Updated to Joomla 4 and custom PHP scripts no longer run

Question

I have just upgraded from Joomla 3.10.8 to the latest version of Joomla 4 (it is 100% better). However some of my scripts that have run for years now no longer work. The scripts basically import files that arrive via FTP. I have a cron job that worked up until the upgrade which is this:

/usr/bin/wget -O /dev/null "https://mysite.com/run/myscript.php" > /dev/null 2>&1

When I run the script in the browser with error reporting switched on here is the result:

in /home/mysite/public_html/libraries/src/Factory.php (line 138)
*/ public static function getApplication()
   {
       if (!self::$application)
       {
           throw new \Exception('Failed to start application', 500);
       }
       return self::$application;
   }

And also this:

Factory::getApplication('site') in /home/mysite/public_html/blm/script_blm.php (line 24)
require_once JPATH_BASE . '/includes/framework.php';
require_once(JPATH_ROOT.DS."components".DS."com_osproperty".DS."helpers".DS."helper.php");
require_once JPATH_BASE.DS.'administrator'.DS.'components'.DS.'com_osproperty'.DS.'classes'.DS.'xml.php';
require_once(JPATH_BASE.DS."administrator".DS."components".DS."com_osproperty".DS."classes".DS."property.php");
require_once(JPATH_BASE.DS."administrator".DS."components".DS."com_osproperty".DS."helpers".DS."images.php");
JFactory::getApplication('site');
ini_set('max_execution_time', 100);
ini_set('display_errors',1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
define('AMDEBUG',0);
define('IMGPATH',0);

And in the Stack trace it says:

Exception:
Failed to start application

  at /home/mysite/public_html/libraries/src/Factory.php:138
  at Joomla\CMS\Factory::getApplication('site')
     (/home/mysite/public_html/run/myscript.php:24)  

Would anyone know why it would suddenly stop working and what these errors actually mean?

Answer 1

Your code looks from the Joomla 2.5 era and is outdated. The DS constant is not used since Joomla 3:

The DS constant has been removed. If you really need it you can use DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR instead.

For information about backward compatibility issues, see the Joomla documentation site:

• https://docs.joomla.org/Potential_backward_compatibility_issues_in_Joomla_3_and_Joomla_Platform_12.2
• https://docs.joomla.org/Potential_backward_compatibility_issues_in_Joomla_4

I recommend to rewrite your CLI script using a Joomla 4 example. Or use a Joomla 3 example that you adapt to Joomla 4, like: https://gist.github.com/renekreijveld/8823105