Possible Installation Problems

Written by Joerg Kiekebusch on .

Some hints if you encounter problems when you try to install VirtueMart

If you get an error message which reads:

Error message: There was an error uploading this file to the server

in most cases the server has the setting 'upload_max_filesize' of 2mb in it's php configuration. You can check that, if you go to your Joomla Administration > Site > System Information > PHP Information tab. Some webhosters allow to configure this in their administraton panel (i.e. Confixx, Plesk, CPanel, etc.). If your webhoster doesn't, you need to ask them to increase it.

Alternatively try the tar.gz file packages (such as com_virtuemart.2.x.x_extract_first.targz.zip ) which are smaller in size than the zip packages and will install on all but the worst configured servers.

If you want to install a fresh VirtueMart with default settings and sample data only

and get the error message:

Component Install: DB function reports no errors - Error installing component

it is frequently due to several unsuccessful attempts to install/uninstall VirtueMart. You might have removed an installation of VirtueMart already and for some reason Joomla kept certain VirtueMart entries in the database tables and/or temporary installation folders, which are now blocking a new install. In this case first make a backup of your site (Akeeba backup is higly recommended) or at least use your phpMyAdmin and export (download a backup of) your database. Usually you can do this with phpMyAdmin default settings, except you should select the 'Add DROP TABLE / VIEW / PROCEDURE / FUNCTION /' option (default is unchecked).

In general, when uninstalled VirtueMart on j2.5 and want to reinstall it: 

  • check the table #__extensions
  • search for entry with "com_virtuemart" in the element column and check the value for state. You must decide, either you delete the whole line, or you set the state to 0.

Next, check the following items (Some may not apply to your case):

  • Joomla Extension Manager: Update - Purge Cache (Clears the available extension update information in case you have a VirtueMart update notice displayed in the listing.)
  • Search for any listed VirtueMart components in the Joomla Extension Manager. Select all VirtueMart listings (there might be multiple entries) and uninstall them.

While doing this, you might see some deinstallation notices like:

JFolder: :delete: Path is not a folder. Path: C:\xampp\htdocs\mydomain\components\com_virtuemart
 Component Uninstall: Can't uninstall. Please remove manually

Also, uninstall any remaining Virtuemart Plugins:

Example: Remove 'vmpayment_standard'

Again, you might see some deinstallation notices like:

Failed deleting en-GB.plg_vmpayment_standard.ini
Failed to delete C:\xampp\htdocs\mydomain\administrator\language\en-GB\en-GB.plg_vmpayment_standard.ini
Uninstalling plugin was successful.

  • Check if any VirtueMart folders still exist. If you find any, remove them.
  • Check your database tables

Table jos_extensions (you will probably have a prefix different from jos_)
If you see VirtueMart entries in this table similar to the ones below, remove (drop) those lines:

10044 en-GB VirtueMart language package
10054 en-GB

10067 Virtuemart
10072 Virtuemart...
10073 Virtuemart...

Table jos_assets, which might show a listing like:
243 com_virtuemart

  • Check in tables if all VM extensions and Menu items are gone
  • Remove all VM tables - Caution - this will delete all existing VirtueMart content!

Last but not least, go to your 'tmp' folder in your root directory, search for any remaining VirtueMart folders and delete existing ones.

If you didn't overlook any VirtueMart entries, you should now be able to install VirtueMart again. Good luck!