[BillB1]

Gentlmen,

I need your advice on how to upgrade to 4.2.5
Testing on local PC using XAMPP:

Old Forum:
PHP Version: 5.6.32
Myadmin: 4.7.4
Vbulletin: 3.8.11
Custom syles
Runs perfect!

New forum:
Migrating database to
PHP 7.1.1
Myadmin: 4.6.5
Vbulletin: 4.2.5

Questions:
1. Do I create a new database and install VB 4.2.5 first then import vb 3.8 backup to it?
2. or Create new data base, restore vb 3.8 back up ?
3. In all cases when installing vb 4.2.5 it over writes the entire database tables.
4. I wish to keep the vb3.8. customized style, is there a tool to modify/upgrade the style to vb4.2?

Note:
If all goes well, I'll be upgrading to VB5

Thanks
Bill

[RichieBoy67]

You do not need Xamp server. You can just back up and make a test site in a directory on your server if you wish. Run the upgrade script there and fix the theming, etc.

Or is your plan to build the site fresh in 4.2 and then import? Either method will work.

Basically create your new vbulletin site and use Impex to import from the old files and database.

[snakes1100]

1. Create new, there is no reason for an import.
2. Create new & import your backup, from the cmd line prefebly as the new server could time out importing thru phpmyadmin, you may have to tweak phps timeouts via php.ini.
3. You will run the upgrade script after uploading the new vb 4.x.x series php files to the server.
4. You should build a new style based off the old style, there are MANY things a 3.8 style wont have for functionality in the templates.

[templaters]

Or is your plan to build the site fresh in 4.2 and then import? Either method will work

New and clean is always best, vb4 is way different than vb3

[BillB1]

Apology for the late reply; and appreciate all inputs
and yes backed old data up, fresh vb4.2.5 files, did the upgrade today; so far so good!

Note:
I wonder if it's possible to add (LIKE button) I've tried most mods here,
they seem outdated ( I believe the lastest mod is for 4.2.2) triggering errors.

--------------- Added 26 May 2022 at 22:40 ---------------

Well! upgrade was too good to be true!

Anyone knows why I am getting this
after the upgrade?

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

It was like this:

Block Disabled:      (Update License Status)
Suspended or Unlicensed Members Cannot View Code.

ALL counters updated via admincp.

Also, after creating a new user name/password, can't log in, redirects to forgot password!

[TheLastSuperman]

Try fixing your AdminCP access issue using this article:
https://vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=259619

Any SEO modifications installed or were there .htaccess file modifications (rewrites) done?

[BillB1]

Many thanks.
adding define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true); did the trick.
SEO mod was installed on vb3.8 , uninstalled it prior to upgrade.

I don't see .htaccess file, do I need one to solve the problem these weird characters (%C7%E4%C) in URL .

[TheLastSuperman]

Originally Posted by BillB1

Many thanks.
adding define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true); did the trick.
SEO mod was installed on vb3.8 , uninstalled it prior to upgrade.

I don't see .htaccess file, do I need one to solve the problem these weird characters (%C7%E4%C) in URL .

Apologies for the late reply (life!) but you would want to view hidden files, those may not always show depending on your settings, reference: https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/fil...%20directories.

You may not be able to view the .htaccess file on the server if it's present, same with using a Mac (when you download the file, you can see it in the left pane of filezilla but until you rename it htaccess.txt it won't display initially).

The gist of this being, you want to test (make a copy of the file first) and remove any code that was included which helped the SEO mod you removed, function in a certain way i.e. a URL Rewrite (which is why those funky characters are still showing in the URLs). *If the SEO mod you removed was VBSEO by chance, you can use this guide to remove it: https://web.archive.org/web/20130122...all-vbseo-238/

[BillB1]

No need for apology, life IS life

This is what had happened since our last conversation:

1. The 4.2.5 upgrade went smooth on Xampp, exported DB.sql file , and uploaded the entire directory to VBS, it's live now
https://dantdubai.net/vb

2. The solution: I found out there's a setting in admincp seems to control those weird characters in post URLs: settings>options> friendly URL>disabled and then > ignore option was the fix!

3. Next step:
upgrade 4.2 to 5 (testing on Xampp again)
seems smooth transition (no errors) as long as I am staying with PHP 5.4 on VB 5.4.5
Also it seems OK transition (with few php warnings NOT errors) when using PHP 7.1 on VB 5.5.2, Then hell breaks loose with PHP 7.4 on VB 5.6.8 ! I did try several database conversions namely ( utf8conver.phar) that smoked the hell out of the Arabic characters, no joy.

Interesting notes, after the conversion:
A. The VB 5.6.8/ php7.4 Arabic language pack works perfect on the forum files
but it destroys the actual Arabic texts in all old posts/old DB.

B. The VB 5.4.5 / php 5.6 works perfect on forum files and old posts as well.

With that being said, perhaps tweaking the actual Xampp server files is the answer?
I don't know, but will search and update accordingly.
meanwhile, to take advantage of the responsive VB5 mobile style, I'll have to stop at VB 5.4.5
until I find the proper way to convert the DB on php 7.4.

Excellent learning experience, thanks guys for all the help and support.

All the best!