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How to upgrade from 2.0.18 to 2.6?
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This discussion was created from comments split from: Vanilla 2.6 is here - includes security fixes.
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Hi I would appreciate some help with an upgrade from Version 2.0.18.1 to the latest. I have a forum that's been running since 2014. What's the best way to get some help? I have looked into it and just don't have the confidence to do this. I can't afford for the upgrade to go wrong. Any ideas?
@dominic
Welcome to the community.
Have a look at this discussion:
https://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/253007
Thank you whu606 I have gone through this and to be honest it looks like you guys think it's easier than it is. I have tried to install a version of 2.6 but it's confusing if you don't have a one click install on your cpanel which I did have when I installed the forum the first time. I have migrated to another server that doesn't have that. I have tried setting up a fresh install but I don't know if I have the correct version or settings but I had no luck. This would still leave me with a live forum that is used regularly needing the upgrade. It sounds like the 2.6 version files could be dropped onto the older version apart from the config file and it would keep working? I also liked the idea of the Version 1 importer.. Does that work with version 2? I also looked for videos on youtube but I couldn't see anything to really help? I was wondering if there is someone who would do this upgrade for me? Is it something I should look on upwork for? Do you have people who do this?
The importer is not for updating, it simply wouldn't work.
Although I like the idea of a video, it sounds simpler than this would be. It would only help those people who have no additional plugins running.
If "Do you have people who do this" means if there is some kind of staff doing that, than no, there is no one like that. Here are "only" volunteers. But just recently I did an upgrade with someone who seeked for help like you do. And just like you he was coming from a one click installer Vanilla version.
If you can grant me a few things, I can support you:
1. You have a working backup of your files and database.
2. An hour downtime will be no problem for your forum.
3. You do not have custom plugins (or at least no complex ones) and you are fine if some of this functionality isn't available any more after the upgrade.
4. Don't blame me for anything!
Let me explain something on that:
Working Backup
Having a backup when you are not sure how to restore the data is better than not having a backup, but it nevertheless is a disaster if you need several days to recreate your forum only because you have to find help for your backup. No matter how this story continues, make sure you have a backup of all files and of the database and you can restore them in minutes.
Downtime
If you are a pro, the downtime will only take a few minutes. But you would need to have a mirror of you forum where you can simulate the upgrade and automate all the steps needed to do the upgrade so that you can do the upgrade of the live environment really quick.
Please don't be offended, but I do not have the impression that you have managed to create a development environment with your forums data.
This is not a real problem if it is okay for you, that every testing will result in a downtime for the time it takes to test and to restore data.
Customizations
Several plugins have been updated to work with versions higher than 2.0.18 and some have not. So if you use a plugin, it might be that for Vanilla 2.6 this plugins isn't available any more.
Responsibility
I would say that I'm a good choice for someone to update a Vanilla version, but there are a lot of things that can go wrong and I might not be able to help. That's why you should have a backup. If I create a lot of mess, you would be able to restore the forum and the only harm taken would be the waste of time. That's why a backup gives me a good feeling, too.
Upgrading can be done by unzipping the current version into the old installation, but it requires additional steps:
1. Check for new versions of your theme and plugins
2. Block access to your forum
3. Deactivate all plugins and return to the default theme
4. Unzip the new version of Vanilla, the theme and the plugins to the correct places
5. Delete the htmlawed and the tagging plugin
6. Delete /applications/vanilla/controllers/class.settingscontroller.php
7. Delete every file (not folders, only files!) in
/cache8. Visit yourforum.com/utility/update and yourforum.com/utility/structure several times, the order doesn't matter.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 several times
10. Visit your forum to see if it looks good. If not, back to step 7!
11. If it looks good, activate all plugins and themes one by one and visit your forum after each time that you have enabled a plugin to check that nothing is broken.
Oh, I forgot two steps to begin with:
If you are interested in my help, please write me a message and give some info:
1. The url so that I can check how much cutomizations I can see
2. If you have a virtual private server or a hosting package. In the end I'm interested if you have shell access to the server
Wow that sounds great! Yes I have a backup. I will put the info together and contact you later today! Can you email me at dominicmiles@gmail.com when you are ready?
Please don't expect me to do this at once! I will do this soon, but I would say we should agree on a time slot for that so that you can make sure that you can notify your users about that down time.
Yes that's fine they need to know do you want to pick a date - Next Monday?
Whu pointed you to an informative thread, but the issue wasn't actually resolved there, as it ended up being discussed somewhere else. I upgraded from your exact version, and everything is now perfect, here's how I did it:
Here's the thread, go to it for further help if you're stuck.
https://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/36409/roles-permissions-role-edit-error-resolved#latest