Joomla 1.5 / IIS6 / ISAPI_Rewrite 3.0 .. HELP PLS!

[Pharian Profile]

Hi,

I hope someone out there can please help me! I'm having trouble getting ISAPI_Rewrite 3.0 lite to work with my Joomla 1.5 site on IIS6.

- Basically, it seems that ISAPI is running on the box ok.
- My website homepage loads properly
- The links in the Joomla site are now SEF friendly (not the big messy strings etc)
- However, when I hit any of the links from the homepage it gives me a 404 file not found error.

My website is: http://www.focusbt.com.au

I will outline what I have done.

1. I have installed ISAPI 3.0 Lite on my IIS6 Server and run the test outlined in the FAQ. I got the expected '403 Forbidden' error without a problem.

2. I followed the instructions on the HelionTech page "Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs with Joomla" (http://www.helicontech.com/articles/isapi-rewrite-with-joomla/)

3. That did not work so I restored the original joomla files/settings to before I had changed anything

4. Then I tried the Joomla Documentation version. It is basically the same though it includes a block of text for the .htaccess file and adds "var $live_site = 'http://www.example.com/site1';" to the configuration.php. Same thing happens though, so I guess most of the extra info isn't really important to getting the SEF rewrites to happen. (http://docs.joomla.org/Enabling_Search_Engine_Friendly_%28SEF%29_URLs_on_IIS/IIS6/1.5).

5. I tried changing the content in index.php in both the main joomla directory and also in the main directory for the Yootheme template I am using. Same issue.
(Do you know if I should be using the template version or the main folder version?)

6. Turned on the error logging stuff in the httpd.conf file. The logs are posted at the end of this message.

7. I am about to do a full restore of the joomla site and try both processes again from scratch, but I am pretty sure I did all the steps so I don't hold out much hope.

8. Would a 3rd party plugin like sh404SEF help do you know?

Hope someone out there can please help me!!

Error Log (3 lines only in there):

[16/10/2012 12:57:43] ISAPI Filter loaded. Version 3.1.0.95. Windows 5.2 (Build 3790 ServicePack:2) ProductType SERVER. CPU type INTEL NumberOfProcessors 1.
[16/10/2012 14:27:34] C:\Program Files\Helicon\ISAPI_Rewrite3\httpd.conf - Loaded successfully

Rewrite Log (many lines like these ones in this file):

192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:27:34 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /newsletter
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:27:34 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (1) Htaccess process request C:\Program Files\Helicon\ISAPI_Rewrite3\httpd.conf
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:28:25 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /testimonials
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:28:25 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (1) Htaccess process request C:\Program Files\Helicon\ISAPI_Rewrite3\httpd.conf
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:29:23 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /contact-thanks
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:29:23 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (1) Htaccess process request C:\Program Files\Helicon\ISAPI_Rewrite3\httpd.conf
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:30:17 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:30:17 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (1) Htaccess process request C:\Program Files\Helicon\ISAPI_Rewrite3\httpd.conf
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:30:21 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (2) init rewrite engine with requested uri /cache/widgetkit/widgetkit-a6e619cd.js
192.168.1.254 192.168.1.254 Tue, 16-Oct-2012 14:30:21 GMT [www.focusbt.com.au/sid#144471656][rid#20194992/initial] (1) Htaccess process request C:\Program Files\Helicon\ISAPI_Rewrite3\httpd.conf

[HeliconAndrew]

Hello,

I'd suggest you stick to the article made by HeliconTech.
According to the log ISAPI_Rewrite is seeing only httpd.conf, while article suggests using .htaccess file. The reasons ISAPI_Rewrite doesn't refer to .htaccess:

- Not enough permissions to read .htaccess file - http://www.helicontech.com/isapi_rewrit ... curity.htm
- you installed ISAPI_Rewrite LITE, which has the following limitations.

Anyway, the bottom line is that ISAPI_Rewrite does not apply any rules to the incoming request, however ISAPI_Rewrite is working.

Regards
Andrew

[Pharian Profile]

Thanks for the reply Andrew. I appreciate it.

I have restored my website to the position it was in before I installed ISAPI_Rewrite and tried the process described in the HeliconTech article again (this one http://www.helicontech.com/articles/isa ... th-joomla/).

Unfortunately I got the same thing as last time. No joy!

I checked the permissions in the link posted, and they look to be all correct.

I did install ISAPI Lite but I am only running 2x websites here, both Joomla 1.5, so I thought that would be ok. Do you think its giving me problems because it's not the full version?

When you say that it doesn't apply any rules to the incoming request, how do you suggest I proceed? I am stumped!!

Hope you can help, thanks

Chris

ps, the support plan for $150, what does that include? Or rather, if you guys can't get it working either then do you refund the $150?

[HeliconAndrew]

Yes, I think the LITE version could be the issue. As in the article you must use .htaccess and LITE version does not support .htaccess files, httpd.conf only.

As a workaround you may try to place the rules in the httpd.conf and see what happens. It's also a good thing to provide us with a small extract from the log everytime you say "it's not working", looking at the log we'd be able to identify what exactly is not working.

At the support page it's clearly stated what is included in Premium Support Plan. I can say that we had a lot of cases regarding Joomla and ISAPI_Rewrite 3 and 96% of them were resolved. The bright side of the Premium Support Plan is that you can provide us with a direct access to the server and we do everything for you so you won't have to come back to this once and for all.

Regards
Andrew

[Pharian Profile]

You're a star Andrew. Thanks for your help.

Entering the details from the joomla documentation page (below) into the httpd.conf file worked a treat!

Cheers!

http://docs.joomla.org/Enabling_Search_ ... S/IIS6/1.5

[HeliconAndrew]

Am I? It's always good to hear feedback from my thankful audience.