Hello everyone, I was wondering If I can have some assistance when going to upgrade versions. I know there is documentation but if a user/staff would be interested in helping me out during the process it would be greatly appreciated. Compensation may be involved. If you are knowledgeable please add me on skype at the username of "zar.tania" Use this link to sort through which one is mine.
http://gyazo.com/dbe63e03e38041a3c873733e8636a388
(2015-03-23, 05:02 AM)Zartania Wrote: [ -> ]Hello everyone, I was wondering If I can have some assistance when going to upgrade versions. I know there is documentation but if a user/staff would be interested in helping me out during the process it would be greatly appreciated. Compensation may be involved. If you are knowledgeable please add me on skype at the username of "zar.tania" Use this link to sort through which one is mine.
http://gyazo.com/dbe63e03e38041a3c873733e8636a388
Preparing for your Upgrade
Before you upgrade, you should always read the announcement blog post properly before starting. The new version's changes will clearly be explained and provide an insight into how difficult the upgrade will be.
- First, you may want to shut down your forum. Doing this means that no one will interrupt the upgrade process accidentally. Please remember that switching the forum by using the Board Online/Offline setting is not recommended. The best method is to use a
.htaccess
- restriction on your forum's root folder so that no one can access the front-end. There are various tutorials that help you do this and some hosts even provide simple tools to do this.
- Secondly, you should back up your files and database and store them in a safe place. Just in case something goes wrong, you can restore the backup and start again. You can back up the database using the MyBB Admin CP or your database management software.
- You must deactivate (or disable) all of your plugins. This is because it is likely they will need to be updated to work on the new version and can cause problems if they are left active.
Downloading the Correct Upgrade Package
There are two different methods of upgrading your forum: full upgrades and a changed files upgrade.
Full Upgrade
If your current version is more than one point below the newest version, you need to make a full upgrade. For example, if you're using 1.6.1 and the newest version is 1.6.4, then you need a full upgrade. The same applies if you're using 1.6.x and you're upgrading to 1.8.x. You need to use the latest version of the software.
Download the latest version.
Changed Files Upgrade
If you're just one point behind the newest version - for example, if you're using 1.6.3 and the newest version is 1.6.4 - then you can use the changed files package. This is available in the blog post announcement. If a changed files package is not available then the latest version of the software should be used.
Beginning the Upgrade
Once you've downloaded the correct upgrade package for you, it's time to do the upgrade. Please follow these steps carefully.
- Upload all of the files and folders inside the package (from inside the
Upload/
- folder if using the full package), including the
install/
- folder (if it exists), overwriting the existing copies of the files in your file system.
- If the blog post announcement mentions that the upgrade script is required, then perform the following:
- Open your forum's home page in your web browser and add
/install/
- to the URL. For example,
www.yourdomain.com/install/
- or
www.yourdomain.com/forum/install/
- .
- It might ask you to remove a file called
lock
- in this folder. Use an FTP Client or a File Manager to remove the
install/lock
- file.
- You should see a drop down list asking what version of MyBB you're upgrading from. Remember to select the correct version - the one you're currently using - or else the upgrade will not work correctly.
- Follow the instructions to run the upgrade.
- After the upgrade has finished, check that the file called
lock
- was created in the
install/
- folder. If it is missing, create it yourself or delete the
install/
- folder from your server. For extra protection,
chmod 644 inc/config.php
- .
- If the blog post announcement mentions that there are theme changes, then perform the following:
- Go to Admin CP > Templates & Style > Templates > Find Updated Templates. This will show you a list of all the templates that have changed during the upgrade.
- You can either revert these templates to their default - meaning all the changes you've made to it will be removed - or you can see a Diff Report which will show you exactly what's changed. If you have a custom theme installed, it is probably best that you look at the Diff Report and apply the changes you need.
- If the blog post announcement mentions that there are language changes and you've either customised your English language pack (the default pack) or installed a custom language pack, then perform the following:
- Check to see if the language pack you're using has already been updated in the Translation Releases Forum. Download and install any updates you need.
- If you have made customisations to the packs yourself, or you manage a language pack for MyBB, then read through the blog post announcement for a list of changes to the language packs and apply the changes as necessary.
- The upgrade process should now be complete! You may want to re-open your forum by removing the
.htaccess
- block or turning your forum on again. Before you do this, ensure that your forum functions correct and it looks the way it's supposed to look! Take your time don't rush it.
Conclusion
If you run into any problems at any point of the upgrade process, visit the
Community Forum for help.
Otherwise,
congratulations! You've just upgraded your forum!
I was going to follow the instructions above for a full upgrade, but it's actually a little unclear to me what is meant by "upload all the files". (OK, I can be dense.) Should I delete the files from the old installation that are not in the "Upload" folder? Generally that would seem like a good idea to me, in case a file has become obsolete, or perhaps was put there maliciously. But if I blindly delete everything from the existing installation, I also lose the contents of the "Uploads" (note the "s") folder; that's probably bad, right? There's also a .qidb folder; should that stay or go?
^ do not delete earlier files. files should be overwritten.
as you said, uploads folder and ~/inc/config.php file should be kept
I've actually decided to upgrade only to 1.6.16 (from 1.6.12). I'm keeping the thread here going, assuming that everything applies, but perhaps something has changed in 1.8. Anyway...
Before reading the above reply, I was about to upload all the files but not delete the two folders I mentioned when I checked the Documentation/upgrade.html file, which says that I should not overwrite inc/settings.php. Was your mention of config.php a typo and you really meant settings.php? Fortunately it seems that the new one was the same as the old in my case.
I think the upgrade instructions could be made clearer:
- When I follow the link from the blog announcing 1.6.16 it leads me to
http://docs.mybb.com/1.8/install/upgrade...he-upgrade. Since the URL contains 1.8, I'm not sure whether the instructions apply, but I certainly didn't notice the URL the first time around.
- There I'm told to upload ALL the files. As I say above, this is a little ambiguous regarding deletion of files which are not in the new installation, and outright incorrect regarding settings.php and perhaps config.php.
It seems like the idea is to have generic upgrade instructions at
http://docs.mybb.com/1.8/install/upgrade/. If it can be guaranteed that the instructions work for all upgrades, this is great, but they should include the clarifications above. If that cannot be guaranteed (seems safer), I'd think users should be instructed to follow the instructions in the version of Documentation/upgrade.html that came with the download.
^ config.php file with this exact name does not exist in install / upgrade pack
when files are overwritten, earlier config.php file is not touched (as there is no new file with this name)
settings.php file is made again by MyBB system from contents taken from database
upgrading instructions for the full upgrade are same for different versions of MyBB
basically backups should be taken for database, config.php & settings.php files
plugins should be deactivated & forum should be kept offline before uploading files