Install plugin get tar command not available

[sorrel]

I knew it's a stupid question, but I really don't know where my tar command is and don't know where to command "which tar" on my server either. I am using WAMP. Could anyone being kind to tell me how to set this tar thing right in my config.ini.php or where can I get the tar command software so I could install new plugin. I have been Googleing for tar command, windows, wamp and end up getting 7-zip....I am not sure which one is my answer.

Thank you for your time!

Wendy

[JasonNugent]

Hi Wendy,

'which' is a UNIX command line command that will give you the full path to a command when you're looking for it. It makes sense that it isn't working for you in your case, since it's not a Windows (WAMP) utility.

When ever I've had issues with finding command line utilities for Windows, especially for things like this, I usually install the Cywgin shell environment. When installed, it gives you a full set of UNIX/Linux command line utilities (including tar), usually in a C:\Cygwin directory. It can be downloaded for free here:

http://www.cygwin.com/

All you'd probably need is the base setup.exe from that site, and then just install the "base" set of tools. You'll have tar and everything else you'll need in about 5 minutes after that. You'll probably have a C:\Cygwin\bin directory afterwards if you install with the default settings.

Regards,

Jason

[sorrel]

Ooh! Lala! Thank you Jason for not ignoring my stupid question and being so kind. I did as you instructed (install cygwin). I got the address "/usr/bin/tar" and used this in the config.ini.php after commanding "which tar" in cygwin. However, I still get

Errors occurred processing this form:
The tar command is not available. Please correctly configure it in your "config.inc.php".

When I try to install new plugin under

Home > User > Journal Management > Plugin Management > Install A New Plugin.

In fact, I found out that there is a tar under "D:\cygwin\bin\tar".
So, I tried
tar = D:\cygwin\bin\tar
tar = "D:\cygwin\bin\tar"
tar = D://cygwin/bin/tar
tar = /cygwin/bin/tar
tar = "/cygwin/bin/tar"
tar = /usr/bin/tar

All of them get the same massage: The tar command is not available. Please correctly configure it in your "config.inc.php".
What can I do now????

Thank you in advance!

[JasonNugent]

Hi Wendy,

Just a quick comment first, I suppose -- the line in your config.inc.php which specifies the path to tar doesn't have a semi-colon in front of it, does it? I just want to make sure that the line isn't commented out. Lines that start with semi-colons are ignored when the config file is examined by OJS.

Jason

[JasonNugent]

Hi Wendy,

I think the one command you didn't mention might be the one you need. Can you try:

tar = D:/cygwin/bin/tar

(with just one slash after D:)

Cheers,
Jason

[sorrel]

How thoughtful and speedy problem solver you are. I thought I would get a step each day and try a little step forward day by day. Din't expect to get another answer so soon. I did forget to remove the semi-colon before, but I learned my lesson this time. So, it's note the issue here. I tried

tar = D:/cygwin/bin/tar

Didn't work. Actually it's "tar = C:/cygwin/bin/tar" this time because I change another computer and install cygwin under C this time. The plugin I am trying to install is the Citeby.gz. It's not .tar.gz file. Could that be the reason.
Need another solution! Or is there any other manual way to install the plugin?

Thank you so much for the speedy reply!

Wendy

[JasonNugent]

Hi Wendy,

Hmmm. The CiteBy plugin is probably incorrectly named. If it has the file name of CiteBy.gz, it will probably not upload correctly. New versions of OJS expect a plugin to have a file name ending in .tar.gz. Can you try renaming the file to CiteBy.tar.gz and then re-uploading it?

If that fails, you can certainly do a manual installation from the command line. You can place the CiteBy.gz file in your plugins/generic directory and expand the file there, and then add a record to a table in your database indicating that the plugin is now installed. Let's see if a file rename works first, though.

Cheers,
Jason

[sorrel]

Thank you Jason! You are God to me now even though I end up install the plugin manually. Actually I tried once. Just put in the wrong folder (the plugin folder not the generic folder) and it shows up in the DB automatically. I did it again on the Mathjax plugin. Da Da! Works....Thank you!

[theodore]

hello, for me same error:

Errors occurred processing this form:
•The tar command is not available. Please correctly configure it in your "config.inc.php".

i contacted the webhost and told me that:

"the path in config.inc.php for tar is correct. it could be wrong settings concerning disable_functions in php.ini or safe mode. it is better to find exact specifications for config.inc.php just to be sure (any changes for safe mode on/off, open base dir on/off etc)"

anything more specific about config.inc.php??

regards,
theo