Upgrade test

[MrsTiggywinkle]

I just wanted to follow up here and ask you, [URL="http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/member/196333-mrstiggywinkle"]MrsTiggywinkle[/URL="http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/member/196333-mrstiggywinkle"] , if that worked for you. I am in the same boat, modifying my test site and taking my time and all the while the database is getting out dated. Did the suggestions mentioned above work for you to turn your test site into your live site? Is there anything else that needs to be done or to look out for? Is there any other thread with more detailed directions? Thanks to anyone for any help they can provide. Brian

Hi Brian

Everything that Lynne suggested worked perfectly and our site was upgraded to vBulletin4 without any problems. We were closed for several hours while we did the work, but that was just because we were double checking and making sure we had done things right before going live.

What we did do was make a complete new database from a backup so that if things went wrong we could quickly go back to the old version.

[TheLastSuperman]

You cannot simply switch over config files and expect all the customizations to carry over... why?

Well think of it this way...

Database 1 (Live Site)	Database 2 (Test Site)
If you make changes here...	they will not be made here.
This site does not change...	if you change this one.

Anything you change/modify on the test site will not be carried over, whenever your making a test site for example to test an upgrade - You always note the changes you make, the reason being is the databases are 100% separate therefor you will be required to make the same exact changes (settings/modification installs/etc etc) on the Live site AFTER you upgrade it. The only purpose of a test site is to ensure the upgrade and all functionality performs as expected.

So remember, whenever you make a test site, you are not making a "shell" that you can simply flip a switch on the live site when done and Bam brand new shell, no sir/ma'am it's not that simple HOWEVER the test site does allow you to export out a finalized version of a custom style and more to prepare for your upgrade so utilize it to your full advantage.

[brihan]

I just wanted to follow up here and ask you, [URL="http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/member/196333-mrstiggywinkle"]MrsTiggywinkle[/URL="http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/member/196333-mrstiggywinkle"] , if that worked for you.

I am in the same boat, modifying my test site and taking my time and all the while the database is getting out dated.

Did the suggestions mentioned above work for you to turn your test site into your live site? Is there anything else that needs to be done or to look out for?

Is there any other thread with more detailed directions?

Thanks to anyone for any help they can provide.

Brian

[MrsTiggywinkle]

Thank you Lynne, much appreciated.

[Lynne]

Thank you Lynne.

I didn't realise you could run the upgrade script more than once. So just to clarify, when I am ready to launch the version 4 site, I change over the config to the live database (after taking a back up!), rename the forum folder and then run the script and rebuild thread information and the new styles I created will not be affected?

Everything is correct except the last one.

What you are dealing with are TWO databases. One for your test site where you are building your new styles and one for your live site. Once you point the config.php file to your live site, the styles are still left on your test site. So, what you want to do is when on the test site, after you have created your new styles, go to admincp > Styles & templates > Download/Upload Styles and Download each of your custom styles. Then, when you switch the config.php file to the live site and after you run the upgrade script, you may go to that same page, but use the Import Style XML section to import that style you had exported.

[Aakif N.]

Thank you Lynne.

I didn't realise you could run the upgrade script more than once. So just to clarify, when I am ready to launch the version 4 site, I change over the config to the live database (after taking a back up!), rename the forum folder and then run the script and rebuild thread information and the new styles I created will not be affected?

Yep, thats pretty much it

[MrsTiggywinkle]

You may do whatever you want to the test site (like rebuilding thread information) and it will have no affect on the live site. You will need to do more than "simply change the name of the test forum to 'forum' and then change the config to point to the current database name." You will need to then run the upgrade.php script and then do all the final steps like rebuild thread information for that database too.

Thank you Lynne.

I didn't realise you could run the upgrade script more than once. So just to clarify, when I am ready to launch the version 4 site, I change over the config to the live database (after taking a back up!), rename the forum folder and then run the script and rebuild thread information and the new styles I created will not be affected?

[Lynne]

You may do whatever you want to the test site (like rebuilding thread information) and it will have no affect on the live site. You will need to do more than "simply change the name of the test forum to 'forum' and then change the config to point to the current database name." You will need to then run the upgrade.php script and then do all the final steps like rebuild thread information for that database too.

[MrsTiggywinkle]

I've looked for an answer to this but cannot find one.

I've created a complete test forum with a test copy of the current database for my upgrade from vb3 to vb4 so that I can recreate my styles at my leisure.

Obviously the test database will become out of date. So my plan had been to check everything out on the test forum, redo my styles etc. and when I was happy to simply change the name of the test forum to 'forum' and then change the config to point to the current database name.

However, after the test upgrade the admin panel shows that I should rebuild things such as forum information and thread information etc. If I do that on the test forum/test database will I get errors if I go with my plan to simply change the config to point to the current database when I am ready (as these threads will not have been rebuilt)

Should I wait to rebuild the thread information etc. and do it only when I am about ready to launch the new version?

Or is my plan flawed anyway and won't work?

Hope that all makes sense!

Thanks for any help/advice.