[Suite OR Forum] How 2 Guide - Backups, Upgrades, and Recovery!

[TheLastSuperman]

Where would I find the aforementioned config.php file??

Turn off ALL MODIFICATIONS. You can do this by disabling them all but the best and highly recommended way of doing this is by locating your config.php file and edit it (make a copy of it first and do not use notepad to edit use an external editor such as notepad ++ google it etc) and at the top below <php? add this:

Code:
define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true);
*YOU MUST DISABLE MODS BEFORE UPGRADING, not afterwards when it failed the first time, NOW.

Bob,

Config.php holds your database details and other Admin and Super-Admin related details

You can locate this in the includes folder.

A Live forum has it already in the includes folder named confg.php, for the new 4.0 you want to edit the config.php.new with the correct information and rename it to config.php.

** Remember if cloning a site to test an upgrade on you must edit the config file otherwise it is pointing to your LIVE forums database and you could possibly upgrade it on accident and run into problems you might have encountered with the test site and go wth? How did that happen?? Well you had the clone files but forgot to tell it in config.php to use the clone database - Be careful .

https://www.yoursite.com/forum/includes/config.php

If you are just in your root folder then www.yoursite.com/includes/config.php

Mike

[s1dest3pnate]

Just wanted y'alls opinion on how I upgrade my forum when new versions are released. What I do is I copy (cp -Rf) my current forums directory to "forums(version#here)", then I backup my SQL DB, upload the new files into the original forums directory (overwriting all previous files) and then run the install. This way, I have an exact copy of the forum files as well as the exact SQL DB so I could 100% restore to the version I had before the upgrade.

This may seem like a dumb inquiry as it may come across to some of you as common sense, but I felt I should mention it anyway and see if you concur that this is good practice.

Thanks in advance.

[TheLastSuperman]

Just wanted y'alls opinion on how I upgrade my forum when new versions are released. What I do is I copy (cp -Rf) my current forums directory to "forums(version#here)", then I backup my SQL DB, upload the new files into the original forums directory (overwriting all previous files) and then run the install. This way, I have an exact copy of the forum files as well as the exact SQL DB so I could 100% restore to the version I had before the upgrade.

This may seem like a dumb inquiry as it may come across to some of you as common sense, but I felt I should mention it anyway and see if you concur that this is good practice.

Thanks in advance.

Not a dumb question at all it helps you confirm your method and or snoop for an easier one in between the lines per say lol so

Sounds good to me, the only reason I don't get more elaborate with some of these details and other methods is simple.. sometimes toooooo much information is a bad thing but your method is fine the only thing is I see your not testing the backup... that can be time consuming but remember one wrong checkbox when exporting the db can cause you trouble down the line so if you never have tested your db backup I suggest you do it at least once to confirm your exporting it correctly. It would baffle you one day if you went to restore a botched upgrade only to find a certain importing script won't work due to something you failed to check or uncheck when backing up .

So in essence you can take shortcuts to what I have in my first post however some of those include not verifying a backup which could cost you in the event something does go wrong.

Again as I keep saying in posts here and there, better to be safe then sorry .

Mike

[Bob_R]

Do I need to uninstall any mods I currently have running on 3.8.4?

I also have vbAdvanced which will be replaced with the CMS and Blog obviously, so do I need to uninstall that?

Thanks!!

[TheLastSuperman]

Do I need to uninstall any mods I currently have running on 3.8.4?

I also have vbAdvanced which will be replaced with the CMS and Blog obviously, so do I need to uninstall that?

Thanks!!

I would disable them ALL in:

AdminCP > Plugins & Products > Manage Products

After you disable them all it needs to be done in the config.php file as well, see Section 4 - Step 3 for info on what to place in the file then save and re-upload.

** I have seen some strange occurrences where clone sites would not upgrade due to a third party add-on or integrated mod such as Photopost and vBa CMPS/Advanced among others so I suggest completely uninstalling those mods and the files associated. You can however disable and or uninstall all mods once the clone site is up and running that way your live site still remains untouched . Residual files can cause issues as well. I do suggest before uninstalling mods on the clone site to revert back to the default style and this should be done regardless of your choice to disable or uninstall mods, please revert the style to default as well before upgrading your clone (test) site.

Is that what you were looking for info wise?

Mike

[Bob_R]

I would disable them ALL in:

AdminCP > Plugins & Products > Manage Products

After you disable them all it needs to be done in the config.php file as well, see Section 4 - Step 3 for info on what to place in the file then save and re-upload.

** I have seen some strange occurrences where clone sites would not upgrade due to a third party add-on or integrated mod such as Photopost and vBa CMPS/Advanced among others so I suggest completely uninstalling those mods and the files associated. You can however disable and or uninstall all mods once the clone site is up and running that way your live site still remains untouched . Residual files can cause issues as well. I do suggest before uninstalling mods on the clone site to revert back to the default style and this should be done regardless of your choice to disable or uninstall mods, please revert the style to default as well before upgrading your clone (test) site.

Is that what you were looking for info wise?

Mike

Actually, I'm confused. I think I'm reading wayyy too much into this and confusing myself. I think all the test site, then upgrade is confusing me. What's the difference between cloning a site and/or testing a site? I have a rather small site at the moment, at least I think I don't need to do a test site.

Could I do this?

- Backup my site (Files, folders, database)
- Disable plugins, products thru AdminCP and config.php
- Download vBulletin 4.0.1
- Upload the files just as if I was going from 3.7 to 3.8 and run the upgrade script

Am I just stupid? What, if anything, am I missing with the 4 steps I listed?

Thanks!!!!

[TheLastSuperman]

Actually, I'm confused. I think I'm reading wayyy too much into this and confusing myself. I think all the test site, then upgrade is confusing me. What's the difference between cloning a site and/or testing a site? I have a rather small site at the moment, at least I think I don't need to do a test site.

Could I do this?

- Backup my site (Files, folders, database)
- Disable plugins, products thru AdminCP and config.php
- Download vBulletin 4.0.1
- Upload the files just as if I was going from 3.7 to 3.8 and run the upgrade script

Am I just stupid? What, if anything, am I missing with the 4 steps I listed?

Thanks!!!!

NO your not stupid and I would appreciate it if you did not refer to yourself that way - You just have not had time to learn yet is how I would put it eh? .

1. You CLONE your current LIVE site as you want to make an exact copy of your live site to test the upgrade on. You see clone & test thinking two different things when in fact it's the same.
2. Once you have the CLONE site up and running IT is your new TEST site for testing the upgrade! If it works then you can say hey... it worked so let's upgrade the LIVE site or make the test site I just upgrade the live site by simply moving the folders around or renaming them.

It's that simple.


**************

If you want to do this:

- Backup my site (Files, folders, database)
- Disable plugins, products thru AdminCP and config.php
- Download vBulletin 4.0.1
- Upload the files just as if I was going from 3.7 to 3.8 and run the upgrade script

Yes but as I have said before to others, are you sure your backup is good? IF not AND it happens to fail (the upgrade) then you could be in trouble. That is a risk you must decide if you want to take however many never have problems and many do it depends on a number of factors.

So are you good to go now? If not keep asking until you know what makes you comfortable with this whole procedure .

Mike

[TheLastSuperman]

Updated 1.13.2010

1. Added in Screenshot/Image of default options when exporting via phpMyAdmin for use with BigDump .

[s1dest3pnate]

Not a dumb question at all it helps you confirm your method and or snoop for an easier one in between the lines per say lol so

Sounds good to me, the only reason I don't get more elaborate with some of these details and other methods is simple.. sometimes toooooo much information is a bad thing but your method is fine the only thing is I see your not testing the backup... that can be time consuming but remember one wrong checkbox when exporting the db can cause you trouble down the line so if you never have tested your db backup I suggest you do it at least once to confirm your exporting it correctly. It would baffle you one day if you went to restore a botched upgrade only to find a certain importing script won't work due to something you failed to check or uncheck when backing up .

So in essence you can take shortcuts to what I have in my first post however some of those include not verifying a backup which could cost you in the event something does go wrong.

Again as I keep saying in posts here and there, better to be safe then sorry .

Mike

Thanks! Testing the DB sounds like a great idea because what's the point of a DB backup if it don't work?

Thanks again.

[TheLastSuperman]

Thanks! Testing the DB sounds like a great idea because what's the point of a DB backup if it don't work?

Thanks again.

Bingo

[TheLastSuperman]

Update 1.14.2010

1. Added in 1b to Section 1, reworded 1a to include information on Trevor Hannant's nice CMS Tutorial on how to upgrade to 4.0!

[Bob_R]

Update 1.14.2010

1. Added in 1b to Section 1, reworded 1a to include information on Trevor Hannant's nice CMS Tutorial on how to upgrade to 4.0!

LOL, I think I finally got a grasp on things and then I read (see above)

That would be just an upgrade w/o a test site. Would I still disable plugins, etc...?

Thanks!

[TheLastSuperman]

LOL, I think I finally got a grasp on things and then I read (see above)

That would be just an upgrade w/o a test site. Would I still disable plugins, etc...?

Thanks!

Bob,

If your not making a test site and your simply upgrading your LIVE site then you can follow these eight simply steps:

1. Turn off the forum
2. Make a backup of the Database and 3.x files on from the server (just in case)
3. Disable all mods in admincp and via editing the config file
4. Upload the 4.0 files overwriting the 3.x files
5. Run the upgrade script
6. Enable the mods via config file ONLY because you want to leave all 3.x mods disabled in admincp
7. Turn on the forum
8. Done

[Bob_R]

Bob,

If your not making a test site and your simply upgrading your LIVE site then you can follow these eight simply steps:

1. Turn off the forum
2. Make a backup of the Database and 3.x files on from the server (just in case)
3. Disable all mods in admincp and via editing the config file
4. Upload the 4.0 files overwriting the 3.x files
5. Run the upgrade script
6. Enable the mods via config file ONLY because you want to leave all 3.x mods disabled in admincp
7. Turn on the forum
8. Done

OK, thanks!

[TheLastSuperman]

OK, thanks!

No problem Bob let us know how it all goes