OrderLock.num error pls help

[lperk]

I have been using Catalog 25 for a few weeks as a trial and all has been going well until now. Customers are now recieving the following error message when going through checkout

An error occurred while creating the order number lock file (../acatalog/OrderLock.num). The error was Permission denied. Actinic ecommerce can not create a unique order number and can not continue. Please contact us directly with your order.

The only thing I can think is that my frontpage extensions were reinstalled on today because of a seperate issue when uploading my web pages. Could this be the cause, if so or if not can anyone give me any advice.

Many thanks

Leigh

[zmagyar]

Most likely the effective CGI user has been changed. This can be (or likely is) down to the server configuration change. Before the configuration has been changed your scripts were running as user x and now it is user y. The order lock file has write only permission only for the owner by default. Therefore the lock file created by user x can not be accessed now by user y. You can make sure that it is the reason by checking the file owner of OrderLock.num and comparing this with any new script written file (e.g. a recent *.session file). If the owners are different then the above applies.
There are the following resolutions. If you have telnet access then try to change the owner of the file to the new CGI user (requires root access).
Remove *.num from the /acatalog folder. This results that the incremental part of your order number will be reset to 0. You can use Help|Troubleshooting to adjust it back.
I hope this helps.

Regards,

[jliveston]

I believe your last posting explains exactly what is happening to my current clients. Our hosting company just replaced an older server and copied our websites to the new unix server. When clients try to download orders they get a message talking about check permissions and a whole list of lock problems etc.

If I change the user or delete the files will orders people have been trying to take still be available or will they be lost. Or are any people trying to order from the site getting a message saying they can't?

Thanks,
Jason

[jliveston]

Also, if I decided to delete the files should I first talk to the client and see what the order count is then after I delete the files set the order count in actinic back to the number before I delete the files?

Thanks,
Jason

[cdicken]

This sounds like the correct idea. The number can be set within Actinic in 'Help | Troubleshooting'.