System Verification

Occasionally it may become necessary to verify the integrity of your CMS Made Simple installation. It can assist in finding problems with uploads, or exactly what files were modified if your system has been hacked. Verification is especially useful if you had to install via FTP, rather than uncompressing the files directly on your server.

Verifying an Existing Site

Download the Checksum

On the Downloads page, find the checksum which matches the version you have installed, and download it to your computer.

Upload the Checksum

Log in to the Admin area of your site and navigate to Site Admin > System Verification. Under Perform Validation, upload the checksum file and click submit.

Understanding the Results

The test will show a list of files that are either are missing, or don't match the checksum. Some may be safe to ignore, like a missing /install directory that was purposefully removed after a successful installation or upgrade. Others may be more suspect, and are good indicators of where to look for diagnosing problems.

Notes

If you have renamed the /Admin directory, this tool will not account for it and will report all files from the Admin directory as missing.

The Uploads and Temporary folders are ignored, as are any folders you have created. This checksum is for core system files only.

Create a New Checksum

After each upgrade or major change to your site, it's a good idea to generate a new checksum. This can then be used to detect issues such as hacked servers or accidental deletion of files. To create a new checksum, simply click on Submit under Create a new checksum file. It can then be uploaded and used the same way as outlined above.