[Forum] Migrate from Vbulletin 3.6.8 to 4.10

[larryd]

I have an active Vbulletin installation running VB 3.6.8 and I've set up a replacement under Vbulletin 4.10.

I know the simplest solution would have been to simply download 4.10 and run the upgrade on the existing server however I needed to be able to adjust the templates and css before moving the active forum over.

Is there any way to "import" the users/threads from the existing installation to the new installation or do I have to run the upgrade on the 3.6.8 installation?

[larryd]

The other half of my question is there any way to shrink the database size itself? When I dump the database it is 5.1Gb so moving it from one server to another takes quite awhile. Is there any way to shrink the db size to make an easier transition?

[Steve Machol]

1. The only supported and recommended way to upgrade is as per the documentation.

One *unsupported* way you can try is to install a new copy of vB to a new database, then use Impex to import the old data to the new one. Please read the online Impex import instructions here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/impex

Also please view the 'After the Import' instructions here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/impex_cleanup

Note: This will change all your existing user, post, thread and forum ID numbers. So all posted links will no longer work, as well as search engine results from prior to this import.

2. If you haven't moved attachments to the file system yet, then do that.

Admin CP -> Attachments -> Attachment Storage Type

For vB 3.8, you could also empty (not delete) the postindex table since the search will have to be reindexed after the upgrade anyway.