Get the Best WordPress Backup
& Migration Plugin Today
Get Duplicator Now

Duplicator Documentation

Documentation, Reference Materials, and Tutorials for Duplicator

How to fix installer archive extraction issues?

Issue AExtraction Issues
During archive extraction the process fails or does not work.

Common Error Messages

– Can’t extract installer directory
– Archive config not found error
– ‘ZipArchive’ not found

 

Option 1 Validate Archive
The process of moving the archive.zip/daf files across servers can corrupt the files. To quickly determine if the archive is valid try to extract it on yourlocal computer a program such as winzip, winrar, 7zip etc. If the client program errors during extraction then the archive.zip file has become corrupted either during the downloador the creation process. Proceed to option #2 if the client side program also errors. If the client side program works without issues then proceed to option #3.

Option 2 Validate Download Process

  • FTP Downloads
    If you transferred via FTP make sure that the FTP client is in binary mode when transferring down to your local box and then also when it’s transferring back up toyour host or destination server. If you downloaded straight from the plugin interface then try the download one more time to make sure that the http transfer is clean.
  • Web Server Downloads
    Check Web Server Configuration
    These problems usually indicate the web server it not allowing files to be written to the directory. A common solution is to edit the Apache virtual hosts fileand include the “AllowOverride All” instruction.
    Example:
    <VirtualHost *:80>
    {various instructions}...
    <Directory /var/www/html>
    AllowOverride All
    </Directory>
    </VirtualHost>

Option 3 Change Archive Engine
On Step 1 of the installer under “Options” you can change the engine which tries to extract the archive. On some hosting providers you will have the abilityto use multiple extraction engines. By default almost every server will support “ZipArchive”, however some hosts also support “Shell Exec Unzip”. If you run into issuesduring the extraction process try to switch the archive engine from one format to the other.

Option 4 Manual Extraction
If for some reason the client side program works fine (see step #1) and neither of the archive engines work from step #3 then you may want to try a manual extraction of the archive file.

Option 5 Imunify360
If your server or host runs Imunify350 then its possible the software might cause issues with the extraction process. If so consider checking out this FAQ titledHow to fix installer validation checks? and See Problem-A.


Issue BPartial Extraction Issues
Only some of the files from the archive.zip/daf are not extracting correctly?

Option 1This behavior should NOT happen and is usually caused by either a corrupted zip file or a zip file that was created with filenames that are too long. Below is a listof items/plugins that create file names that are too long.

WP-Minify Plugin

  • Path: plugins\bwp-minify\cache
  • Fix: Flush the cache in the plugin settings or remove all files from cache directory

WP-Super Cache Plugin &W3 Total Cache Plugin

  • Path: wp-content\cache
  • Fix 1: Exclude the directory with the “Exclusion Filter” in the options dialog.
  • Fix 2: Flush the cache in the plugin settings or remove all files from cache directory.
  • Fix 3: Temporarily remove and delete the plugin then create a new package set from the Duplicator

 

To validate files are not correctly extracting. Download the package to your desktop and try to manually extract with a desktop program likewinrar, winzip or any other zip extracting software. During extraction you will receive and error message if there is a corrupt file in the archive.
Was this article helpful?

Related Articles