overcome Drupal 9 composer update symfony version conflict - symfony

Question

I'm trying update Drupal 9, but composer is failing on symfony/var-dumper or symfony/cache versions.
$ composer update
For additional security you should declare the allow-plugins config with a list of packages names that are allowed to run code. See https://getcomposer.org/allow-plugins
This warning will become an exception once you run composer update!
Loading composer repositories with package information
Updating dependencies
Your requirements could not be resolved to an installable set of packages.
Problem 1
- Root composer.json requires drupal/core-dev 9.3.0 -> satisfiable by drupal/core-dev[9.3.0].
- You can only install one version of a package, so only one of these can be installed: symfony/var-dumper[v3.4.0, ..., v3.4.47, v4.0.0, ..., v4.4.42, v5.0.0, ..., v5.4.9, v6.0.0, ..., v6.1.0].
- drupal/core-recommended 9.0.0 requires symfony/var-dumper v5.1.0 -> satisfiable by symfony/var-dumper[v5.1.0].
- drupal/core-dev 9.3.0 requires symfony/var-dumper ^5.4 -> satisfiable by symfony/var-dumper[v5.4.0, ..., v5.4.9].
- Root composer.json requires drupal/core-recommended 9 -> satisfiable by drupal/core-recommended[9.0.0].
I had been trying to update OwlCarousel, which won't work. I noticed I had the 1.x version installed, so I removed it and then tried to add owlcarousel2. But with no luck. I tried with setting minimum-stability to both dev and stable, specifying just drupal/owlcarousel2 and 'drupal/owlcarousel:^2.0#RC'
Composer gives me:
$ composer require drupal/owlcarousel2
Using version ^1.0#RC for drupal/owlcarousel2
./composer.json has been updated
Running composer update drupal/owlcarousel2
Loading composer repositories with package information
Updating dependencies
Info from https://repo.packagist.org: #StandWithUkraine
Your requirements could not be resolved to an installable set of packages.
Problem 1
- Root composer.json requires drupal/owlcarousel2 ^1.0#RC -> satisfiable by drupal/owlcarousel2[1.0.0-rc1].
- drupal/owlcarousel2 1.0.0-rc1 requires drupal/core ~8.0 -> found drupal/core[8.0.0-beta6, ..., 8.9.x-dev] but the package is fixed to 9.3.0 (lock file version) by a partial update and that version does not match. Make sure you list it as an argument for the update command.
What happens when I just try composer update ...
Problem 1
- drupal/core 8.0.0-beta6 requires doctrine/common dev-master#a45d110f71c323e29f41eb0696fa230e3fa1b1b5 -> found doctrine/common[2.1.3, ..., 2.13.x-dev, 3.0.0, ..., 3.3.x-dev] but it does not match the constraint.
- Root composer.json requires drupal/core-recommended 9.3.0 -> satisfiable by drupal/core-recommended[9.3.0].
- drupal/owlcarousel2 1.0.0-rc1 requires drupal/core ~8.0 -> satisfiable by drupal/core[8.0.0-beta6, ..., 8.9.x-dev].
...
I have no idea why drupal 8.* is being mention here. "drupal/core 8.0.0-beta6..." -- I painstakingly rebiult from scratch on 9.x (I used to love working with drupal but now it's the bane of my existence.)
I troll the web looking for similar problems to mine, and run randomly found commands like this one:
composer require 'drupal/core-recommended:9' 'drupal/core-composer-scaffold:9' 'drupal/core-project-message:9' --update-with-dependencies --no-update
533 composer update --with-all-dependencies
Now there's no mention of drupal 8.* in the output, but I still can't install Owlcarousel2 or run composer update.
Honestly, I feel composer and drupal together is a failure. I've been using composer for ~3+ years on this codebase, but to get it from 8.9 to 9.x I had to completely toss it and restart from the ground up on drupal/core-recommened 9.x. And even then, after installing ~10-12 modules I find myself here again--with composer just about never running successfully, and I spend a WEEK mucking with it to no avail.
Where was I...
$ composer why symfony/var-dumper
For additional security you should declare the allow-plugins config with a list of packages names that are allowed to run code. See https://getcomposer.org/allow-plugins
This warning will become an exception once you run composer update!
drupal/core-dev 9.3.0 requires symfony/var-dumper (^5.4)
drupal/core-recommended 9.3.0 requires symfony/var-dumper (v5.4.0)
drush/drush 11.0.9 requires symfony/var-dumper (^4.0 || ^5.0 || ^6.0)
psy/psysh v0.11.4 requires symfony/var-dumper (^6.0 || ^5.0 || ^4.0 || ^3.4)
symfony/cache v5.4.8 conflicts symfony/var-dumper (<4.4)
symfony/error-handler v4.4.34 requires symfony/var-dumper (^4.4|^5.0)
So is symfony/cache the problem?
In composer.lock I find the symfony framework-bundle section:
{
"name": "symfony/framework-bundle",
"version": "v4.4.37",
"source": {
"type": "git",
"url": "https://github.com/symfony/framework-bundle.git",
"reference": "5ae3655a69ac8b6a7bf46ce2b1e04b7be2ec05c7"
},
"dist": {
"type": "zip",
"url": "https://api.github.com/repos/symfony/framework-bundle/zipball/5ae3655a69ac8b6a7bf46ce2b1e04b7be2ec05c7",
"reference": "5ae3655a69ac8b6a7bf46ce2b1e04b7be2ec05c7",
"shasum": ""
},
"require": {
"ext-xml": "*",
"php": ">=7.1.3",
"symfony/cache": "^4.4|^5.0",
"symfony/config": "^4.4.11|~5.0.11|^5.1.3",
"symfony/dependency-injection": "^4.4.1|^5.0.1",
"symfony/error-handler": "^4.4.1|^5.0.1",
"symfony/filesystem": "^3.4|^4.0|^5.0",
"symfony/finder": "^3.4|^4.0|^5.0",
"symfony/http-foundation": "^4.4|^5.0",
"symfony/http-kernel": "^4.4",
"symfony/polyfill-mbstring": "~1.0",
"symfony/polyfill-php80": "^1.16",
"symfony/routing": "^4.4.12|^5.1.4"
},
"conflict": {
"doctrine/persistence": "<1.3",
"phpdocumentor/reflection-docblock": "<3.0|>=3.2.0,<3.2.2",
"phpdocumentor/type-resolver": "<0.3.0|1.3.*",
"phpunit/phpunit": "<4.8.35|<5.4.3,>=5.0",
"symfony/asset": "<3.4",
"symfony/browser-kit": "<4.3",
"symfony/console": "<4.4.21",
"symfony/dom-crawler": "<4.3",
"symfony/dotenv": "<4.3.6",
"symfony/form": "<4.3.5",
"symfony/http-client": "<4.4",
"symfony/lock": "<4.4",
"symfony/mailer": "<4.4",
"symfony/messenger": "<4.4",
"symfony/mime": "<4.4",
"symfony/property-info": "<3.4",
"symfony/security-bundle": "<4.4",
"symfony/serializer": "<4.4",
"symfony/stopwatch": "<3.4",
"symfony/translation": "<4.4",
"symfony/twig-bridge": "<4.1.1",
"symfony/twig-bundle": "<4.4",
"symfony/validator": "<4.4",
"symfony/web-profiler-bundle": "<4.4",
"symfony/workflow": "<4.3.6"
},
I've been trying to build in the most mainstream way, so as to avoid these dependency issues.
In some threads I see people ask "Why do you have drupal/core-dev ? Other threads respond that it's a requirement for drupal/core-recommended.
Some say "delete your composer.json, composer.lock, symfomny.lock, and/or vendor folder." Huh?! I have stuff in vendor that I'd have to copy out and save, then replace, etc. Is this really a solution? Doesn't composer.json store what's installed?
I'd appreciate any advice on fixing this install.
Also, how can I use drupal and composer and not have to cross my fingers and hold my EVERY TIME I run updates or have to add a module?
composer.json:
{
"name": "drupal/recommended-project",
"description": "Project template for Drupal 9 projects with a relocated document root",
"type": "project",
"license": "GPL-2.0-or-later",
"homepage": "https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal",
"support": {
"docs": "https://www.drupal.org/docs/user_guide/en/index.html",
"chat": "https://www.drupal.org/node/314178"
},
"repositories": {
"0": {
"type": "composer",
"url": "https://packages.drupal.org/8"
},
"owlcarousel2": {
"type": "package",
"package": {
"name": "owlcarousel2/owlcarousel2",
"version": "2.3.4",
"type": "drupal-library",
"dist": {
"type": "zip",
"url": "https://github.com/OwlCarousel2/OwlCarousel2/archive/2.3.4.zip"
}
}
},
"tiny_slider": {
"type": "package",
"package": {
"name": "ganlanyuan/tiny-slider",
"version": "2.9.3",
"type": "drupal-library",
"dist": {
"type": "zip",
"url": "https://github.com/ganlanyuan/tiny-slider/archive/refs/tags/v2.9.3.zip"
}
}
}
},
"require": {
"composer/installers": "^1.9",
"drupal/admin_theme": "^1.0#beta",
"drupal/aegan": "1.1",
"drupal/at_tools": "^3.3",
"drupal/backup_migrate": "^5.0",
"drupal/better_search": "^1.6",
"drupal/blazy": "^2.11",
"drupal/blazy_ui": "^2.11",
"drupal/ckeditor_config": "^3.1",
"drupal/ckeditor_div_manager": "^2.0",
"drupal/ckeditor_video": "1.x-dev",
"drupal/core-composer-scaffold": "9",
"drupal/core-dev": "9.3.0",
"drupal/core-project-message": "9",
"drupal/core-recommended": "9",
"drupal/ctools": "^3.7",
"drupal/editor_advanced_link": "1.9",
"drupal/entity": "^1.3",
"drupal/entity_clone": "^1.0#beta",
"drupal/exclude_node_title": "^1.3",
"drupal/externalauth": "1.4",
"drupal/fakeobjects": "^1.1",
"drupal/imce": "^2.4",
"drupal/jira_issue_collector": "^1.2",
"drupal/juicebox": "3.0.0-alpha2",
"drupal/libraries": "^3.0#beta",
"drupal/menu_item_role_access": "^2.0",
"drupal/node_class": "^2.0",
"drupal/nodeaccess": "^1.1",
"drupal/owlcarousel2": "^1.0#RC",
"drupal/pathauto": "^1.10",
"drupal/profile": "^1.4",
"drupal/simplesamlphp_auth": "^3.2",
"drupal/slick": "2.6",
"drupal/slick_extras": "1.0-rc7",
"drupal/slick_views": "^2.6",
"drupal/svg_image": "1.16",
"drupal/tiny_slider": "^1.0#beta",
"drupal/token": "^1.10",
"drupal/vapn": "^1.5",
"drupal/views_accordion": "^2.0",
"drupal/views_slideshow": "4.8",
"drush/drush": "^11.0"
},
"require-dev": {},
"conflict": {
"drupal/drupal": "*"
},
"minimum-stability": "dev",
"prefer-stable": true,
"config": {
"sort-packages": true
},
"extra": {
"drupal-scaffold": {
"locations": {
"web-root": "./"
}
},
"installer-paths": {
"core": [
"type:drupal-core"
],
"libraries/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-library"
],
"modules/contrib/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-module"
],
"profiles/contrib/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-profile"
],
"themes/contrib/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-theme"
],
"drush/Commands/contrib/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-drush"
],
"modules/custom/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-custom-module"
],
"profiles/custom/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-custom-profile"
],
"themes/custom/{$name}": [
"type:drupal-custom-theme"
]
},
"drupal-core-project-message": {
"include-keys": [
"homepage",
"support"
],
"post-create-project-cmd-message": [
"<bg=blue;fg=white> </>",
"<bg=blue;fg=white> Congratulations, you’ve installed the Drupal codebase </>",
"<bg=blue;fg=white> from the drupal/recommended-project template! </>",
"<bg=blue;fg=white> </>",
"",
"<bg=yellow;fg=black>Next steps</>:",
" * Install the site: https://www.drupal.org/docs/8/install",
" * Read the user guide: https://www.drupal.org/docs/user_guide/en/index.html",
" * Get support: https://www.drupal.org/support",
" * Get involved with the Drupal community:",
" https://www.drupal.org/getting-involved",
" * Remove the plugin that prints this message:",
" composer remove drupal/core-project-message"
]
}
}
}