Trouble with 3.42.0

[Eduardo Debiusi]

upgraded to the latest and now I just get the spinning wheel in all of the windows and I cannot select anything.

Tried the to click board but it did nothing and I cannot logout either.

Then if we exit out it does not allow us to log back in... just blank screen with spinning tab until it times out.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

I have searched the old posts and do not see any solutions past what I have already tried

[Eric Osterberg]

Cleared your browser cache?

Any logs available from your web server?

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[Eduardo Debiusi]

I am reinstalling today... see what happens...

[Eduardo Debiusi]

Updated PHP to 8.4, reinstalled Tickets under a new database.  cant log in now.  Just returns to login screen when I type in the default Admin:admin

On Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 4:38:36 PM UTC-4 Eric Osterberg wrote:

[Eduardo Debiusi]

[Eduardo Debiusi]

So let me ask this question.  Will TicketsCAD ever be able to work with the upgraded PHP versions in the near future?  Our hosting platforms forced us to upgrade...

[Eric Osterberg]

I'll see what I can do.

Are there any volunteers able to assist with development?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/324bb0a3-211c-4d29-9655-8b9dcc962f27n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

I tried to roll it back to PHP 7.4 and it still would not work...  strange because it was working fine prior to the forced upgrade...  

[ckil...@xmission.com]

I’m not sure why this continues to be such an issue.

 

I can’t believe that, version to version, there is that much difference in terms of writing the queries and so on.

 

It might be useful if someone that really knows could explain the differences between the PHP version that works and ones that don’t.

 

That would certainly be the first step to finally fixing this years old issue.

 

Cheers!

 

Chuck…

WB6YOK

801.791.0760 (m)

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/3d477030-67e4-42ba-9339-9594d7a054bfn%40googlegroups.com.

[Tim Dring]

Differences between 7.x and 8.x versions of PHP will be many and often not minor, it's not just as simple as a DB query, it will be changes in the way data is accessed and processed, the classes baked into php, no naming conventions, etc..

Often moving from one major version of PHP to another needs to be considered as changes can have breaking effects 

I'm no PHP genius but will have a look over the next week or so (pending any other looks anyone takes) in debug mode and try and see what is broken.

I've not been about here recently do we have a GIT repo for the app I can pull from and (hopefully) send any merge requests to?

T

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/039a01dc598c%24a82edfd0%24f88c9f70%24%40xmission.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

I believe in an effort to clean up the code for the PHP software, developers have been deleting support for the older PHP versions that were previously compatible.

Tickets CAD was originally written many years ago. If PHP maintained backwards compatibility, there would be no issues.

Generally, I've needed to deploy on the later versions, then iterate over the code to find every issue, and finally attempt to update to a version that isn't the absolute latest so that it still works on all of the deployments that are out there. Given the code's age, maintaining the software has been a large exercise. If I update the code to the latest standards, it won't run on older installations.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/039a01dc598c%24a82edfd0%24f88c9f70%24%40xmission.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

https://github.com/openises/tickets

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/CAAu2Hmx558edTBDv_BFkg2fYzJTBLghD5fPbsuCoMrP%3DMXHajQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Tim Dring]

Awesome, thanks for this, I'll fork the code and see what I can see.

In terms of version support, while it's nice to maintain backwards compatibility should we look at bringing up to date for PHP 8.x ? 

Considering 7.4 was EOL 3 years ago, from a security perspective I'd consider it risky to run in production.. but then I work in an IT ops environment so very risky averse 😎

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/CAJLaYFUu_czX6sP9MsdhAFh1bfjRRk_X4F73WMG0N7Duf8ECMg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Tim Dring]

Ooos.. Just expanded the comment on the Git repo .... And seen it should be good for 8.2  with 7.x depreciated 🤦🏻‍♂️

On Wed, 19 Nov 2025, 19:57 Eric Osterberg, <ejost...@gmail.com> wrote:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/CAJLaYFUu_czX6sP9MsdhAFh1bfjRRk_X4F73WMG0N7Duf8ECMg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

So I put it on another host for testing that is still running 7.4,  after install the Incidents, responders and Facilities just spin and It will not allow me to access config.  Does not matter if I go through the setup or just straight to Tickets.

If I run it on the 8.X.X that they forced us to on our site I just get a login in screen loop.

It was working beautifully before they gummed up the works.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

I uploaded the newest files for the upgrade.  However, it did does not recognize the previous install and now all I get is the Ticket CAD Installer 3.44.1 with no recognized version installed :not detected and no github release.

there is no form to input information for the server etc.???

[Eduardo Debiusi]

alright... the latest.  I had to go all the way back to 3.30 A and then upgrade one at a time until I got to 3.44.1

Now it is asking for the Admin/password to upgrade.  I am entering the Admin/Password but it is does not recognize my admin/password that is from the previous version and correct.

Any suggestions?

[Shawn Stoddard]

Try the default which I think is admin. Obviously, if that works change it quickly. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/edd59fc1-599e-49b6-8e7e-95f48a374dadn%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

Thanks Shane... yes I did that... it did not like it.  I upgraded to 8.x.x and it took the password finally and goes to an install screen but does nothing else.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

This is where it stays after login with the Admin/Password using PHP 8.4, won't work on 8.3 and then they only offer 7.4 and it gives code errors in 7.4.

[Eric Osterberg]

Hi Eduardo,

Thanks for the screenshots — that helps a lot. I can see exactly what's happening.

The Problem:
When you upgraded from an older version (3.30A) through to 3.44.1, your admin password was stored in an older format (MD5 hash). The current installer requires you to log in through the main login page first, and there can be issues with the session not carrying over to the installer properly — especially across PHP version differences.

The Fix:
I've created a password reset tool that you can use to get back in. Here's what to do:

Step 1: Download the reset tool

Download this file and place it in your tickets/tools/ folder on your server:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/reset-admin-password.php

If you're using the command line:

cd /path/to/tickets/tools/
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/reset-admin-password.php

Step 2: Open it in your browser

Go to:

http://your-server-address/tickets/tools/reset-admin-password.php

You'll see a page listing all user accounts with their current password hash type (MD5, bcrypt, or empty). Each row has a password reset box.

Step 3: Reset your admin password

1. Find your admin account in the list
2. Type a new password in the box next to it
3. Click "Reset"

This will update your password to the modern format that works with the current installer.

Step 4: Log in and run the upgrade

1. Go to http://your-server-address/tickets/ and log in with your new password
2. Navigate to http://your-server-address/tickets/install.php
3. Select "Upgrade" mode and click "Do It"

Step 5: Delete the reset tool!

Important: Once you're in, delete the reset tool immediately:

rm /path/to/tickets/tools/reset-admin-password.php

Or just delete it through your file manager. Leaving it on the server would let anyone reset passwords.

---

About PHP versions:

• PHP 8.4 should work fine with 3.44.1. If you see any specific errors, send me the exact messages and I'll fix them.
• PHP 8.1 through 8.4 are all supported.
• PHP 7.4 is end-of-life and we no longer test against it, so errors there are expected.

If you run into any other issues, send me the error messages or a screenshot and I'll get them sorted out.

Best,
Eric

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/c1b231e3-7fff-4613-b42a-a76bdcb75590n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

can I do a fresh install with the new version?

 or only an upgrade

[Eric Osterberg]

Either should be fine.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/a1b25103-f5f2-412a-a499-dc250ded6e62n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

[Eric Osterberg]

Hi Eduardo,

I found the issue with the password reset tool — older versions of TicketsCAD have a different database structure that the tool wasn't accounting for. I've pushed a fix.

Please try these steps again:

Step 1: Download the UPDATED reset tool

Delete the old one first, then download the fixed version:

cd /path/to/tickets/tools/
rm reset-admin-password.php
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/reset-admin-password.php

Or if you don't have wget, try curl:

curl -o reset-admin-password.php https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/reset-admin-password.php

If neither command works, you can also download it from your browser:

1. Go to: https://github.com/openises/tickets/blob/main/tools/reset-admin-password.php
2. Click the "Raw" button
3. Right-click the page and "Save As" → save it as reset-admin-password.php
4. Upload it to your tickets/tools/ folder on the server

Step 2: Open it in your browser

http://your-server-address/tickets/tools/reset-admin-password.php

You should now see your user accounts listed. The tool auto-detects your database structure regardless of which version you upgraded from.

Step 3: Reset the admin password

Type a new password (at least 4 characters) in the box next to your admin account and click Reset. This will update the password to the modern format.

Step 4: Log in and upgrade

Go to your main tickets URL and log in with the new password. The installer should work now.

Step 5: Delete the reset tool!

rm /path/to/tickets/tools/reset-admin-password.php

---

About upgrading from 3.30A:

Going forward, you shouldn't need to do version-by-version upgrades. Version 3.44.1 can upgrade directly from any older version — the installer handles all the schema changes in one pass. The step-by-step approach you used (3.30A → 3.31 → ... → 3.44.1) works but isn't necessary.

If you had the login issue because of a password format incompatibility (older versions used MD5 hashing, newer versions use bcrypt), the current login code handles both formats automatically. The reset tool just makes sure the stored hash is in the right format.

Let me know if you hit any other issues!

Best,
Eric

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/c8939820-fe3c-4b95-a367-ed9d50bc6c21n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

I did a new install of 3.44.1 and this is what i get

can I do a fresh install or is this upgrade only?  Do I need an older version before I go to 3.44.1?  ( I know I already asked but I want to confirm...)

[Eduardo Debiusi]

thank you all by the way... this has been frustrating being down for so long.  Tickets has been great for us over the years!

[Eric Osterberg]

Can you screenshot the entire browser? Testing is challenging. There's been about 50 versions I've created in just 3 weeks. There are so many versions of PHP, MariaDB, MySQL, Apache, hosted in Linux ( couple dozen flavors, Rpi, Debain, Slackware, Ubuntu, RedHat, CentOS, Oracle, DSL, etc) plus Mac + Windows. Then we have upgrading from very old, to somewhat recent, clean installs, etc.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/c0374e57-2787-4ea8-91b8-23e314a84ca9n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

Yes — 3.44.1 absolutely supports a fresh install! You don't need an older version first. Here's what to do:

Fresh Install Steps

1. Create the database first

Before running the installer, you need a MySQL/MariaDB database ready. Log into your database server (phpMyAdmin, mysql command line, or whatever tool you have):

CREATE DATABASE tickets;
CREATE USER 'tickets'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'choose-a-strong-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON tickets.* TO 'tickets'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Replace choose-a-strong-password with something secure.

2. Open the installer

Go to: http://your-server/tickets/install.php

You'll see the installer page showing "Installed version: not detected" — that's expected for a fresh install.

3. Fill in the form

• Mode: Should already be set to "Install / Reinstall" (the first option)
• MySQL host: localhost (or your DB server address)
• MySQL database: tickets (the database you created in step 1)
• MySQL username: tickets (the user you created)
• MySQL password: The password you set

4. Scroll down — the admin fields are below

Below the database fields, you'll see:

• Super admin username: admin (or whatever you prefer)
• Super admin display name: Your name
• Super admin password: Choose a strong password (minimum 6 characters)
• Confirm password: Type it again

5. Click "Do It"

The installer will create all tables, seed the default data, and set up your admin account. You'll see a log of each step. When it says "Done!", click the link to go to the login page.

6. Log in

Use the admin username and password you just set.

---

About the password issue from before

I also just pushed a fix so that upgrading from ANY old version (even 3.30A) no longer breaks the login. The password hash format from old versions is now automatically recognized and silently upgraded to the modern format on first login. So if you ever need to upgrade an existing install, your old passwords will just work.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/dc4f20d8-8405-4d55-88de-9421e9fd8aben%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

This above is what I get after an upgrade from 3.40.2

This above is what I get when I run the password reset script

my database is set up the same as when Tickets was running before.  Just the upgraded PHP 8.4.x

[Eduardo Debiusi]

I can use my admin and password no problem but it goes to the install screen doing seemingly nothing...

then

[Eric Osterberg]

Can you send me your phone number?

I'd ask what your web server log shows. I assume you have an error log? Can you tell me what OS you are using?

Are you able to connect with a zoom meeting and share your screen?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/50cd13d9-efd1-4a15-b806-72a4df1f9b2en%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

send me an email address or something and Ill send my phone number... yes I can zoom and share my screen

WINDOWS 11 OS

mozilla browser, but I tried chrome and edge too.

seems to be in the php for me???

[Dominick Walenczak]

Hi all,

The error is absolutely in the installer. My apologies. On install.php, line 12 should include an additional import (same issue in the other thread). This issue was absolutely my fault because I missed adding that from my local machine back to my dev fork before the pull request. The missing include imports the function to check with GitHub to see what the latest release version is. It has guardrails to that if it can't reach GitHub (such as an offline environment) it wouldn't throw any errors... except that's all in the file that was accidentally not imported. 😅

I have a PR in for Eric's approval that will fix that problem. It's just a one line change.

My apologies, again.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

OK, so I have some progress with a fresh install of your latest...

But... when I log in as the created superuser admin...  no tabs to config or anything...  no units, no facilites etc.

just spinning.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

additionally the top bar completely disappears after a little bit...

[Eduardo Debiusi]

Ok, If I use PHP 8.3, I get a Security Token Expired Message and it will not let me log in.

If I use PHP 8.4, I can log in, but no top bar displayed and the spinning wheels just continue to spin.

I remember something a long time ago about no units or facilities set up causing this to happen on a new install...  do not know if this has anything to do with it now.

[Eric Osterberg]

You may need to clear the cache in your browser.

Second thing to try is holding ctl-shift-R to reload the page, does that bring the menu bar back?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/7d388a40-7b61-45b9-bce9-c0f5dd3a6871n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eduardo Debiusi]

so when all of the screens stop spinning (Incidents, Responders, Facilities) the tabs show up.  I click on them but nothing happens.  If I type in the location in the address bar it does not work either.

If you want to log in to see for yourself, give me some way to privately send you the info and you can look at what is happening.

[Eric Osterberg]

Hi Eduardo,

I can see a few things in your screenshot. Let me help you work through them:

The spinning widgets (Incidents, Responders, etc.)

These load data via AJAX calls. Something is preventing them from completing. Can you check your PHP error log? It's usually at:

• nginx: /var/log/nginx/error.log
• Apache: /var/log/apache2/error.log
• PHP-FPM: /var/log/php8.4-fpm.log

I'm working on improving compatibility for older php again. The coding I've done now requires PHP versions ≥8.4

The most common cause in PHP 8.4 is deprecated functions. If you see errors about utf8_encode or utf8_decode, that's a known PHP 8.4 issue — those functions were removed. Let me know and I'll send you a patch.

The map "Access blocked" message

OpenStreetMap's tile servers are blocking requests from your server because of their usage policy. Two options:

Most likely, you tried the offline maps feature from years ago and they have blocked your IP address?

That will likely clear in a couple of days.

The "www.yourdomain.com" in the header

Go to Config > System Settings and change the organization name and domain. If you can't access Config because the menu isn't loading, you can update it directly in the database:

UPDATE settings SET value = 'Your Organization' WHERE `key` = '_title';
UPDATE settings SET value = 'www.cisg.us' WHERE `key` = '_location';

Send me your error logs

The fastest way to diagnose the spinning widgets is to see the PHP error log. Can you send me the last 50 lines? Run:

tail -50 /var/log/php8.4-fpm.log

That will tell us exactly what's failing.

You can likely also expect another version in a couple of hours to support older php. Can you remind me of the version you're running right now?

Best,
Eric

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/d7666937-ffb9-4274-9b3d-b63bf1d01c16n%40googlegroups.com.

[Eric Osterberg]

And another reply. (AI generated support 😁 )

Hi Eduardo,

I can see the issue from your screenshots — both the menu (top.php) and the data panels (ajax.php) are returning 500 Internal Server Errors. This is likely a PHP version compatibility issue.

I've created a diagnostic tool that will tell us exactly what's wrong. Here's what to do:

Step 1: Download the diagnostic tool

Download this file and put it in your tickets/tools/ folder:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/diagnose.php

Or from the command line:

cd /path/to/tickets/tools/
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/diagnose.php

Step 2: Open it in your browser

Go to:

https://www.cisg.us/tickets/tools/diagnose.php

Step 3: Send me the results

You'll see a diagnostic report that checks:

• Your PHP version and which functions are available
• Whether your database is connected and which tables exist
• Whether there are missing tables causing the errors
• Your admin account status and password hash format
• File permissions

Take a screenshot of the full page (you may need to scroll) and send it to me. That will tell me exactly what needs to be fixed.

What I think is happening

If you're running PHP 8.2 or newer, two functions (utf8_encode and utf8_decode) were removed from PHP and any code using them crashes silently with a 500 error. The diagnostic tool checks for this specifically.

Step 4: Delete the diagnostic tool when done!

rm /path/to/tickets/tools/diagnose.php

Send me that screenshot and I'll get you a fix right away.

Best,
Eric

---

The diagnostic tool checks 8 categories: PHP version + removed functions, DB connection, required tables, admin accounts + hash types, version info, PHP compatibility tests, file permissions, and server info. It'll pinpoint the exact issue without needing server log access.

[Eric Osterberg]

Hi Eduardo,

I found the issue and pushed a fix. Your server is likely running PHP 8.2 or newer, which removed two functions (utf8_encode and utf8_decode) that our code depends on. This causes the 500 Internal Server Errors you're seeing on the menu and data panels.

The Fix

I've added a PHP compatibility layer that automatically polyfills these missing functions. To apply the fix:

Option A: Re-download 3.44.1
Download the latest code from GitHub — it includes the fix:

cd /path/to/tickets
git pull origin main

Option B: Add just the fix file
If you don't want to pull everything, download this one file and save it to tickets/incs/:

cd /path/to/tickets/incs/
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/incs/compat.inc.php

Then add this line to the very top of incs/functions.inc.php (after <?php):

require_once(__DIR__ . '/compat.inc.php');

What this fixes

The compatibility layer handles PHP versions from 7.0 all the way through 8.4:

• PHP 8.2+: Restores utf8_encode/utf8_decode
• PHP 8.0+: Restores each() and create_function()
• PHP 8.1+: Suppresses strftime() deprecation warnings
• All versions: Prevents deprecation notices from corrupting AJAX responses

After applying the fix, refresh the page and the menu and data panels should load.

Also available: Diagnostic tool

If you're still having issues after applying the fix, run the diagnostic tool:

https://www.cisg.us/tickets/tools/diagnose.php

(Download it from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openises/tickets/main/tools/diagnose.php into tickets/tools/)

It will check your PHP version, database connection, table existence, and file permissions — and tell you exactly what's wrong.

Let me know how it goes!

Best,
Eric

[Eduardo Debiusi]

will do... thanks

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[Eduardo Debiusi]

Did the zipfiles get updated?  Or just the git?

[Eric Osterberg]

Git is 100% the way to go. It's possible to generate a zip file from Git; it all depends on how you grabbed the files.

I did not 'generate a release'.

If you must use a zip, you can grab it from here.
https://github.com/openises/tickets/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/open-source-cad/CAEU62xxNei8%3DwvXzBG-aHUa1WbxAmNb8uPW_fcwkqx%3Dr_L%3DxcQ%40mail.gmail.com.