Setting up a session save path in php » History » Revision 5
Revision 4 (Gareth Eaton, 10/12/2023 03:05 PM) → Revision 5/6 (Gareth Eaton, 10/12/2023 03:06 PM)
h1. Setting up a session save path in php I recently encountered an issue with Nextcloud where I kept experiencing unwanted logouts, leading to frustrating login loops. After some research and trial-and-error, I managed to find a solution that worked for me. After a few clicks in the Nextclouds Web interface, especially in the Files page, I get the message: *"Problem loading the page, reloading in 5 seconds"* After 5 seconds I am logged out and have to login again. Having a look into the log-file there you can find the following entry: *"app":"no app in context","message":"Current user is not logged in"* | *Note* I've installing the 'tmp' directory within the Nextcloud folder at '/var/www/html/nextcloud' '/var/www/html/nextcloud'. can cause issues during updates as it may flag the directory. So install it in the /var/ that way you do not have to remove it and reinstall it later, when updating Nextcloud. Nextcloud, | Solution: The solution involves configuring the php.ini file, which controls how PHP handles various settings on the server. Specifically, I focused on the session.save_path setting, which determines where PHP stores temporary session data for user logins. | Create a Temporary Directory: If you're setting up Nextcloud in the '/var/' directory, you can likely skip this step. However, if you're installing it in the Nextcloud directory, you'll need to create a new folder. To do this, I initially established a fresh directory called 'tmp' within my Nextcloud installation path, which in my case was '/var/www/html/nextcloud.' This 'tmp' directory serves as the location where PHP stores temporary session data. | Create the "tmp" Directory: You can use the mkdir command to create the "tmp" directory in the /var directory. Open your terminal and run: <pre> sudo mkdir /var/tmp-session </pre> This will create the "tmp-session" directory within /var. Set Permissions: Set the correct permissions for the "tmp-session" directory using chmod 750: <pre> sudo chmod 750 /var/tmp-session </pre> This ensures that the directory is readable, writable, and executable by the owner (root) and the group. <pre> sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/tmp-session </pre> The command sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/tmp-session changes the ownership of the directory /var/tmp-session to the user and group www-data. Configure php.ini: Open the php.ini file for editing: <pre> sudo nano /etc/php/<version>/apache2/php.ini </pre> Replace <version> with the PHP version you're using. For example: <pre> sudo nano /etc/php/8.1/apache2/php.ini </pre> Find the session.save_path directive and update it to use the new "/var/tmp" directory: <pre> session.save_path = "/var/tmp-session" </pre> Save your changes and exit the text editor. Restart Apache Web Server: Finally, restart the Apache web server to apply the changes to the PHP configuration: <pre> sudo service apache2 restart </pre> Why This Works: The unwanted logouts and login loops were likely caused by issues with session management. By creating a custom temporary directory and configuring PHP's session.save_path to use it, I ensured that session data was stored reliably. This prevents Nextcloud from losing track of my authentication status, thus stopping the annoying logouts and loops.