Connection to source server failed...

[GearTripper]

• Clean import.
• Source: vB 3.5.4 (server A)
• Target: vB 3.5.4 (server B)
• SQL error reported: Connection to source server failed. Check username and password.

i've verified that all config settings are correct. any other suggestions?

[Wayne Luke]

Is source server a physically separate machine? If so you will need to allow the user to perform remote connections from the target server. If you connect by TCP/IP, you might need to allow this as well even if they are on the same machine but separate IP addresses.

[GearTripper]

totally separate machines... i allowed remote access to/from the target, but forgot about the source (brain fart). i'll check that and report back if trouble persists. thank you.

[Jerry]

There may be network restrictions for port connections from remote IP's also you'll need to GRANT SELECT for ImpEx to get the data from the source.

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/grant.html

[GearTripper]

ok, according to tech support from both hosts, there shouldn't be anything restricting access to/from either database. just to make sure i have this correct...

this part is for my target (my newly created databse)

<?php
#################################################################### |;
# vBulletin - Licence Number L6488a64
# ---------------------------------------------------------------- # |;
# Copyright ©2000–2006 Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. All Rights Reserved. |;
# This file may not be redistributed in whole or significant part. # |;
# ---------------- VBULLETIN IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE ---------------- # |;
# http://www.vbulletin.com | http://www.vbulletin.com/license.html # |;
#################################################################### |;
# The following settings allow ImpEx to connect to the vBulletin 3
# database into which you will be importing data.
# If impex is installed in vBulletin you can ignore the target details
# as includes/config.php
$impexconfig['target']['databasetype'] = 'mysql';
$impexconfig['target']['server'] = 'mysql.netfirms.com';
$impexconfig['target']['user'] = 'ublahblah';
$impexconfig['target']['password'] = 'blahblah';
$impexconfig['target']['database'] = 'dblahblah';
$impexconfig['target']['tableprefix'] = '';

and this part is for the source (my current active forum)

# If the system that is being imported from uses a database,
# enter the details for it here and set 'sourceexists' to TRUE.
# If the source data is NOT stored in a database, set 'sourceexists' to FALSE
$impexconfig['sourceexists'] = true;
# mysql / mssql
$impexconfig['source']['databasetype'] = 'mysql';
$impexconfig['source']['server'] = 'db236.perfora.net';
$impexconfig['source']['user'] = 'dboblahblah';
$impexconfig['source']['password'] = 'blahblah';
$impexconfig['source']['database'] = 'dbblahblah';
$impexconfig['source']['tableprefix'] = '';
 
# Error logging will log import errors to a database table impexerror
# for use with support. 
# Language file is the file of phrases to be used, default is english.
# pagespeed is the second(s) wait before the page refreshes.
$impexconfig['system']['errorlogging'] = true;
$impexconfig['system']['language'] = 'impex/impex_language.php';
$impexconfig['system']['pagespeed'] = 1;
?> 

[Steve Machol]

Assuming your source db info is correct, then if there were no restrictions, the connection would go through. Since it doesn't, this access is restricted.

At this point I suggest you backup and restore the source database to the same server your vB is installed on.

The only consistently reliable method of backing up and restoring a database is with shell access via telnet or ssh. Please see the instructions here:

Backup:

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

Restore:

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

This is because backing up with a PHP script like that in the Admin CP or phpMyAdmin can result in PHP timeout errors and an incomplete backup file.

If you don't have telnet or SSH access, some people have reported success with these scripts:

MySQLDumper:

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

MySQLHotxcopy:

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

Bigdump:

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

[SloppyGoat]

Maybe telling the guy exactly how to GRANT SELECT would've been helpful?

[Jerry]

Maybe telling the guy exactly how to GRANT SELECT would've been helpful?

I posted to the MySQL manual that did exactly that.

[SloppyGoat]

Yeah, but they assume everyone knows exactly how to get to a mysql prompt, which I didn't. The commands don't mean anything, if you don't know that you have to go to a command prompt in the bin directory. Know what I mean?