Upgrading form 3.5.2 to 3.8.4, any tips before I comence?

[SirGeo]

I know someone posted a thread previously about their issues from 3.5.4 to 3.8.1

But was just wondering is there anything I should be watching out for? Or should it all run smoothly?

Any tips? should I get a 3.6.x (seperatly) upgrade first and make sure it runs fine before going further?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

[Trevor Hannant]

Before going anywhere near your live site, test it first!

Create a test forum in a password protected directory using a copy of your database and try your upgrade there. This will give you a few advantages:

- you can check for any issues you may experience during the upgrade and have resolutions ready for 'live'
- you can use the test version to carry out the necessary style changes, export them then import them back into the 'live' upgrade minimising downtime
- you can test any modifications to see if they work or not

To do this:

- take a backup of your live database
- create a new database and import the backup into there
- copy your vBulletin files to a new directory called 'testvb' and password protect it using .htaccess
- edit the config.php file to point to the new database and use a different cookie prefix
- login to AdminCP and update the vBulletin Options > Site Name / URL / Contact Details section to reflect the change

Then follow the normal upgrade procedure.

[SirGeo]

Problem with creating a test bed is because of the following.... "Threads: 179,036, Posts: 2,227,425, Members: 30,704".....

It's gonna kill me...

I know the style will be screwed and i'm more than prepared to run the VB default style for a while, untill I get it fixed...

I have a very similar style on a smaller forum I run, I updated that a few days ago (3.6.x to 3.8.4) and everything seemed to port across ok..'ish...

But this larger site has a lot of modifications bolted on, most of them specific to the 3.5.x series... I know i'll have to turn them all of, or does every one suggest Uninstalling?

Thanks for the tips though.. I will still try creating the test site, but as i said.. it's gonna take forever...

[Buck_gps]

many modifications for 3.5 will work with 3.8, most have updates. I would agree to do a test forum first. in phpmyadmin, you can duplicate the database and rename it. upload vb 3.8.4 files to the testvb directory and upload all modification files to the directory that you are running. edit the config file to point to the copied database. Then run the upgrader on the testvb directory. you may need to disable the plugin/hook system in the config. otherwise if upgrade is successful, you can precede to upgrade the main forum. I have upgraded many forums over the last few years and seldom have issues. 3.5 to 3.8 should be no problem.

[SirGeo]

Whats the easiest way to create the duplicate/backup for a forum that size? I don't know SSH, i have access to it through cpanel, but have no clue how to use it and i really don't want to start using it and break things.

[Trevor Hannant]

The most reliable method of backing up and restoring a database is with shell access via ssh. This is because backing up with a PHP script like phpMyAdmin can result in PHP timeouts errors and an incomplete backup file. Please see the instructions here:

Backup:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/m...nce_ssh_backup

Restore:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/m...ce_ssh_restore

P.S. If you don't have shell access, some people have also reported success with these scripts:

MySQLDumper:
http://www.mysqldumper.de/en/index.php

MySQLHotxcopy:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...t=mysqlhotcopy

Bigdump:
http://www.ozerov.de/bigdump.php

[SirGeo]

Ok.. trying to test the waters with SSH.. problem is I don't know what my username and password is? I get it incorporates the URL.. is it my cpanel username/pw? my whm details? or database user details?

[Buck_gps]

there is an option in phpmyadmin to duplicate the database with a modified db name, that is the easiest for me.

[SirGeo]

step by step?

[SirGeo]

OK.. i "successfully" created a backup in SSH..... Yay for me.. lol...

Still creating a "duplicate" through phpmyadmin would be good...

[Michael Biddle]

OK.. i "successfully" created a backup in SSH..... Yay for me.. lol...

Still creating a "duplicate" through phpmyadmin would be good...

Going to phpMyAdmin->Selecting your Database->Operations allows you to copy your database.