Problem Moving vB5

[grayloon]

I'm trying to move my forums to a new server. I've moved the files and database. When I access my forums, I get an internal server error. The apache error log shows issues with the API calls or something. Can anyone decipher and help me correct this?

PHP Fatal error:  Call to a member function fetch_userinfo_value() on a non-object in /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/api/state.php on line 316
PHP Stack trace:
PHP   1. {main}() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/index.php:0
PHP   2. vB5_Frontend_Application::init() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/index.php:44
PHP   3. vB5_Frontend_Routing->setRoutes() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/frontend/application.php:10
PHP   4. Api_InterfaceAbstract::instance() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/frontend/routing.php:92
PHP   5. Api_Interface_Collapsed->init() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/api/interfaceabstract.php:61
PHP   6. vB_Request_WebApi->createSession() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/api/interface/collapsed.php:33
PHP   7. call_user_func_array:{/home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/request/webapi.php:25}() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/request/webapi.php:25
PHP   8. vB_Request->createSession() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/request/webapi.php:25
PHP   9. call_user_func_array:{/home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/request.php:121}() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/request.php:121
PHP  10. vB_Session_WebApi::createSession() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/request.php:121
PHP  11. vB_Session_WebApi->__construct() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/session/webapi.php:38
PHP  12. vB_Session_Web->__construct() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/session/webapi.php:45
PHP  13. vB_Session->__construct() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/session/web.php:31
PHP  14. vB_Session->loadExistingSession() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/session.php:339
PHP  15. vB_Session->rememberSession() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/session.php:207
PHP  16. vB_Library_User->fetchUserWithPerms() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/session.php:288
PHP  17. vB_Library_User->fetchUserinfo() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/library/user.php:156
PHP  18. vB::getUserContext() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/library/user.php:384
PHP  19. vB_UserContext->__construct() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/vb.php:660
PHP  20. vB_UserContext->reloadUserPerms() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/usercontext.php:106
PHP  21. vB_UserContext->hasPermission() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/usercontext.php:221
PHP  22. vB_PermissionContext->hasPermission() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/usercontext.php:384
PHP  23. vB_PermissionContext->isLimitPermission() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/permissioncontext.php:486
PHP  24. array_key_exists() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/permissioncontext.php:340
PHP  25. vB5_ApplicationAbstract::handleError() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/permissioncontext.php:340
PHP  26. vB5_ApplicationAbstract::showErrorPage() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/applicationabstract.php:247
PHP  27. vB5_Template->render() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/applicationabstract.php:311
PHP  28. vB5_User::instance() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/template.php:195
PHP  29. vB5_User->__construct() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/user.php:30
PHP  30. Api_Interface_Collapsed->callApi() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/vb5/user.php:41
PHP  31. call_user_func_array:{/home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/api/interface/collapsed.php:87}() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/api/interface/collapsed.php:87
PHP  32. vB_Api_Wrapper->__call() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/includes/api/interface/collapsed.php:87
PHP  33. vB_Api->checkApiState() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/api/wrapper.php:109
PHP  34. vB_Api_State->checkBeforeView() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/api.php:461
PHP  35. vB_Api_State->checkPasswordExpiry() /home/domain/forums.domain.com/public_html/core/vb/api/state.php:86

[Wayne Luke]

Did the domain change for the forums?

[grayloon]

I created a temporary subdomain for testing the forums on the new servers. I updated the core/includes/config.php file and setting table with the correct domain.

[Wayne Luke]

You need to delete the caches in the system as well as rebuild the datastore if you make any changes to the database. The best option would be to update the URL in the admincp settings after logging into the AdminCP. Either on the previous server and remove the database. Or undoing whatever changes you made to the database and logging into the AdminCP via /core/admincp on the new server. Issues like this are why we do not recommend ever editing the database directly. A lot of things are interconnected and changing something without updating all the things tied to it break the software.

[grayloon]

I'd love to make changes in the AdminCP, but I can't get any pages to pull up.

So, I should export my database from the old server, import it into the new server, clear the cache table on the new server, and...?

[Wayne Luke]

With a proper move you should not receive this error.

1) Turn off the forums.
2) Clear your database Cache.
3) Backup Database.
4) Restore Database on new Server.
5) Upload files to new server.
6) Update /core/includes/config.php to connect to new database.
7) Log into the Admin CP and update URL under Settings -> Options -> Site Name / URL / Contact Details.

Three scenarios here:
1) Files were uploaded incorrectly. Most likely cause is uploading the PHP files as Binary or UTF-8. They should be uploaded as ASCII and only ASCII.
2) All the files were not uploaded properly.
3) The server doesn't meet the minimum requirements for vBulletin 5 which are PHP 5.4.0 and MySQL 5.1.5 with MySQLi, cURL, XML and JSON libraries installed in PHP.

[grayloon]

I followed your instructions, and the API error is gone. Instead of messing with the domain name, I just edited my local hosts file to point to my forums on the new server while I work out issues.

I have a new issue now - my topics are visible, but there aren't any posts showing up. My topic list shows the correct number of posts, but they aren't there when I click into a topic. I've cleared the vB system cache on the new server, rebuilt the topic information, and rebuilt caches via tools.php. Any other suggestions?

[Wayne Luke]

When you moved the database, where there any errors while restoring it?

[grayloon]

No. I restored via command line with no errors.

[grayloon]

1) Turn off the forums.
2) Clear your database Cache.
3) Backup Database.
4) Restore Database on new Server.
5) Upload files to new server.
6) Update /core/includes/config.php to connect to new database.
7) Log into the Admin CP and update URL under Settings -> Options -> Site Name / URL / Contact Details.

Are there any post-move operations I should perform on the new server using the vB maintenance section?

[Wayne Luke]

You should not need to run anything there. Why do you ask?

[grayloon]

Forums and topics are showing up fine. However, clicking into a topic shows no posts. See screenshot above.

[Wayne Luke]

There is nothing in general update tools that would fix that. Are you sure the entire database was moved? Closure table has no problems? That table is what actually builds the threads. You will probably need to open a support ticket with database access.