[Forum] Moved Forum to VPS and landed in Twilight Zone!

[Successfulsteps]

Sorry about the title, but I have no way other to describe the events that have transpired today:

Users not showing up online on What's Going On, Who's Online or their Profiles since yesterday - (before the move) but they have been online all day (but not all, just most of them)
Posts I made and others have made, are just not there to other users, even though some sent the notifications in emails of the posts being made
PMs sent are showing up in their email notifications, but not their PM boxes (not all mind you, only some - well most!)
I can see my own posts, as can a few members, but not all - but this is not exclusive to me, it's happening to everyone!
Users go to edit posts and they find they are not in the same thread even they intend to edit
I am sure there are more things going on, but without being able to communicate with many of my members, I can't really find out what is going on.

Since I was on a shared hosting plan and moved to VPS with sirvent, the whole new panel that I have is so different. I am essentially on my own, but the forum grew too large for any shared hosting plan and was bogging down too much. Although to be honest, bogged down beats this twilight zone any day!

I see no errors in the error logs. I have a feeling that there is something wrong in that WM panel, but what? Is it AJAX or php related? Or is this the Lunix server? Is there a possibility that on one these that the host is not configured right or that the versions are so vastly different it is doing this crazy stuff. The forum cannot survive in the state is in now and I have worked night and day to grow it to the size it is now and worried people are just going to give up and leave. I have zero coding skills, so asking a question about coding is not something I can answer. The host I went to moved the forum for me, by taking a full backup of EVERYTHING. I had registering the NS1 and NS2 prior to being able to "point." Whatever else is going on is a mystery way too deep for my ignorance in the area of php, AJAX or whatever else makes the forum tick. Here's a view of what is in the admin panel "now:"

Server Type	Linux	Data Usage	270.84 MB	Users to Moderate	0 [View]
Web Server	Apache (cgi-fcgi)	Index Usage	53.11 MB	Threads to Moderate	0 [View]
PHP	5.2.17	Attachment Usage	15.82 MB	Posts to Moderate	0 [View]
PHP Max Post Size	128.00 MB	Avatar Usage	789.5 KB	Attachments to Moderate	0 [View]
PHP Maximum Upload Size	10.00 MB	Profile Picture Usage	443.8 KB	Events to Moderate	0 [View]
PHP Memory Limit	512.00 MB	Unique Members Today	19	Messages to Moderate	0 [View]
MySQL Version	5.1.58-community-log	New Users Today	0	New Threads Today	6
MySQL Packet Size	256.00 MB	New Posts Today	81

But mind you, I know that there are most posts than 81! But where did they go? I haven't seen 6 new threads, but then again, if I can't see all the posts by some members, then that could make sense. New Members today, oh yeah there have been some. One went to moderation, and that's never happened before. I received an email from another saying he just registered and was reading his welcome PM, but then again, I don't see him as registered either.

THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A LITTLE BIT SCARY TO ME!

Any advice, no matter how insignificant you think it is, is very much appreciated.

[Successfulsteps]

Changed the name of the forum on the old host and now I have no access to my own forum. Seems that there were two forums running, one at the old host, one at the new host. How is that even possible? I cannot get on the new host's location of my forum, and obviously others cannot either. But it is going to have to remain off until this issue has a resolution. Is it possible for it propagate for some members and not others?

[Successfulsteps]

What is the purpose of this forum and vbulletin "caring" so much about customer feedback as I have a feeling this will be yet another post that goes unanswered. I don't think of that as caring at all, I referred to it as being ignored. I run a forum too where the word "community" actually means something, or I wouldn't ever being posting asking those who have more experience to give me an answer or the members of the forum team coming around to at least say, "hey, we don't know!" That's just it, if I don't see a post or thread or answered on this forum, I figure you guys are more clueless on some of these issues than I am, and that's pretty bad! I know there is a ticket system, but very often, that is only answered by one person who wants me to do some of the most ridiculous things to find a problem. I know already that the first thing would have been, turn off the plug-ins, go to admin cp, run diagnostics to see if there are 'suspect' files. Well obviously that wouldn't have fit this scenario and it never really helped with any problems I've come across with running vbulletin so far.

I also know that there are MANY people who go to a dedicated host on this forum and then sell space for others. So hosting dilemmas shouldn't be a question they can't answer or they shouldn't be selling any shared plans.

[Steve Machol]

What is the purpose of this forum and vbulletin "caring" so much about customer feedback as I have a feeling this will be yet another post that goes unanswered. I don't think of that as caring at all, I referred to it as being ignored.

With all due respect you posted this in a Friday night less than two hours ago. As per the forum rules you should be waiting 24 hours before bumping your posts.

Furthermore you haven't provided any information that indicates what the problem is or what the possible causes are.

However having moved servers many times over the year, I have never had any of the problems you say you have. Therefore my best guess based on the scant amount of information you have provided is that this was a bad backup and restore of the database, issues with the new VPS server (especially as it relates to your email issues) or possible problems with modifications.

How did you make this server move?
How did you backup and restore the database?
Did you make any changes to the location and URL of your installation, and if so, did you make the appropriate changes in the corresponding settings in the Admin CP?
Do you have any add-ons. If so, which ones?

As for propogation, yes it can take days for the full IP propogation to finish. This is why you should have had an ;htaccess redirect from your old server to the new one.

Instructions for moving servers are in the online manual here:

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

Note: The only 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 timeouts errors and an incomplete backup file. Please see the instructions here:

Backup:

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_backup

Restore:

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_restore

P.S. If you do not have telnet or SSH access, some people have reported success with these scripts:

MySQLDumper:

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

MySQLHotxcopy:

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

Bigdump (restore only):

http://www.ozerov.de/bigdump.php

[Boofo]

I am with ServInt and never had any issues like you are experiencing when they moved my site from hostgator to one of their VPSs. Have you tried contacting them by making a support ticket? Their CS is second to none.

[Successfulsteps]

With all due respect you posted this in a Friday night less than two hours ago. As per the forum rules you should be waiting 24 hours before bumping your posts.

Furthermore you haven't provided any information that indicates what the problem is or what the possible causes are.

However having moved servers many times over the year, I have never had any of the problems you say you have. Therefore my best guess based on the scant amount of information you have provided is that this was a bad backup and restore of the database, issues with the new VPS server (especially as it relates to your email issues) or possible problems with modifications.

How did you make this server move?
How did you backup and restore the database?
Did you make any changes to the location and URL of your installation, and if so, did you make the appropriate changes in the corresponding settings in the Admin CP?
Do you have any add-ons. If so, which ones?

As for propogation, yes it can take days for the full IP propogation to finish. This is why you should have had an ;htaccess redirect from your old server to the new one.

Instructions for moving servers are in the online manual here:

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

Note: The only 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 timeouts errors and an incomplete backup file. Please see the instructions here:

Backup:

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_backup

Restore:

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_restore

P.S. If you do not have telnet or SSH access, some people have reported success with these scripts:

MySQLDumper:

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

MySQLHotxcopy:

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

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

Sorry, I really didn't think of the information in the subsequent posts as bumps but more info that related to the problem. And I did tell you what is wrong. Some members were pulling up the old host while others were on the new host. That's why they are all seeing different things. I had to turn off the old forum host to insure that they couldn't get on and the data be useless, which also made it where I couldn't get on because it hasn't finished propagating in my area. The 2nd post I made really let you know this. I can't change the htaccess file to do that or it would just run in a continuous loop to the old host for those whom it had not propagated yet, like myself. The names are the same, which is why this wouldn't work.

From what I just read in those sections you gave me, everything was done correctly. It has been 26 hours since the propragation has begun and it's not complete for all the members, but is for most. The site is here:

http://1stdegreefreebies.com

But with all due respect I do have posts that were never answered by anyone with questions, that is why I was frustrated posting. No it hadn't been 24 hours yet, but it's weeks months and weeks on others and still no reply.

I am with ServInt and never had any issues like you are experiencing when they moved my site from hostgator to one of their VPSs. Have you tried contacting them by making a support ticket? Their CS is second to none.

Thank you. Yes, I did. Both my old host, Hostmonster and ServInt are saying it hasn't fully propagated. I spent a couple days reading prior to moving to ServInt on this forum, and it due to reading quite a few posts about members on ServInt that I did decide to go with them. I saw horror stories of other host, where members said even some hosts threatened them in some posts and how bad customer service was on some places. ServInt did the move for me. They ask for login to the old host in a ticket and move everything for me as they have more at their disposal to move websites than I do.

[Steve Machol]

If the move was done correctly, then you would not have the problems with missing posts and PMs.

As for the emails. vB uses the server for it's email. Assuming you have not disabled emails in the Admin CP or in config.php, then if there are problems the issue is either with the server itself or on the receiving end.

Please see this page for help troubleshooting email problems:

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/troubleshoot_email

Personally I would make a new backup of the old database and try again. Something clearly did not move over correctly.

[Boofo]

Also, make sure you have set up your email accounts on the new server.

As Steve said, sounds like something didn't quite make the move. The ServInt guys will work with you on this and get it all figured out.

[Paul M]

When you move, close the old forum - otherwise users will not know if they have connected to the old one or the new one, so they may post on the old one and then that post appear to vanish when they connect to the new one - this seems to be what happened to you. Remember that dns changes are not instant, they can take hours, or even days, for people to pick them up, depending on your dns ttl settings.

[Successfulsteps]

When you move, close the old forum - otherwise users will not know if they have connected to the old one or the new one, so they may post on the old one and then that post appear to vanish when they connect to the new one - this seems to be what happened to you. Remember that dns changes are not instant, they can take hours, or even days, for people to pick them up, depending on your dns ttl settings.

That was actually the problem as I didn't close the old forum immediately. But what ended up giving me the most headaches was the fact my own ISP wasn't updating their DNS to reflect the new IP. I was on the phone with them all day, and they said I had malware first, then a bad router, and eventually after the problem went to the engineers, they did get it resolved to the new DNS. The entire forum actually moved successfully. But even when it did resolve correctly, it wasn't until I actually flushed my own DNS cache through the command prompt was the issue completely cleared up for me. I had to also walk users through on IM for them to flush their DNS cache before they were able to get on the new server. What was really confusing was it appeared as if a very few actually teetered back and forth between the two before I turned the forum off at the new host. They'd report posts and they didn't exist or they'd be a totally different person and topic. They were also ending up posting in the wrong thread a lot. It was a horrible day but a lesson for sure.

No more bogged down forum either, running very fast and efficiently! YAY! I am quite pleased with ServInt and am very glad I took the time to read all the posts made by previous members on the hosts they had experiences with!

Thank you for your responses, I really appreciate it! Apologies as well for the "bumps" and I went over the rules again to be sure I won't compromise one again. That was never my intention, but well informed is better and I didn't do a well enough job at that. It's been crazy taking over a forum alone and having a growing member base so fast. A very large learning curve on vbulletin. I had been member of them before, but never really thought about the script behind it all.