Take the 2-minute tour ×

I have a tex file that compiles from the command line when I run pdflatex. However, when I run the same command from PHP/Apache, I get a fatal error. I also get a file called "missfonts.log" produced, which contains the following:


In my output log, these are the last two lines:

!pdfTeX error: pdflatex (file ecsi0800): Font ecsi0800 at 600 not found

I don't know what ecsi0800 refers to - it's not in my tex file anywhere.

I've tried various permutations of updmap and updmap-sys, with no change. I can see a whole load of map files in my texmf-var directory, but no idea what to do with them to make them available to the builder.

I'm not sure if this is a server config issue or a pdflatex issue. Is it possible to tell pdflatex to use fonts from a specific location?

Edit: Another question led me to the command kpsewhich pdftex.map, with the output:


So, I created a folder called $HOME with a soft link from .texmf-var to the .texmf-var folder in my home folder, and the thing works! This isn't a great solution, and I'm sure there's a better way, so please do help if you can!

share|improve this question
How are TeX and the fonts installed on this system? Distribution-maintained packages, installing TeX Live from upstream media, or what? I suspect you have at least a few things installed in your account that aren't available to other users, including the Apache user. –  Mike Renfro Apr 22 '13 at 16:22
All from distro, Ubuntu desktop. –  Dave Child Apr 22 '13 at 17:05
You probably have run updmap from your account, which is usually bad. However kpsewhich pdftex.map will never show $HOME in its output, so I guess something very wrong has been done to your distribution. –  egreg Apr 22 '13 at 18:07
add comment

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote accepted

I moved my build process onto a fresh install of Ubuntu and still had the same problem. In the end I installed the "texlive-full" package, and that sorted it out.

share|improve this answer
add comment

Your Answer


