Unable to Login as Internal Admin User after Manual Installation

-- ChristophLarsen - 27 Oct 2014

Dear All,

I have installed Foswiki after a download from the Foswiki website inside a FreeBSD jail (with FreeBSD version 9, with updated patches). I have been using Nginx for ages, and use it both a reverse proxy (in a different jail), as well as for FastFCGI with the FastCGIEngineContrib plugin.

I have, fir my dear life, not been able to get the configure script going using the existing CGI instructions found on the foswiki and Nginx site. However, I have successfully, as it seems, copied lib/Foswiki.spec across to bin/LocalSite.cfg, and edited a few bits - and can access the wiki.

However, I cannot login as internal admin from https://www.[my.domain]/[instance]/bin/login/CreateAdminAccount?sudo=sudo. I have edited the password stanza in $Foswiki::cfg{Password} = '[password hash]', went, after the output of "htpasswd -n admin" failed, through all possible permutations of crypt, md5, brypt, etc. and have still no joy... quite frustrating.

It seems that Foswiki's endeavours to render the installation and configuration process user-friendly by insisting on an (apache-based CGI) web interface during the configuration process causes a lot of issues for all those that shy away from apache. In any case, while the good ole' command line has helped so far, I am now completely stuck.

And yes, I have been restarting Nginx and the FastCGI instance dutifully after each new try with a different $Foswiki::cfg{Password} modality.

Any help will be hugely appreciated.

Chris

Update: I have, on a different machine, used the Debian packages available for Foswiki to perform a "standard" install using Apache. Apart form the fact that the installation does not yield the desired results (/foswiki is not even found despite me following the exact installation instructions!), I was curious about the fact how the Debian package configuration script asked for the name of the admin user. Once provided, the script creates a standard .htpasswd file in foswiki/data/, which is seemingly hashed using crypt. The script does not manipulate Foswiki.spec in foswiki/lib, nor does it copy it across to foswiki/bin/LocalSite.cfg. However, I am flaggerghasted that with the Debian installation, seemling .htpassd is used. I promptly imitated this behaviour on my FreeBSD installation from source (the port is too old and uses Apache!) - no joy again. In summary, I am missing something - probably osmethng simple and basic. However, I must say that the installation procedure is riddled with either errors or gaps in documentation, which is quite sad. Why not simply providing a consle-based modification of configuraton files, no mucking around with old CGI, and a swift move to PSGI? What is more, this is not even a database-based application, so hacking the right configuration file should be easy as pie. Alas, it is not. Please provide some insight into the manual method, avoiding completely Apache, CGI and any of the Nginx/Lighttpd "solutions" - they do not work, either. I have not spend so much time on an installation for a decade!

-- ChristophLarsen - 28 Oct 2014

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