problems with testsite/database restores

[IggyP]

dammm...tried to do things slow and proper but still messed something up somehow....im baffled as to whats going on, something is def not making sense im stuck tho...

so i basically restored my database to the test sites...uploaded my sites files to the test site.....everything seeming ok, so i upgraded to 5.1.0......everything still seeming ok, i even got in a few tests then all the sudden i check my live site and its redirecting to the test one? the cookie settings, urls, config files should all been right so im at a loss...got prefixes on the tables and cache stuff.......actually used the config files from the test site i had set up before to be sure it would work as that one did....

after the fact ive tried restoring different backups and things but seeming like its not really doing anything besides making things worse....cant log into either one of them now, besides the test site with clean install....and backups dont seem to update....files are there and everything idk what to do?

i did take a full site backup that my host could restore as a last resort but still trying to figure what the heck happend and what needs fixing

sorry to have to ask, appreciate any helps tho

[IggyP]

i seem to have succeeded to restore my main site by creating a new data base, changing config file and restoring backup to the new database....also restarting sql server in there somewhere..

why would the backup not implement properly on existing databases?

hopefully will not have anymore issues but will update soon..

[IggyP]

the test site is now suddenly redirecting to /install/install.php for some reason?? or else a redirect loop... i dont understand..

i guess im starting from scratch and hope something magically turns out different, heh

incase im doing this wrong process is:
1. restore test site database of live site
2.upload live sites files to test site directory
3. load test site admin cp and be sure cookie settings are correct(were supposed to do this after the backup?)
4. upload vb5.1.0 files to test directory and upgrade to 5.1.0
5. tinker tinker test test(crash crash)

[BirdOPrey5]

If the /core/install/install.php exists vBulletin will always redirect to it because you should never be running a forum with the install.php file still on the server. As soon as you have done the install you should delete the entire /install directory (within the /core/ folder.)

If you are restoring a database you never actually run install.php, it's not necessary- just setup the /core/includes/config.php file to point to the right database.

[IggyP]

ya the install folder wasnt even in there im surprised it got me there somehow.....i had one other separate inactive test directory(clean vb505) with an install folder but it wasnt the "/testvb" url/directory....i named it some odd thing incase i needed to switch back to that directory later....could that still link to that somehow?

its almost done reuploading again....gonna try again....i guess i will be sure all install directories from all folders are gone.......

that would be pretty cool safety feature if thats whats going on...seems could be a bit of something else with databases and directories not updating and routing properly but well see how this next round goes i guess hehe

thanks for posting joe

[IggyP]

ive removed all instances of install directory from the entire server and im still getting the core/install/core/install loop...

trying installing my live 5.0.5 to test again after deleting the old ones so just one test and one live....gonna try testing the 5.0.5 test site further before the upgrade and see what i can learn :/

[IggyP]

i wonder could this be something about the .htaccess files? im just using the ones from my live site, but i havent manually edited them or anything idk...
just a little extra frustrating because ive done this successfully before even using same config files..idk

[IggyP]

ok yeah, now im getting the redirect loop even with clean install of test site so cant seem to get any kinda of test installation up

gonna try fresh install of 5.0.5 then restore database...

[BirdOPrey5]

What page are you seeing when you get redirected to install.php? Are you seeing an actual page to begin the install or a 404 error?

[IggyP]

im using fireftp btw, and this is strange indeed...after the clean 5.0.5 install i went to delete the install folder....didnt appear in the core directory!
tried to load admincp but said to delete install directory, so i reuploading it now, lol so i can see it and delete it....i think this is how i got to the install screen one time, but most of the times its only redirect loop error page

i can try to think like, ive done a server optimization here since my working test site but idk why these things would happen...

still pushing forward but something wacky going on idk..

[IggyP]

this time it started looping right after i restored the live site database....i check admincp and 0.00mb in database.....no wonder....even when they said they had data it wasnt accurate so somehow its problem in there...im using putty and the standard script for db restore, any ideas why this database restore issues would be so hit and miss?

[IggyP]

hmm, well i got a solid database to go finally but still the redirect loop when i try to put my live sites database..this is i think exactly what i did initially and it worked before so im stuck again.....its using a directory with my live sites files and config.php should all be correct idk stuck
thanks for your time i know it can be hard to say sometimes..

i can get a clean install for test site but issues trying to use the live sites backup even tho all the files are there n stuff idk

[IggyP]

signing off for now but more info the redirect loop was in chrome....the error in firefox says

The page isn't redirecting properly

Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.




does that mean i need a backup with the cookie path changed as well as the urls? i did edit them into both config.php files but the tutorial seems to throw that step in at the end as if its done after the restore, and again i did manage to get it to go long enough to change the cookie path in admincp one time so thought i could do it again idk

[BirdOPrey5]

Have you edited the .htaccess file in your /test/ directory?

You should, it needs to be different from the one in your non-test folder.

Edit the .htaccess file...

Find the line that is either-

    #RewriteBase /

OR

    RewriteBase /waf/

and change the line to:

    RewriteBase /test/

Note- the # symbol must be rmeoved from the front of the line if it is there.

[IggyP]

thank you...i hadnt made this change but now that i have im still getting the same loop....

i was curious about this line....although it seems it should be there and works on my live site its in a way what seems to be happening idk...

# Redirect old install path to core.
RewriteRule ^install/ core/install/ [NC,L]

[BirdOPrey5]

Yes it should remain there.

Before you made your database backup did you edit the Core URL and other URLs in the Setting / URL / Contact Details setting in the Admin CP to the test URLs? Can you log into the AdminCP of the test site directly?

[IggyP]

yes i backed up urls to test sites...it worked one time i swear, lol(the first time i uploaded and restored)....but now this time i cant log test site admin cp or the site at all, just the loop error...it may have been a fluke i got in the first time....i remember having to use a diff browser with nothing cached/no cookies etc...tried that again this time but no luck...if that makes any sense...
thanks again for your assistance

[IggyP]

been thinking about this alot today and realizing i dont think ive ever setup a test site with live site database restored...i put the styles and things but never full database, so i gotta be doing it wrong somehow or something....this should work right??

the only time i was able to successfully restore my live sites database was yesterday when i accidentally broke my site then restored it.....sooooooo, im wondering some if i can create a test site with the same url as my live one and simply toggle the directory names back and forth to test the test one.....this was giving me odd issues yesterday like the files not showing up when i know they are there but pretty sure ive done that before so idk what that was....

im guessing even if it doesnt work i can always restore what ive got so far on the live site? and for ultimate backup ive got the full restore .gar.gz file can reset the whole account but id really like to figure this out for future upgrades....the tutorial on this doesnt seem to suggest having a test site thats a copy of live site for upgrades so im wondering if its even possible by now but to me there is an obvious value here or im not really testing my site upgrading, but rather the vb upgrade only....

[IggyP]

is there anything i NEED to change if using the live url and files as test? prefixes or anything? dont want any long term effects just little impatient, lol, and seems like the quickest way for now....

fwiw, the 3 minutes i had the test site with live files/database, things seemed ok...upgrade went thru fine, i put the html header back and was about to replace the additional.css when the redirecting issues started happening yst...idk pray for me, lol

[IggyP]

5.1.0 installed...i just made an extra database for safety and toggled the live url/directory since i had a half upgraded live site directory handy. sooo easy i can hardly believe it...like 5 minutes total for updated styles and everything, lol....id still like to get a solid test site process...was just trying to be careful and idk what some of those issues were but glad its over for now. ....i just toggled the live url/directory since i had a half upgraded live site directory handy and that is ok for now, but im not sure once this software is more stable and get more traffic will def want a solid dev site