info.
6. Check if the solution is on this page. If you have error messages like "Trying to destroy uninitialized session" you might have two simultaneos Active-Sync Sessions from the same client.
7. Try performing a 'Slow or Reset sync'. With a slow sync all data gets send to Group-Office and Group-Office sends back all missing data.
8. Try performing a sync in mode: 'Replace all local data' (Name might differ per device). The device will delete all local calendar and contact data and Group-Office will send all data to the client. Of course only do this when the Group-Office data is leading.
9. Search the forums
10. Send to Intermesh: Apache error log (eg /var/log/apache/error.log), Group-Office error log (eg /home/groupoffice/log/*.log), Client error log and a description of what happens exactly. Without the logs we can't do anything!

Common errors

The IPHONE cannot connect to the exchange server and you don't have SSL support on the server
When you set-up the exchange account then you are unable to turn SSL off because that option is not showed on the account creation page.
So the first time the phone will always search for the server through SSL.

You can fix this manually by saving the account anyway (The phone will give you this option).
After that, when the account is stored on the phone, you can edit the connection information for it and turn SSL off.
Then the phone tries again to search for the server and then it should be found and you can start using the sync.

"No SyncML response" or "Server Failure: server returned error code -1" or "Invalid hostaddress"
The server probably didn't reply because an error occurred. Check the apache error log for errors. Also with the Synthesis client check if you have set the Server Version to SyncML 1.1 and not 1.2. You can find that setting at Extras->Settings->Options

Not found (404)
You probably setup an invalid remote database for contacts, calendar or todo's. Please check the installation instructions for the correct values (vcal, vcaltodo, vtodo, vcard etc...)

PHP Fatal error: Call to a member function children() on a non-object in ...
If you have the Synthesis client please check if the server version is set to SyncML 1.1

wbxml to xml or vice versa conversion failed
Check if $config['cmd_wbxml2xml'] and $config['cmd_xml2wbxml'] are set and check if these commands are actually executable by apache.

wbxml2xml failed: Unknown Public ID
[Group-Office][20070619 16:24][notloggedin]: Fatal error: wbxml2xml conversion failed
[Group-Office][20070619 16:24][notloggedin]: XML error: no element found at line 1
Check if you have libwbxml2 version 0.9.2 or higher installed. Any earlier version will fail.

Or you have set the client to use SyncML version 1.2. In that case change it to 1.1

wbxml2xml failed: Unexpected End Of WBXML Buffer
[Group-Office][20070619 18:22][notloggedin]: Fatal error: wbxml2xml conversion failed
[Group-Office][20070619 18:22][notloggedin]: XML error: no element found at line 1
Check if you have libwbxml2 version 0.9.2 or higher installed. Any earlier version will fail.

Problems with creating files or folder

If you are having errors like these:

Warning: mkdir() [function.mkdir]: Permission denied
Failed to create folder(s): Array(..,..,)

Then you have to take the following steps:

1. Check the filesystem permissions of the paths mentioned in the error
2. Check if safe_mode is enabled and denies you access
3. Check if open_basedir is set and denies you access

The bottom line is that the Apache user (Usually apache or www-data) needs write permissions on the following folders defined in config.php:

$config['file_storage_path']
$config['tmpdir']

You can put the folowing script in the directory where Group-Office.php is to do a quick test:

<?php
require('Group-Office.php');

echo 'Using create mode: '.$GO_CONFIG->create_mode;

mkdir($GO_CONFIG->file_storage_path.'test');
mkdir($GO_CONFIG->tmpdir.'test');

Disable open_basedir in Plesk

If you get errors with "open_basedir restriction in effect" you should disable open_basedir or change $config['file_storage_path'] and $config['tmpdir'] to an allowed path within the open_basedir setting.

To disable open_basedir in a Plesk managed server do the following:

Login as root:
vi /home/httpd/vhosts/domain.com/conf/vhost.conf

Enter:

<Directory /var/www/vhosts/domain.com/httpdocs><br />
php_admin_flag safe_mode off
php_admin_value open_basedir none
php_admin_flag magic_quotes_gpc off
php_admin_flag log_errors on
</Directory>

Reload the conf into httpd.include:

PLESK 5/6
/usr/local/psa/admin/bin/my_apci_rst

PLESK 7
/usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/websrvmng -u --vhost-name=domain.com

Now it should be disabled

Restoring lost data from a MySQL backup

To restore a backup load the backup database into a seperate database and use PhpMyAdmin to export the right data easily. We will show you an example of how to restore a single calendar. This way of restoring will leave all existing appointments intact but it will restore lost appointments. Login to PhpMyadmin and select the backup database. Browse the cal_calendars table and find out the "id" of the calendar you want to store.

Calendar restore

Now delete all calendar data that does not belong to that calendar (replace [CALENDAR_ID] with your calendar ID). You can skip this part if you want to restore all calendars:

DELETE FROM cal_calendars WHERE id!=[CALENDAR_ID];
DELETE FROM cal_events WHERE calendar_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM cal_calendars);
DELETE FROM cal_exceptions WHERE event_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM cal_events);
DELETE FROM cal_participants WHERE event_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM cal_events);
DELETE FROM go_acl_items WHERE id NOT IN (SELECT acl_id FROM cal_calendars);
DELETE FROM go_acl WHERE acl_id NOT IN (SELECT acl_id FROM cal_calendars);

Now we have our data prepared. We need to export the right tables using INSERT IGNORE commands. This will insert only non-existent records.

In PhpMyAdmin click at the Database name at the left frame so that you view all tables in the main screen. Now click at "Export". Select the tables:

1. cal_events
2. cal_calendars
3. cal_exceptions
4. cal_participants
5. go_acl
6. go_acl_items

Uncheck the Structure box
Select "COMPLETE INSERTS"
Select "IGNORE INSERTS" or use "REPLACE" commands. With insert ignore you will add only missing records. With replace it will overwrite existing records too.
Select export type "INSERT"
Save the file and load it into your main database make a backup of your database before you do this in case something goes wrong.

Addressbook restore

Now delete all addressbook data that does not belong to that addressbook (replace [ADDRESSBOOK_ID] with your addressbook ID). You can skip this part if you want to restore all addressbooks:

DELETE FROM ab_addressbooks WHERE id!=[ADDRESSBOOK_ID];
DELETE FROM ab_contacts WHERE addressbook_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM ab_addressbooks);
DELETE FROM ab_companies WHERE addressbook_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM ab_addressbooks);
DELETE FROM go_acl_items WHERE id NOT IN (SELECT acl_id FROM ab_addressbooks);
DELETE FROM go_acl WHERE acl_id NOT IN (SELECT acl_id FROM ab_addressbooks);

Now we have our data prepared. We need to export the right tables using INSERT IGNORE commands. This will insert only non-existent records.

In PhpMyAdmin click at the Database name at the left frame so that you view all tables in the main screen. Now click at "Export". Select the tables:

1. ab_addressbooks
2. ab_contacts
3. ab_companies
4. go_acl
5. go_acl_items

Uncheck the Structure box
Select "COMPLETE INSERTS"
Select "IGNORE INSERTS" or use "REPLACE" commands. With insert ignore you will add only missing records. With replace it will overwrite existing records too.
Select export type "INSERT"
Save the file and load it into your main database make a backup of your database before you do this in case something goes wrong.

CMS website restore

In this example you want to restore the website with id=1. The following queries will remove all except site 1.

delete from cms_files where exists(select id from cms_folders fo where fo.site_id!=1 and cms_files.folder_id=fo.id);
delete from cms_folders where site_id!=1;

Now export the data like the calendar example.

Restoring a user

Import a backup in to a database. Then use PhpMyAdmin to run the queries below. It will remove all data except the data to restore. You can then export it using IGNORE INSERTS and import that into the live database. Make sure you drop all tables that you don't want to restore!

# delete all users except for the user to restore.
DELETE FROM go_users WHERE username!='<THEUSERNAM>';


#Drop tables we won't restore. You need to drop more tables depending on your installed modules!

DROP TABLE `bl_ips`, `cf_1`, `cf_2`, `cf_3`, `cf_4`, `cf_6`, `cf_7`, `cf_8`, `cf_9`, `cf_10`, `cf_11`, `cf_12`, `cf_13`, `cf_15`, `cf_16`, `cf_17`, `cf_19`, `cf_20`, `cf_categories`, `cf_fields`, `cf_select_options`, `cf_select_tree_options`, `cf_tree_select_options`, `co_comments`, `dav_events`, `dav_tasks`, `emp_folders`, `em_accounts`, `em_accounts_collapsed`, `em_accounts_sort`, `em_aliases`, `em_filters`, `em_folders`, `em_folders_expanded`, `em_links`, `em_messages_cache`, `fb_acl`, `fs_files`, `fs_folders`, `fs_new_files`, `fs_notifications`, `fs_shared_cache`, `fs_statuses`, `fs_status_history`, `fs_templates`, `go_address_format`, `go_cache`, `go_countries`, `go_db_sequence`, `go_groups`, `go_holidays`, `go_iso_address_format`, `go_links_1`, `go_links_2`, `go_links_3`, `go_links_4`, `go_links_6`, `go_links_7`, `go_links_8`, `go_links_9`, `go_links_10`, `go_links_11`, `go_links_12`, `go_links_13`, `go_links_14`, `go_links_15`, `go_links_16`, `go_links_17`, `go_links_18`, `go_links_19`, `go_links_20`, `go_link_descriptions`, `go_link_folders`, `go_log`, `go_mail_counter`, `go_modules`, `go_reminders`, `go_reminders_users`, `go_saved_search_queries`, `go_search_cache`, `go_search_sync`, `go_settings`, `go_state`, `ldap_sync`, `ml_default_templates`, `pm_order_special_items`, `pm_portlet_settings`, `pm_report_templates`, `pm_user_fees`, `smi_certs`, `smi_pkcs12`, `su_announcements`, `su_notes`, `su_rss_feeds`, `su_visible_calendars`, `su_visible_lists`, `sync_addressbook_user`, `sync_contacts_maps`, `sync_contacts_syncs`, `sync_devices`, `sync_events_maps`, `sync_events_syncs`, `sync_notes_maps`, `sync_notes_syncs`, `sync_note_categories_user`, `sync_settings`, `sync_tasklist_user`, `sync_tasks_maps`, `sync_tasks_syncs`, `ti_rates`, `ti_settings`, `ti_statuses`, `ti_templates`, `ti_tickets`, `ti_types`;

DROP TABLE `ti_messages`, '`ab_sql`; 
DROP TABLE `cal_groups` ,
`cal_group_admins` ,`cal_events_declined`;





DELETE FROM cal_calendars WHERE user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);
DELETE FROM cal_categories WHERE user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);
DELETE FROM cal_events WHERE calendar_id NOT IN (
SELECT id
FROM cal_calendars
);
DELETE FROM cal_exceptions WHERE event_id NOT IN (
SELECT id
FROM cal_events
);
DELETE FROM cal_participants WHERE event_id NOT IN (
SELECT id
FROM cal_events
);

delete from cal_views where user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);
delete from cal_views_calendars WHERE view_id not in (select id from cal_views);
delete from cal_settings WHERE user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);

DELETE FROM ta_lists where user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);
delete from ta_tasks where tasklist_id not in (select id from ta_lists);
delete from ta_settings where user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);
delete from ta_categories where user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);


DELETE FROM ab_addressbooks where user_id NOT IN (SELECT id FROM go_users);
delete from ab_contacts where addressbook_id not in (select id from ab_addressbooks);
delete from ab_companies where addressbook_id not in (select id from ab_addressbooks);


delete from go_acl_items where user_id NOT in (select id from go_users);
delete from go_acl where acl_id not in (select id from go_acl_items);



delete from go_users_groups where user_id NOT in (select id from go_users);


delete from no_categories where user_id NOT in (select id from go_users);
delete from no_notes where category_id not in (select id from no_categories);

Problems with unicode filenames

If you are having problems with filenames showing up wierd on the filesystem then you must set the locale of Linux to UTF-8. On Debian you can do this as following:

Run:

$ locale

If this outputs something like the output below then all should work fine.

LANG=nl_NL.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_NAME="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_ADDRESS="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_TELEPHONE="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_MEASUREMENT="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="nl_NL.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

If there's no UTF-8 in the locale then you should change it.

Run:

$ dpkg-reconfigure locales

Select en_US.UTF8 for example. You can select multiple values.

After that set the locale:

$ export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF8

Now uploading unicode named files should work!

E-mail is slow

Group-Office is able to handle thousands of e-mails in a mailbox. A mailbox with 10.000 messages should be displayed within a second. Here are some tips if you experience slow mail performance:

1. Use an IMAP server suitable for webmail with the correct storage format. Webmail requires much more performance than a desktop client. A desktop client can simply fetch mail in the background and cache everything locally. It doesn't matter if fetching new mails takes a few seconds. With webmail the IMAP server must return the last 30-50 messages in much less than a second.
   There are two different storage formats for e-mail. These formats are mbox and maildir. It's higly recommended to use maildir format. With mbox format all e-mail messages are stored in one single plain text file. You can imagine that this is not very efficient when you have hundreds or thousands of e-mails in a mailbox. With Maildir the messages are stored in a much smarter way which doesn't cause the system to slow down when the mailbox size grows. With mbox format it's also not possible to create subfolders inside folders that contain messages. A folder contains either subfolders or messages but not both. To summarize maildir is faster and offers more flexibility.
2. Make sure the network connection is fast between Group-Office and the IMAP server. Ideally the servers are located in the same network. If you can't do this you might want to fetch mail on the local server with fetchmail.
3. Install APC. Group-Office caches messages when they are fetched from the IMAP server once. You can get better caching performance when you install APC.
4. You might also want to use imapproxy.

My IP address is blocked What now?

The administrator can remove the IP from the IP blacklist. If you can't login as admin then you'll have to remove the record manually from the MySQL database. It's located in the "bl_ips" table. A second approach is to remove the modules/blacklist folder while logging in.

Wrong password when adding a user

You probably have the postfixadmin module installed. Please check the password in /etc/groupoffice/globalconfig.inc.php. It's used to connect to the Group-Office installation with the admin login. It is also necessary to uninstall the blacklist module. You can reinstall it after fixing this problem.

Frequently Occurring Errors (FOE)

Problem: Go is throwing a "... not found in GO:Getmodel()" error.

Possible solution: Rebuild the searchcache and do a database check.

Error: PHP Notice: session_start(): ps_files_cleanup_dir: opendir(...) failed: Permission denied (13) in ../go/base/Session.php on line 54

Solution: The webserver is not allowed to write to the path where PHP stores it's sessions. You can make the apache user the owner of this folder or you can change "session.save_path" in php.ini to point to another writable directory.

Useful queries

Problem: Some recurring events are not syncing with z-push (Those events are created in the 3.7 version of GO).

Query:

update cal_events set mtime=unix_timestamp() where rrule!="";

update cal_exceptions ex set ex.exception_event_id = (
SELECT id from cal_events e WHERE e.exception_for_event_id = ex.event_id AND date_format( from_unixtime( ex.time ) , "%d-%m-%Y" ) = date_format( from_unixtime( e.start_time ) , "%d-%m-%Y" ) )
where ex.exception_event_id =0;