Issues Installing AtoM (Access to Memory) on Windows and Oracle VirtualBox Ubuntu – Need Help

[MATIAS VALDES]

Hello everyone,

I have been trying to install AtoM for testing and evaluation, and I’m encountering multiple issues. I would appreciate any help or advice from the community!

What I’ve tried:

1. Windows Installation Attempt

   • I first tried installing AtoM on Windows following the official documentation. Despite following the steps for dependencies and environment configuration, I ran into several incompatibility problems and couldn’t get all required services (like PHP, MySQL, and Elasticsearch) running smoothly together.

   • The documentation for Windows seems minimal and I experienced permission/compatibility issues with some components.

2. Oracle VirtualBox with Ubuntu

   • I switched to a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 LTS installation running inside Oracle VirtualBox.

   • I installed all the recommended packages, Composer, and extracted the atom-latest.tar.gz file into /var/www/html/atom.

   • Permissions were set for all required folders (cache, uploads) and Apache was configured with its own site file for AtoM.

   • The database configuration in config/config.php matches the database, user, and password as required.

Problems encountered:

• After completing all installation steps, when I access the AtoM site (from Windows and even from the Ubuntu VM's browser), I only get a “500 Internal Server Error” and the usual “Oops! An Error Occurred” AtoM page.

• The Apache error logs and PHP logs do not show any detailed error messages—just standard startup/restart notices and no explicit errors.

• The display_errors and error_reporting settings are properly enabled in php.ini, but no extra error message appears on the browser or logs.

• I verified that all necessary PHP modules are installed (php-xml, php-intl, php-mbstring, etc.).

• File and directory permissions are correct.

• The MySQL database exists and is accessible, and the credentials in the config file are valid.

What else I attempted:

• Deleting Apache’s default index.html and disabling the default site.

• Installing ubuntu-desktop to access the VM’s graphical environment and test with a local browser.

• Restarting Apache, MySQL, and even the VM multiple times.

• Double-checked config.php for typos or connection errors.

My question:
Has anyone recently managed to get AtoM running on either Windows or an Ubuntu VirtualBox VM? If so:

• Are there extra troubleshooting tips for catching hidden errors during installation?

• Are there log files or debug/profiler settings in AtoM/Symfony that I can enable to see what's going wrong?

• Could this be a compatibility issue with recent versions of PHP or Ubuntu?

Any help, workaround, or suggestion would be greatly appreciated. If you need specific details/screenshots, let me know!

Thank you in advance for your support.

[Alberto Pereira]

Hi Matias,

I've run some local dev environments in virtualbox (windows host and ubuntu/centos guests) without issues. 

I'd start with finding out why there are no errors in the web server logs. Check if there is a log level in the apache configuration that needs to be changed.

Also, 500 errors are not necessarily thrown by the web server, so you can also try debug mode in AtoM:

https://www.accesstomemory.org/en/docs/2.8/admin-manual/maintenance/debug/

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[Roberto Greiner]

Apache logs? The Atom-Ubuntu documentation indicates NGinx as the web server. Have you tried using that?

Roberto

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Roberto

Have multiple instances running on Ubuntu VM (2.8.2, 2.9.1 and 2.10.0). 2.8.2 running on Apache

1. Which version of AtoM?
2. You must make 100% sure the version of PHP is the version for the AtoM. See install documentation.
3. Also the same with MySQL and Elasticsearch.

Try running qubit_dev.php in place of index.php

This shows errors more clearly than the error logs.

You have to run this from VM or edit the qubit.dev.php and add the server IP to list of allowed IP’s.

 

Groete / Regards

Johan Pieterse

082 337-1406

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[MATIAS VALDES]

Here is a draft in English that you can use to reply on the Google Group:

---

Hi everyone,

This afternoon I spent several hours trying to resolve the installation issues with AtoM in my Linux VirtualBox environment (Ubuntu guest on Windows host). I have to admit, I'm not very experienced in system administration or troubleshooting web applications, so I'm relying heavily on help from Perplexity and community advice.

Following your suggestions, I enabled debug mode in AtoM. However, Perplexity keeps insisting I should check my database.yml file and restart Apache after every change. Unfortunately, none of these actions seem to make any difference—the 500 error persists, and I still don't see any specific errors in the Apache logs or the browser.

I'm stuck and not sure what else to try at this point. Any advice or hints would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
Matias

1. https://groups.google.com/g/ica-atom-users/c/17ZxlXo6Fw4/m/t_UNVHf1BAAJ?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer

[MATIAS VALDES]

For reference, here are the main components of my current Linux setup, as I try to install AtoM 2.10:

• PHP: 8.3.6 (cli)

• Database: MariaDB 10.11.13

• Elasticsearch: 7.17.18

All services seem to be installed and running. I’m working inside an Ubuntu guest VM (VirtualBox on Windows) and following the installation steps for AtoM 2.10.

Let me know if you need other details about my configuration!

Should i change something?

[Johan Pieterse]

Hi

When enabling debug, what error is displayed on the screen?

[MATIAS VALDES]

What should I do? I always get this screen:

500 | Internal Server Error | PropelException No connection information in your runtime configuration file for datasource [propel] stack trace

• at ()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/vendor/symfony/lib/plugins/sfPropelPlugin/lib/vendor/propel/Propel.php line 529 ...
  
• at Propel::getConnection()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/lib/model/om/BaseObject.php line 64 ...
  
• at BaseObject::get()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/lib/routing/QubitResourceRoute.class.php line 30 ...
  
• at QubitResourceRoute->bind()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/vendor/symfony/lib/routing/sfPatternRouting.class.php line 372 ...
  
• at sfPatternRouting->parse()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/lib/QubitPatternRouting.class.php line 36 ...
  
• at QubitPatternRouting->parse()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/cache/qubit/prod/config/config_factories.yml.php line 96 ...
  
• at require('/var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod/config/config_factories.yml.php')
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/vendor/symfony/lib/util/sfContext.class.php line 155 ...
  
• at sfContext->loadFactories()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/vendor/symfony/lib/util/sfContext.class.php line 77 ...
  
• at sfContext->initialize()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/vendor/symfony/lib/util/sfContext.class.php line 60 ...
  
• at sfContext::createInstance()
  in SF_ROOT_DIR/index.php line 17 ...
  

symfony settings ...

app_cache_engine: sfAPCCache app_csp_directives: "default-src 'self'; font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com; form-action 'self'; img-src 'self' https://*.googleapis.com https://*.gstatic.com *.google.com *.googleusercontent.com data: https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/ https://*.google-analytics.com https://*.googletagmanager.com blob:; script-src 'self' https://*.googletagmanager.com 'nonce' https://*.googleapis.com https://*.gstatic.com *.google.com https://*.ggpht.com *.googleusercontent.com blob:; style-src 'self' 'nonce' https://fonts.googleapis.com; worker-src 'self' blob:; connect-src 'self' https://*.google-analytics.com https://*.analytics.google.com https://*.googletagmanager.com https://*.googleapis.com *.google.com https://*.gstatic.com data: blob:; frame-ancestors 'self';\n" app_csp_response_header: Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only app_download_timeout: 10 app_google_analytics_api_key: null app_google_analytics_institutions_dimension_index: null app_google_tag_manager_container_id: null app_htmlpurifier_enabled: false app_ldap_enable_tls_encryption: true app_password_hash_algorithm: PASSWORD_ARGON2I app_password_hash_algorithm_options_memory_cost: '2048' app_password_hash_algorithm_options_threads: '3' app_password_hash_algorithm_options_time_cost: '4' app_read_only: false app_static_alias: /uploads/r/static/conf app_static_path: uploads/r/static/conf app_treeview_items_per_page_max: 10000 app_upload_limit: -1 app_workers_key: null sf_admin_module_web_dir: /sfPropelPlugin sf_admin_web_dir: /sf/sf_admin sf_app: qubit sf_app_base_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit sf_app_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod sf_app_config_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps/qubit/config sf_app_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps/qubit sf_app_i18n_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps/qubit/i18n sf_app_lib_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps/qubit/lib sf_app_module_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps/qubit/modules sf_app_template_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps/qubit/templates sf_apps_dir: /var/www/html/atom/apps sf_cache: false sf_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache sf_charset: utf-8 sf_check_lock: false sf_compressed: false sf_config_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod/config sf_config_dir: /var/www/html/atom/config sf_csrf_secret: false sf_data_dir: /var/www/html/atom/data sf_debug: true sf_default_culture: en sf_enabled_modules: - default - sfTranslatePlugin - sfPluginAdminPlugin sf_environment: prod sf_error_404_action: error404 sf_error_404_module: default sf_error_reporting: 341 sf_escaping_method: ESC_SPECIALCHARS sf_escaping_strategy: true sf_etag: true sf_file_link_format: null sf_i18n: false sf_i18n_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod/i18n sf_lib_dir: /var/www/html/atom/lib sf_log_dir: /var/www/html/atom/log sf_logging_enabled: true sf_login_action: login sf_login_module: default sf_module_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod/modules sf_module_disabled_action: disabled sf_module_disabled_module: default sf_no_script_name: false sf_orm: propel sf_plugins_dir: /var/www/html/atom/plugins sf_root_dir: /var/www/html/atom sf_secure_action: secure sf_secure_module: default sf_standard_helpers: - Partial - Cache sf_symfony_lib_dir: /var/www/html/atom/vendor/symfony/lib sf_template_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod/template sf_test_cache_dir: /var/www/html/atom/cache/qubit/prod/test sf_test_dir: /var/www/html/atom/test sf_upload_dir: /var/www/html/atom/uploads sf_use_database: true sf_web_debug: false sf_web_debug_web_dir: /sf/sf_web_debug sf_web_dir: /var/www/html/atom

request ...

options: path_info_key: PATH_INFO path_info_array: SERVER http_port: null https_port: null default_format: null logging: '1' relative_url_root: null formats: { txt: text/plain, js: [application/javascript, application/x-javascript, text/javascript], css: text/css, json: [application/json, application/x-json], xml: [text/xml, application/xml, application/x-xml], rdf: application/rdf+xml, atom: application/atom+xml } no_script_name: false parameterHolder: { } attributeHolder: { }

response ...

status: code: 500 text: 'Internal Server Error' options: http_protocol: HTTP/1.1 logging: '1' charset: utf-8 send_http_headers: true content_type: 'text/html; charset=utf-8' cookies: { } httpHeaders: Content-Type: 'text/html; charset=utf-8' javascripts: { } stylesheets: { } metas: { } httpMetas: { }

user ...

{ }

global vars ...

cookie: { } env: { } files: { } get: { } post: { } server: CONTEXT_DOCUMENT_ROOT: /var/www/html/atom CONTEXT_PREFIX: '' DOCUMENT_ROOT: /var/www/html/atom GATEWAY_INTERFACE: CGI/1.1 HTTP_ACCEPT: 'text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8' HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING: 'gzip, deflate, br, zstd' HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE: 'en-US,en;q=0.5' HTTP_CONNECTION: keep-alive HTTP_HOST: localhost HTTP_PRIORITY: 'u=0, i' HTTP_SEC_FETCH_DEST: document HTTP_SEC_FETCH_MODE: navigate HTTP_SEC_FETCH_SITE: none HTTP_SEC_FETCH_USER: '?1' HTTP_UPGRADE_INSECURE_REQUESTS: '1' HTTP_USER_AGENT: 'Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:143.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/143.0' PATH: '/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/snap/bin' PHP_SELF: /index.php QUERY_STRING: '' REMOTE_ADDR: 127.0.0.1 REMOTE_PORT: '44766' REQUEST_METHOD: GET REQUEST_SCHEME: http REQUEST_TIME: 1760648071 REQUEST_TIME_FLOAT: 1760648071.5806 REQUEST_URI: / SCRIPT_FILENAME: /var/www/html/atom/index.php SCRIPT_NAME: /index.php SERVER_ADDR: 127.0.0.1 SERVER_ADMIN: '[no address given]' SERVER_NAME: localhost SERVER_PORT: '80' SERVER_PROTOCOL: HTTP/1.1 SERVER_SIGNATURE: "<address>Apache/2.4.58 (Ubuntu) Server at localhost Port 80</address>\n" SERVER_SOFTWARE: 'Apache/2.4.58 (Ubuntu)'

symfony v.1.4.20 - php 8.3.6
for help resolving this issue, please visit http://www.symfony-project.org/.   

[MATIAS VALDES]

What's going on?

Those are the message I get on the Atom log:

Oct 10 13:51:28 symfony [err] {sfPropelLogger} Could not get a DBAdapter, sql may be wrong
Oct 10 13:51:28 symfony [crit] {PropelException} No connection information in your runtime configuration file for datasource [propel]
Oct 10 13:51:28 symfony [info] {QubitWebResponse} Send status "HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error"
Oct 10 13:51:28 symfony [info] {QubitWebResponse} Send header "Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8"

DBAdapter, sql may be wrong
Oct 10 13:32:45 symfony [crit] {PropelException} No connection information in your runtime configuration file for datasource [propel]
Oct 16 20:54:31 symfony [err] {sfPropelLogger} Could not get a DBAdapter, sql may be wrong
Oct 16 20:54:31 symfony [crit] {PropelException} No connection information in your runtime configuration file for datasource [propel]

Thank you for your time and attention

El martes, 14 de octubre de 2025 a las 16:03:26 UTC+2, Johan Pieterse escribió:

[MATIAS VALDES]

Does really NGinx or Apache make difference?
https://www.accesstomemory.org/es/docs/2.10/admin-manual/installation/windows/
according to them u can use both " You can also use Apache or Nginx; we have tried both and had success with Windows configurations.  "
Thanks again

[Johan Pieterse]

It should not have a problem using either.
I see the adaptor is the error. either it is not installed or you cannot connect to MySQL.

Can you manually connect to MySQL using the credentials in the config file?