Installation hangs in “Second Step” after long pause

She’s up and running.

Okay, then. The preceeding post’s information was helpful (Thank-you), if not completely comprehensive (where to comment, which scripts?). It points out a couple of things to be considered, if you’re someone who’s trying to set WordPress up in a local environment, rather than someone who is simply installing it on a remote host and then simply using it..

Like most installation issues, they tend to fade in importance, as soon as the matter is resolved, so they tend to be somewhat poorly documented, in resolution.

Okay – things that didn’t matter. IIS – I had tried using Apache, with no improvement and exactly the same symptoms.

Next, although the thought of commenting the PHP installation script may have seem appealing at first, the larger issue is why I should have to. Ideally, at least the installation should not “hang” relative to the presence of a working PHP function, especially since those of us who may be revising the environment, and even those of us who aren’t might want to keep a local copy to work on it, and then push it out to the site. Perhaps some code should be written into the installation script, to not require the use of the PHP mail function – or at least not hang if it times out.

The use of the function, is apparently to forward to the installer the administrative password in an email, which is also displayed locally (assuming no hang). The source of the hang, is in fact the configuration of the PHP mail function, described in detail here: http://us4.php.net/mail

The problem lies in that the PHP (not WordPress) scripting function more or less assumes the presence of an SMTP server, functioning in the executing context, which is less likely to be so on your development workstation, than on a hosting web server like Apache at some ISP’s site.

Thelocal solution is to modify the PHP.ini file, usually located in the C:\WINNT directory (W2K) such that it can somehow interact with the connected SMTP environment, whatever it is…

Once the function is working, the installation will also complete just fine. The extra snafu, is that in order to work seamlessly without the addition of some custom written code, written specifically for your mail client, let’s say Eudora or something, it requires access to a SMTP server which does not require authentication, since there is no provision within the PHP.ini file or syntax to specify a password to correctly initiate a handshake with your ISP’s mail server. (I hear a PHP enhancement coming on)

Fortunately, most ISP’s have at least one “open” SMTP server, which does not require authenticationm – usually hidden in plain view.

The pertinent parameters in the C:\WINNT\PHP.ini file are:

Section:

[mail function]

; For Win32 only.
; Non-authenticated email SMTP server – usually something named somethings like smtp.ISP.net or com
SMTP = smtp.isp.com

;Ususally smtp_port does not require changing, but some ISPs use a different port number to allow access for the unauthenticated access – to avoid spammers accessing them as a relay
smtp_port = 25

;Some address that does not get authenticated, usually anything is okay – ie: your real one… non-authenticated access might require it to be same format as one issued by ISP
sendmail_from = [email protected]

Anyway, assuming you get that working, there is no need to modify the PHP scripts associated with WordPress, although I would suggest the developers take a look at the installation code for future releases to see if the dependency can be removed or circumvented without ruining the beauty of the “5 Minute Installation”.

-Kindest Regards,
M. Pankoski