Why won't my plugins enable after installing?

After you install or update a plugin you have to enable it for the changes to take place. Sometimes when you do this you get an error. Here are a few reasons you might get an error and how to resolve them.

Plugin Already Exists

If you try to install a plugin that already exists instead of updating a plugin it will give you this error. Find the plugin and click on it's name. Then click the update button. Now you can update the existing plugin since it already existed.

Database Extension Issue

Base 1 plugin contains the database extensions for our integration. Here you can have 2 different issues.

1. File already exists

Here the screen will tell you it can not install the plugin because the DB extension file already exists in the system. Likely this is because you already have the plugin installed under a different name. If you are an Instant Connect customer and downloaded the BrightArrow version or vice versa you'll get this error as the plugins are identical with different branding.

2. Error in a different DB Extension

If another DB Extension has an error it will prevent you from installing or updating a plugin that also has a DB Extension. This is because PowerSchool will first check all previous extensions before working on the new one. So if one of the other extensions has a problem then nothing new can happen until it's fixed. It's the holiday string light from the 80s method, if one goes out they all go out.

Ex: A certain vendor that was a messenger for schools didn't know that the Teachers table doesn't exist and built a plugin with an extension to the teachers table. Today it wouldn't let that get installed, but back then it allowed them to install it and then created a problem for each server it was  installed on because you can not extend a table that does't exist.

To resolve issues like this depends on what caused it.

  • If the issue was caused by a custom db extension built in PowerSchool's interface you may be able to go into the interface and delete it
  • If the issue was caused by a db extension that was installed via a plugin you can not delete it, you will need to contact PowerSchool support to have them remove it.

PowerQuery Issue

Base 2 and Data plugins contain PowerQueries. PowerQueries require all the pieces to exist before they are installed. Unlike DB Extensions, you can delete a PowerQuery or even disable it to get past issues.

Non-Existent Core Table

The database table that is referred to in any of the PowerQueries must exist for them to work. If they do not there will be errors. There are a few reasons the table might not exist

  • If you try to install base 2 but base 1 has not been installed AND enabled yet then the required tables will not exist. Enable Base 1 and the issue should go away. Sometimes PowerSchool "remembers" that they weren't there and you may need to re-install base 2 after enabling base 1. For this reason we always recommend fully enabling Base 1 before any other BrightArrow plugins.
  • A previously installed PowerQuery may refer to a table that was manually deleted. This happens more often than you might think. People may have had us use a custom phone or email field that they later deleted because they didn't need it anymore. We can remove it from our PowerQuery but until that happens the PQ will have an error and that will stop all other PQs from being installed.
  • A DB extension was installed, a PQ referring to that extension was installed and enabled, then the plugin the DB extension was installed in is disabled. Disabling the plugin disables the DB extension and so the PowerQuery can't use it

*  Remember that just like DB Extensions, PowerQueries are all reprocessed when you install a plugin with a new PQ in it. This means PQs with an error from a completely different plugin can prevent you from enabling a plugin.
** While PowerSchool's error will say "core table" it does not have to be a core table, it can be a database extension. 

File Already Exists

Files can only exist once in CPM. When you get this error it's saying the file already exists and so you can not add it again. This can happen if you manually entered a file and now want the plugin to take over. It can also be an error where PowerSchool thinks the file is still there but in reality you were updating it from a new version of the plugin and it's supposed to be replacing the old version. If this happens the first step is to delete the plugin fully then reinstall. Many times this is enough to get PowerSchool back on track and realize that the file wasn't a duplicate. If you know you manually created the file you will need to decide how you want to handle that. You can create a new version of that file with a different name or maybe you don't need your version at all and the plugin can take over.

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