JInstaller::install: Failed to copy file

This is a common message that usually results from file or directory permissions on the hosting environment.  The easiest way to check if the problem is being caused by permission issues is to use Joomla's built-in "System Info" option in the Help menu.

When you select the "System Info" option, then you are presented with a range of information tabs about your website and the Joomla installation.

As shown in this screenshot one of the tabs you can choose is called “Directory Permissions’ - for you to be able to successfully install components, plug-ins and templates then all of these directories listed should show as “Writable”.  If they don't (the directory permission show as “Unwritable”) you will need to change the permissions for your Joomla installation.

How do I change the permissions for my Joomla installation?

First up - changing permissions can be dangerous. If you don't really understand permissions and ownership get the technical support staff at your hosting service to fix the permissions for you.  Specifically the webserver will need read and write access to the Joomla installation, it will also need ownership or membership of a group that owns the websites directories.

Changing permissions will depend on your website hosting setup.

• If your host provides cPanel access you can use the “File Manager” to change the directory permissions.
• If your host provides Shell access you can use chmod and chown to set the permissions to 755 and the group owner to the webserver's group
• If your host has a custom control panel specific to them you may be best off opening a support ticket to get the problem resolved.

It's not my Permissions!

If your permissions are all showing as writable then the next most likely cause is that your Joomla installation is version 1.5.10 - a typical error in this case will look like this:

JInstaller::install: File
'/website/tmp/install_38bd786260b81/SomeComponent.install.php' does not exist.
Component Install: Could not copy PHP install file.

Joomla 1.5.10 had a slight change which causes this error to be thrown, it has been resolved in all subsequent versions.  The simplest solution is to upgrade to a latter (and more secure) version of Joomla 1.5.

It's not my Permissions and it's not Joomla 1.5.10

If you've gotten this far and it hasn't worked the final thing to check is your “Global Configuration” for “FTP Settings”. If you have FTP enable/disbaled, flip the FTP option (set it to the opposite setting) and try again.

In our experience with our software/templates and with Third Party products these steps have resolved 99% of installation issues via the Joomla Installer.