Creating a Test/Development Installation

[Craig]

I'm creating a test environment, and everything so far has gone well.

I am at the last leg before running the install script. I have uploaded the tools to point the test site to a separate db that I imported a copy of my live db into. But when I navigate to run the tool I get "no_vb5_database". I know for a fact it is there. In the config file it points to it as well. I verified credentials as well.

Curious as to what else to look for.

[Mark.B]

If you're creating a mirror you don't run the install script.

Upload the files
Edit the config files to point to the copy database AND to have a different cookie prefix (this setting is in both configs)
It should just work, though you may need to edit the URL settings to point to the test URL.

[Craig]

What should the cookie prefix be changed to in the test site?

[LockedOnLaw]

Anything different from the live site so you don't overwrite your live database.

[Wayne Luke]

Whatever you want. It won't enable overwriting your database. It will cause problems maintaining sessions if both sites use the same cookie prefix. My prefixes are set to the install...

vb4_dev_
vb5_dev_
vb5_live_

Etc...

[Craig]

Changing cookie prefix made no change as the tool.php came back with same result.

[Mark.B]

You don't need tools.php. If you have a live mirror of your database, just do what was mentioned in my earlier post.

[Craig]

Got it!

[Trevor Hannant]

There is a guide that I wrote for earlier versions but the principles are exactly the same...

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blogs/trevor-hannant/3931534-

[Craig]

Thats basically what I did after the above discussion. The instructions about changing the url's aren't clear, in that it doesn't tell you to save, or not.

I did, and I had to use the backspace to get back to the page to place the urls back to the live site.