Login problems after moving site

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  • bigrover
    Member
    • May 2010
    • 63
    • 4.0.0

    Login problems after moving site

    I moved our site last night from xyzdomain.net to home.xyzdomain.net. I imported the database on the new server, used tools.php to clear the cookies, logged in and adjusted the site address in admincp. This morning we are having intermittent issues with users logging in and being redirected back to the login page after being thanked for logging in. I cleared the cookies again, then set the cookie to the alternate suggested setting of .xyzdomain.net and it now works on Chrome and MS browsers but not Firefox. I am desperately looking for ideas on what is going on.

    Suggestions?
    Just getting started... Your patience is appreciated.
  • Wayne Luke
    vBulletin Technical Support Lead
    • Aug 2000
    • 73981

    #2
    You need to update the URL in the ADMINCP before you can access the site on the Front-end. Other than that, users should clear their local browser's DNS and cookie caches.
    Translations provided by Google.

    Wayne Luke
    The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
    vBulletin 5 API

    Comment

    • bigrover
      Member
      • May 2010
      • 63
      • 4.0.0

      #3
      The URL is updated. I'm able to log in with Chrome or MS Edge, but not Firefox. I have cleared the DNS and cookies, though the DNS should not be an issue as the FQDN is different than the old site, right?

      Other users are experiencing the same issues with Firefox. A few are complaining about Chrome but I think they are having cookie issues and that seems to resolve that issue.

      Update: for some unknown reason, Firefox is letting me log in now. I have no idea why it was behaving different from other browsers.
      Last edited by bigrover; Wed 16 May '18, 8:59am.
      Just getting started... Your patience is appreciated.

      Comment

      • bigrover
        Member
        • May 2010
        • 63
        • 4.0.0

        #4
        I don't understand. I can log in with Firefox and MS Edge, but not Chrome. Users are getting crazy! And I don't understand it either. None of this makes any sense.
        Just getting started... Your patience is appreciated.

        Comment

        • bigrover
          Member
          • May 2010
          • 63
          • 4.0.0

          #5
          vB 4.2.5
          PHP 7.0
          Mariadb 10.1.33
          Just getting started... Your patience is appreciated.

          Comment

          • Wayne Luke
            vBulletin Technical Support Lead
            • Aug 2000
            • 73981

            #6
            Originally posted by bigrover
            though the DNS should not be an issue as the FQDN is different than the old site, right?
            Not from the information you provided above. You switched from one sub-domain (xyzdomain.net) to another (home.xyzdomain.net). Cookies can be corrupted by this. Especially when you set the Cookie Domain value. The Cookie Domain should never be changed unless you're running multiple vBulletins on the same domain or if you are accessing vBulletin through multiple sub-domains (not recommended). I don't know if that is your situation because you didn't provide much information. What was recommended for handling cookies five years ago, and in many cases even a year ago, is no longer relevent. In 2017 and 2018, security on the internet is finally becoming serious. This means a lot of things have changed. Especially in how cookies are handled.

            Other users are experiencing the same issues with Firefox. A few are complaining about Chrome but I think they are having cookie issues and that seems to resolve that issue.

            Update: for some unknown reason, Firefox is letting me log in now. I have no idea why it was behaving different from other browsers.
            When an issue happens to "some" users and not "other" users, it is usually some other cog in the great wheel of the internet that provides your site to the end user. When you change a domain name millions of computers around the world have to be updated. This is not instant and takes up to 48 hours. Longer for some of the less popular and regional TLDs. How fast this updates for a specific user depends on the DNS they use. Most people will use the DNS provided by their internet service provider. These are among the slowest to update. Those using third-party DNS like Google or Cloudflare will see faster updates.

            Even when the DNS updates, every modern browser actually caches these DNS records for faster lookup and to provide the illusion of a faster response to the end user. These can often get out of sync when you change domains and cookie parameters.

            Finally, vBulletin's login system relies on Cookies that are written by the end user's browser. We actually have no control over these cookies. The software asks the browser to write the cookie and the browser's settings (and extensions) decides if it actually writes it. This is controlled by the end user. When you load a vBulletin page, the browser is asked to provide the cookies we need if they exist. Again whether the browser complies or not is controlled by the settings (and extensions) that the End User has chosen.

            The first step in diagnosing login issues when one user can't log in is to have them delete the cookies for your site. Old and New Domains since you moved.

            The second step in diagnosing login issues is to have the end user delete their DNS caches at the browser and OS level. The documentation for these systems should be able to tell them how. For the major operating systems and browsers, there are thousands of tutorials to be found through search engines.

            Finally, if you want to force a new set of cookies on all users then you should change the cookie prefix in your /includes/config.php file. You shouldn't change the Cookie Domain or Cookie Path variables in the AdminCP. As I said above, these values are for advanced configurations.
            Translations provided by Google.

            Wayne Luke
            The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
            vBulletin 5 API

            Comment

            • bigrover
              Member
              • May 2010
              • 63
              • 4.0.0

              #7
              We are moving our site to a new host. I added the host home.xyzdomain.net to the dns table two weeks ago and it is fully propogated. I did not move the dns zone yet as I am aware that can cause issues. We have been accessing the new site with a copy of the original site database. On the original site I set a redirect to point to the new server https://home.xyzdomain.net. On the new server I have a redirect that points to home.xyzdomain.net/vb/index.php. The old site still exists but is turned off in the admincp.

              I hadn't thought about using a new cookie prefix. I may give that a try.
              Just getting started... Your patience is appreciated.

              Comment

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