Server move and upgrade from 3.6.5 to 3.6.8

[Demaree]

I have to move my forum to a new server and want to confirm the best way to do this.
My current database is on VB 3.6.5 and I am wanting to upgrade to 3.6.8.

Is it ok to install 3.6.8 on the new server in preparation and then import/upload the 3.6.5 database?

Or, do I have to wait to shut down the old forum, upload the database and then upgrade it to 3.6.8?

Thanks kindly.

[Odoin]

If your forum is mostly stock I would just upload 3.6.8 import your DB to your new server and run the upgrade :). If you have a done alot of changes maybe a direct copy would be best and then upgrade your files to 3.6.8.

Mark

[K4L]

As far as i know you overwrite your all files with your new ones then run the upgrade.php

[Sysop9001]

The most important thing isn't what you asking before, but is the mode in what manner you export your DB that then you dump on a new server. In order not to obtain ugly surprised and to succeed to load it without problems.

[Demaree]

Thank you all.

Today I installed VB 3.6.5 on the new server with a clean database and with all the physical files from the existing server.

Tomorrow I am planning to shut down my forums and using phpMyAdmin do an export of my database to SQL with the file gzipped for compression.
I will then import the database to the new server, overwriting the contents of the current database.

**Is there a need to remove the default admin user created on the install before I import the new database? Does the import remove that user account or just add the other records to the tables? The reason I ask is that for posts to link to users, the ID of the user should be the same as on the current server, is that right?

I then plan to upload the files for 3.6.8 and run the Upgrade script, after which I will perform the necessary template checks to ensure my custom changes are still there.

Fingers crossed that all goes well with no loss of data or functionality and minimal downtime.

If anyone has any suggestions for a smooth transition that I have not covered please do let me know ASAP.

Thanks kindly.

[Steve Machol]

If you backup and import the database correcly, there is no need to change any of the users.

Note: The only consistently reliable method of backing up and restoring a database is with shell access via telnet or ssh. This is because backing up with a PHP script like that in the Admin CP or phpMyAdmin can result in PHP timeout errors and an incomplete backup file.

Please see the instructions here:

Backup:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_backup

Restore:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_restore

If you don't have telnet or SSH access, some people have reported success with these scripts:

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

MySQLHotxcopy:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134821&highlight=mysqlhotcopy

Bigdump (restore only):
http://www.ozerov.de/bigdump.php

[Demaree]

Thank you very much for your help.
The php backup and restore worked perfectly. I don't have a huge database so I had no timeouts.
All is working perfectly thank goodness.
Hope I don't have to do that again for a while LOL