How to Backup before Upgrading to 4.0

[TheLastSuperman]

Hello Everybody,
I have made the upgrade to RC 2 on a test board, on a dedicated server. I have made it, several times (8 times), always the same outcome. The test board, is not running any custom style. And the very few mods are all disabled before the update.
Here are the results, better described with images than words.

When I disable the plugins through the addition of " define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true); " into the config.php file every thing works just fine, except the sidebar that never shows even if enabled in the ACP options.



When I enable the plugins through the config.php and I am still logged in, here is what I get:



But if I try to log out or log in here is what I get:


So any help would be appreciated and Good Luck to everybody. And greetings to the VB team for this great board software.

You still have something in there... a mod not completely uninstalled or something I bet... I would need access to give it a quick look over and maybe make a suggestion let me know.

My upgrade wasn´t a great success... I have now restored my database. There is still some 4.0 files at my forum. It seems that i have to overwrite some blog files to get that work, but the question is that do I REALLY have to run upgrade script? Is that mandatory procedure after restore? Normal forum functions seems to work right now.

If I have to run upgrade script is it enought if I delete all files from install -folder, upload 3.8.4 files and then run that upgrade script?

What that update script is really doing if I have old 3.8.4 database and old 3.8.4 files?

If you've restored an exact copy of your 3.8 files and folders and a 3.8 backup then you should be good to go no script needed.

If you've moved directories you may want to reset the cookies using tools.php but other than that if you restored what was there before you attempted the upgrade and no 4.0 files remain you should be set.

Mike

[High Octane]

O.K. I've made a backup of my live 3.8 forum using mysqldumper. I want to use this backup to do a test upgrade to 4.0.

My question is this.
What do I need to change in the backup file of my 3.8 forum so it will overwrite my existing 4.0 database and NOT overwrite my working forums database?

I want to make damn sure I understand fully understand what I'm doing before I attempt this.

Thanks.

[TheLastSuperman]

O.K. I've made a backup of my live 3.8 forum using mysqldumper. I want to use this backup to do a test upgrade to 4.0.

My question is this.
What do I need to change in the backup file of my 3.8 forum so it will overwrite my existing 4.0 database and NOT overwrite my working forums database?

I want to make damn sure I understand fully understand what I'm doing before I attempt this.

Thanks.

What you do is simple...

You see your folder on your server for your forums right? Maybe it's named forum or forums like almost everyone else lol but download a copy of the entire folder as a backup too, you need a backup of the 3.x files AND database .

Now open up the forum folder on your computer, then on your server make a new folder name it whateve ryou want but for example name it vb4test.

Now upload ALL the files within the forum folder on your computer to inside the vb$test folder on your server.

Now upload the backed up database into a NEW database you make via phpMyadmin or Cpanels methods etc. Once it is uploaded edit the config file in the new vb4test folder to point to the NEW database which is a copy of your live site <-- that's where some go wrong and do not edit the config to point to the new DB. You might have to run tools.php by uploading it into the admincp folder to resolve an y cookie issues IF you have any otherwise change it in the vBulletin Options and set a cookie path to that directories name.

Let me know if your still lost on ANY of this

Mike

EDIT: Also I see you have a link to the site your trying to test the upgrade on in your sig, please be aware your only allowed one "test" forum under a single license and it must be closed to the public so you will have to close the forum and don't give out the link like candy basically, also with it closed only admins can log in fyi.

[High Octane]

I already have a backup of my active sites Forum directory, and have it uploaded to the VB4 test folder on my server.
My question pertains specifically to the database's and transferring the information within.

Now I want to upload the backup database enthusiast1_2009_12_17_10_30.sql.gz (the copy of my live 3.8 Forum)
over the existing 4.0 database VB4_2009_12_17_10_50.sql.gz using mysqldumper.


Do I just rename the 3.8 database backup to match the 4.0 backup? Or do I have to edit the backup as well?

Also, the link to my test site is a dead link (removed)

[TheLastSuperman]

I already have a backup of my active sites Forum directory, and have it uploaded to the VB4 test folder on my server.
My question pertains specifically to the database's and transferring the information within.

Now I want to upload the backup database enthusiast1_2009_12_17_10_30.sql.gz (the copy of my live 3.8 Forum)
over the existing 4.0 database VB4_2009_12_17_10_50.sql.gz using mysqldumper.


Do I just rename the 3.8 database backup to match the 4.0 backup? Or do I have to edit the backup as well?

Also, the link to my test site is a dead link (removed)

Ohh ok I C lol... well all you need to do is import the .sql file INTO the database it does not matter what it is named now as you tell it that info in the config file so DROP all the tables within the vB4 Database OR Delete the whole vB4 database and just make a new one and import the data from the backup THEN run the upgrade script sinc eyou have the same files as your 3.x don't get hung up on the database your reading too far into imo.

Comparison (Live Site on left, copied test site on right)

Live site <left|right> Copied Site
forums <left|right> forums2
DB named xxx <left|right> DB named zzz (fresh db with xxx data imported so it becomes a duplicate of xxx just named zzz.)
Leave Live Site Alone <left|right> Run upgrade script on this test site after editing config file and pointing forums2 to the new database zzz.

[crazyfruitbat]

Hey guys, I hope you can help.
I have made a back up of both the files and db and put both into another folder as a vbtest - I changed the config file to make sure that its pointing to the right DB and all of the site appears as it should - one slight problem is that it just won't let me log in. It does that VB 'thanks for logging in' but then it just dumps me back to the main forums and I'm not logged in. I gather this is some sort of cookie issue but I can't open the admin to change it. Any ideas?
Cheers, Chris

[yahya komeet]

thank you mike!

[TheLastSuperman]

Hey guys, I hope you can help.
I have made a back up of both the files and db and put both into another folder as a vbtest - I changed the config file to make sure that its pointing to the right DB and all of the site appears as it should - one slight problem is that it just won't let me log in. It does that VB 'thanks for logging in' but then it just dumps me back to the main forums and I'm not logged in. I gather this is some sort of cookie issue but I can't open the admin to change it. Any ideas?
Cheers, Chris

Chris,

Upload tools.php from the "DO_NOT_UPLOAD" folder that was inside the .zip, upload it to your admincp via FTP.

Now go to http://www.yoursite.com/forum/admincp/tools.php

Go down see the options for cookies?

Reset the cookie path, now delete the cookies you have for your site, close your browser, delete tools.php from your server via FTP and open your browser back up try it now. Let me know

Mike

thank you mike!

No problem

[TheLastSuperman]

Updated 12.23.09

[crazyfruitbat]

Thanks Mike - Unfortunately no joy. What would you put in your config file under the cookies and forum path? I have /vbtest/ and for the forum path I have tried both '/public_html/vbtest/forums' and the full web address (http://www.sanctuary4gamers.com/vbtest/forums/) but no love.

this is really driving me nuts as I want to start testing stuff now that gold is out.

[TheLastSuperman]

Thanks Mike - Unfortunately no joy. What would you put in your config file under the cookies and forum path? I have /vbtest/ and for the forum path I have tried both '/public_html/vbtest/forums' and the full web address (http://www.sanctuary4gamers.com/vbtest/forums/) but no love.

this is really driving me nuts as I want to start testing stuff now that gold is out.

Just leave the config file alone in regards to those, open up the included config.php.new and rename to config.php like it says in the install info from vBulletin then simply give it the new copied databases details and upload. Some host have the server names different i.e. GoDaddy so you have to go and find the details for the DB then it has all the info there, basically if that's the case you'll need to change the "localhost" to the psql.server.115whateverthayhaveblahblah it's always different with each DB and some other host have it setup different than just localhost and on some you do need to fill in the forum path it all depends so tinker, 5 mins can have the copied test site up and running . and don't do the http: in the forum path it might be looking for home/user/public_html/vbtest/forums or something along those lines check the details of what you have created and confirm you don't just have something wrong in there .

Mike

[TheLastSuperman]

With the release of 4.0 Gold, this forum has been closed. Please use the 'vBulletin 4 Questions, Problems and Troubleshooting' and 'vBulletin 4 Installations and Upgrades' forums instead.

I kindly ask a moderator or admin to close this thread but leave it i.e. do not delete for reference purposes .

In order to keep up and help everyone, I know from experience that not all members/owners look in other areas of this forum so many of the current Gold and Patch Level release owners will simply not visit the Beta forum therefor I have re-posted this tutorial here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?335689-[Suite-OR-Forum]-How-2-Guide-Backups-Upgrades-and-Recovery!&p=1897199#post1897199

Please visit that link and post if you need assistance as I will no longer support this thread from this post on.

Thanks again and I hope your Upgrade goes great now get up to the real vBulletin 4.0 forums and enjoy it

Sincerely,

Michael Miller

[TheLastSuperman]

Thanks you (I presume Steve Machol) for moving this out of the Beta forum before it was closed .

I had however already posted a replacement in the Installations and Upgrades forum and another mod must have stickied it. Since that is the case and both are identical, I would like everyone NOT to post past this last post of mine! Why? Well this tutorial has been updated as of today (1/6/2010 the time of this post) so none of the information presented is different however ALL past posts are from Owners who at the time were running Beta Installs or Upgraded sites and therefor should not be referenced 100% .

Again as I posted above if you have a ? regarding Backing up, upgrading, and or recovery please post them here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?335689

Thank you for understanding that I would like a fresh thread to address any issues some of you might have along the way to ultimately enjoying the vBulletin 4.0 Gold series

Sincerely,

Michael Miller

[assaf]

Who is your host? GoDaddy?

Host gator

I want to ask you
Which is better .. the full site backup or your way in this thread ?

[TheLastSuperman]

Host gator

I want to ask you
Which is better .. the full site backup or your way in this thread ?

If you mean HostGator performs a full site backup then I would still become familiar with the process and make sure you can properly restore a backup regardless if it's yours or a hosts version. IMO you need to turn off your forum for a proper backup so nothing or no one is interacting with the database.

Mike