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Upgrade Issues, on IIS 6

edited May 2012 in Vanilla 2.0 - 2.8

Hello,

I posted to this forum asking this very question almost 6 months ago. I received one follow up from Tim, which did not solve my issue. His suggestion was to manually disable all plugins in the config files. I am reposting this to see if anyone can assist me further.

I have Vanilla 2.0.17.10 installed on Windows 2003 Server with IIS 6. I realize that this is not per the requirements, and I am stating my installation up front. I have had no issues with my installation, and would like to upgrade it to 2.0.18. I have tried the other suggestion from an earlier post, about using http://www.yourforum.com/index.php?p=/utility/update, and it gives me a "Bonk" page every time. I am very unsure about what steps to take, and I'm completely unsure about how to backup my database before upgrading. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Best Answer

Answers

  • hbfhbf wiki guy? MVP

    I run apache on windows to avoid these sorts of snafus. Two suggestions to help isolate the issue...

    1. Set up a test environment using a WAMP environment. Import all of your data frok the existing database and try upgrading this.
      -if this works, the issue is likely something to do with the iis php handling or your php/mysql configurations.
      -if upgrade fails there, then the issue is somewhere in the data.

    2. Tru a clean install of the new version on your server environemnt.
      -if it works its something related to the upgrade scripts
      -if it fails... debug this until you get a sucessfull install... then try the upgrade again.

  • jeremyp52 said:
    I have tried the other suggestion from an earlier post, about using http://www.yourforum.com/index.php?p=/utility/update, and it gives me a "Bonk" page every time.

    With a Bonk error you do know what to do. I don't know about your earlier error and would suggest to re-investigate your bonk error.

    Of course you can upgrade locally on your Wampp and then install 2.0.18.x on your IIS (if you would really like that)

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  • I had no idea what WAMP was until I googled it. I don't use Apache. I enjoy IIS, and I host nearly 30 sites from this server for clients, and I'm not comfortable switching. I have heard that some people definitely prefer Apache, and I appreciate the suggestion!

    The good news is that I followed the link on UnderDog's footer for Bonk errors, and I found that it was a writable issue for a particular directory, and I just had to change some writing permissions. Two additional questions, relationg to this Upgrading topic, however. One is, this will be first upgrade. I consulted the documentation on upgrading, and it is vague at best. When nit speaks of uploading the new version, does that mean I overwrite my existing install directory with these files? How exactly do I back up my database? I have many users already registered in this forum, and I don't want to lose them.

    The second question I have is speed related. It seems that this forum takes a very long time to load every single page, along the lines of 30-45 seconds per page, regardless of page and content. I have tried with no plug-ins, different themes, no difference. There are no issues like this with any other website on this server.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  • whu606whu606 I'm not a SuperHero; I just like wearing tights... MVP

    @jeremyp52

    You should be able to use phpMyAdmin to back up your database.

    Copying over the new files won't affect your db anyway.

    You could try using PageSpeed for Firefox or Chrome to analyse what is causing the problem of slow page loads.

    You should also be able to check the MySQL slow queries log.

    I'm assuming you've repaired and optimized the tables.

    Hope some of that helps!

  • @whu606

    Thanks for advice on backing up.

    So am I correct in assuming, for the upgrade, I just overwrite the files in the forum folder locally that I'm currently using, and then do the http://www.yourforum.com/index.php?p=/utility/update link?

    In regards to slow page loads, it isn't the formation of the page, more or less the response to the client request to load a given page. In other words, say I click on Dashboard, or Log in, it may sit there waiting for a reply from the server for up to 30 seconds before it then loads the page. Page loads in terms of content itself are sufficient, although they too are a little slow. I have no idea how to repair and optimize tables, nor where those MySQL logs would be located.

    I can research it, however if you have a quick solution that would be great.

  • whu606whu606 I'm not a SuperHero; I just like wearing tights... MVP
    edited May 2012

    @jeremyp52

    I'm on a hosted solution that gives me access to cPanel, which includes, among its other toys, phpMyAdmin.

    If you haven't got the cPanel option, I would imagine you should still be able to access phpMyAdmin. Contact your host if you can't find it.

    In phpMyAdmin, just select your table, and at the bottom you should see a 'check all' option. Select that, and from the drop down list labelled 'With selected' choose 'export' to make a backup of the db, then repeat with 'repair', then repeat and choose 'optimize'.

    You should check to see if your host provides access to mysql slow queries logs, as these can seriously affect page load times.

    Mine are in my root folder, in a sub-folder tmp/mysql_slow_queries/

  • I am my own host, I run my own DNS hosting and web server on windows 2003. I will look for all that information.

    Can you please tell me in regards to the upgrade, do I just overwrite the files in the forum folder, then do the http://www.yourforum.com/index.php?p=/utility/update link??

  • whu606whu606 I'm not a SuperHero; I just like wearing tights... MVP
    Answer ✓

    @jeremyp52

    Yes. To upgrade, just make sure you follow all the instructions here:

    http://vanillaforums.org/docs/installation-upgrade.

    If you're running mysql and php then phpMyAdmin must be in there somewhere!

    If not, this may help:

    http://dpotter.net/technical/2009/03/installing-phpmyadmin-on-windows-and-iis-60/

  • If it was I couldn't find it anywhere, but I just went to phpmyadmin.net and downloaded and installed a copy. I appreciate the instructions!

    Thanks again for all your help!

  • whu606whu606 I'm not a SuperHero; I just like wearing tights... MVP

    You're welcome!

    Hope it helps.

  • TimTim Operations Vanilla Staff

    This may be too late, but yes, you overwrite the existing files.

    Vanilla Forums COO [GitHub, Twitter, About.me]

  • jeremyp52 said:
    If it was I couldn't find it anywhere, but I just went to phpmyadmin.net and downloaded and installed a copy. I appreciate the instructions!

    Thanks again for all your help!

    If you would be so kind and update our wiki with the information you found, please. Separate the IIS stuff on a separate page, if you can, but the general (overwrting) things could be on the main upgrade page.

    IIS has its own issues and therefore a separate page.

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