FIX – JFolder::create: Path not in open_basedir paths

So… switched a site from one host to another.

Installed Joomla, restored the database, restored the template folder, and then started installing Extensions.

First up was JCE. I downloaded the latest version, tried uploading/installing it from within Joomla’s Admin Panel, and then got the following message:

JFolder::create: Path not in open_basedir paths

Oh boy! Not so good.

Did a little searching around and came across some fixes, although the fix in my case turned out to be pretty easy.

Problem: The temp (tmp) folder wasn’t writable. You can check this from Joomla’s administrator panel by clicking Help, System Info, then choosing the “Permissions” section. unwritable = bad.

Solution: Actually, it’s just that the path set up while on the old host was different from the new host. All it takes is a different username, or a whack of other things. All you have to do to fix it, is drop into Global Configuration / Server and set the Path-to-Temp-Folder.

If you’re not quite sure what to enter, go back to the Help / System Info section and look at the last 4 entries (log, cache directory). Hopefully one of them’s pointing correctly and you can figure it out from there.

If not, try:
/home/username/public_html/tmp
…where username is your username (if you’re not 100% sure and are using CPanel you can open CPanel’s File Manager and look far at the left – you should see /home/something at the top of the directory tree. That something is the username.

If your Joomla install is in a sub-domain or addon-domain, adjust appropriately:
/home/username/public_html/my_website_directory/tmp

If you’re still having issues but are positive the path is correct, see if the tmp directory exists. If it doesn’t, try creating it and set the permissions to 777 while you install the program (then try lowering the permissions afterwards to help out security-wise).

8 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1. Clint on March 8, 2010 - click here to reply
    Works
  2. Jen on December 1, 2010 - click here to reply
    Mine is writable.. still no use.
    help??

    :(
  3. Brandon Maddux on April 16, 2011 - click here to reply
    Thanks so much, spent 2 hours trying to fix it. Your advice helped a bunch
  4. Joseph Myalla on June 18, 2011 - click here to reply
    Your Solution really helped me so quickly, thank you so much
  5. Bipin Gaur on September 17, 2011 - click here to reply
    Thank you - you proved to be a lifesaver. I was really stuck on extensions till I read this article.
  6. Brad on September 23, 2011 - click here to reply
    LENGEN-DARY, many hi-5's and intenets for you sir
  7. Antonio on December 20, 2015 - click here to reply
    Thanks so much.
  8. Anonymous on May 22, 2023 - click here to reply
    it worked for me.... thank you

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