Unable to install omeka S with php 5.6.5

Omeka S Installing
1

Hello,

I am trying to install omeka S on a server with php 5.6.5. Theoretically it should work (Omeka S is supposed to support php 5.6+ even if php 7 is recommended).

However, in practice, I have a blocking error message when trying to access admin dashboard (see below):

Is there a way to install a working Omeka S with php 5.6.5 ?

exception 'Zend\Math\Exception\RuntimeException' with message 'This PHP environment doesn't support secure random number generation. Please consider upgrading to PHP 7' in /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-math/src/Rand.php:47
Stack trace:
#0 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-validator/src/Csrf.php(297): Zend\Math\Rand::getBytes(32)
#1 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-validator/src/Csrf.php(222): Zend\Validator\Csrf->generateHash()
#2 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-form/src/Element/Csrf.php(154): Zend\Validator\Csrf->getHash(true)
#3 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-form/src/Form.php(213): Zend\Form\Element\Csrf->prepareElement(Object(Omeka\Form\LoginForm))
#4 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-form/src/View/Helper/Form.php(61): Zend\Form\Form->prepare()
#5 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-form/src/View/Helper/Form.php(49): Zend\Form\View\Helper\Form->render(Object(Omeka\Form\LoginForm))
#6 [internal function]: Zend\Form\View\Helper\Form->__invoke(Object(Omeka\Form\LoginForm))
#7 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-view/src/Renderer/PhpRenderer.php(394): call_user_func_array(Object(Zend\Form\View\Helper\Form), Array)
#8 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/application/view-shared/omeka/login/login.phtml(5): Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer->__call('form', Array)
#9 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/application/view-shared/omeka/login/login.phtml(5): Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer->form(Object(Omeka\Form\LoginForm))
#10 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-view/src/Renderer/PhpRenderer.php(502): include('/data/www/poinc...')
#11 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-view/src/View.php(207): Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer->render(Object(Zend\View\Model\ViewModel))
#12 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-view/src/View.php(236): Zend\View\View->render(Object(Zend\View\Model\ViewModel))
#13 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-view/src/View.php(200): Zend\View\View->renderChildren(Object(Zend\View\Model\ViewModel))
#14 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-mvc/src/View/Http/DefaultRenderingStrategy.php(105): Zend\View\View->render(Object(Zend\View\Model\ViewModel))
#15 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-eventmanager/src/EventManager.php(271): Zend\Mvc\View\Http\DefaultRenderingStrategy->render(Object(Zend\Mvc\MvcEvent))
#16 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-eventmanager/src/EventManager.php(143): Zend\EventManager\EventManager->triggerListeners(Object(Zend\Mvc\MvcEvent))
#17 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-mvc/src/Application.php(367): Zend\EventManager\EventManager->triggerEvent(Object(Zend\Mvc\MvcEvent))
#18 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/vendor/zendframework/zend-mvc/src/Application.php(348): Zend\Mvc\Application->completeRequest(Object(Zend\Mvc\MvcEvent))
#19 /data/www/server45/public/omeka-s/index.php(17): Zend\Mvc\Application->run()
#20 {main}
2

PHP 5.6 does work, but it’s slightly more complicated than with 7 which includes random number generation functions natively.

There’s a fallback included in Omeka S’s dependencies that makes 5.6 work, but one of the following needs to be true:

  • the /dev/urandom device file is readable (this is usually true for Unix/Linux systems)
  • the “libsodium” PHP extension is installed
  • the “mcrypt” PHP extension is installed
  • on Windows only, the COM extension is installed

This looks like a Unix-y server from the paths given, so it’s odd that /dev/urandom isn’t available. PHP’s open_basedir setting could be preventing PHP from opening that file, if you have it set and it doesn’t include /dev. Otherwise, installing the “mcrypt” extension is probably the next easiest option.

The installer should check this stuff for you before we let you install. I’ll look into adding that.

3

The installation of libsodium and mcrypt does indeed fix the problem. Thanks !