For an updated upgrade guide see the doc siteSMF 1.0 Upgrade GuideBefore you decide to install SMF, you
MUST take into account the following
1.
BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP. It is absolutely imperative that you make a
COMPLETE backup of the forum you are upgrading prior to starting. This means all the source files (download them to your computer if needs be or move them to a backup directory) and the MySQL database itself.
2.
Check the minimum requirements. The requirements for SMF are higher than the requirements for YaBB SE, therefore before you begin the conversion, you should make absolutely sure that the server you intend to install on meets the requirements, failure to do so may leave you with a broken board, (but you did backup right):-
Client Requirements - at least
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows,
Opera 7,
Mozilla 1.0.2,
Netscape 6.0,
Safari 1.0,
Konqueror, or
Galeon for proper functionality.
-
Opera 6 may work, but full functionality is not guaranteed.
-
Javascript enabled for many functions.
Server Requirements - Any webserver that supports PHP properly, such as
Apache or
Internet Information Services (IIS).
-
PHP 4.1.0 or higher. The following are required to be set correctly in php.ini:
- the engine directive must be On.
- the
magic_quotes_sybase directive must be set to Off.
- the
session.save_path directive must be set to a valid directory.
- the
session.use_only_cookies must be off for proper session handling if cookies are not enabled.
- the
file_uploads directive must be On.
- the
upload_tmp_dir must be set to a valid directory.
-
MySQL 3.23.4 or higher.
- at least 500 kilobytes of storage space in the database, although more is highly recommended.
- about two and a half megabytes of storage space on the web server. (more for attachments!)
Server Recommendations -
Linux or another Unix based operating system, as well as the
GNU Aspell and
its dictionaries, is required by PHP for spell checking functionality.
-
Apache with
AcceptPathInfo set to On (Apache 2 and later only.) for queryless URLs.
-
PHP 4.3.0 or higher, with the following set in php.ini:
- it is recommended that the max_input_time directive is set to a value of at least 30.
- it is recommended that the
post_max_size and
upload_max_filesize directives are set to the size of the largest attachments you wish to be able to upload.
- it is recommended that the
session.use_trans_sid directive is set to Off.
- it is recommended that the
session.use-cookies directive is set to On.
- it is recommended that the
memory_limit directive is set to at least 8M.
- it is recommended that the
max_execution_time directive is set to at least 15.
- it is recommended that the
register_globals directive is set to Off.
-
MySQL 4.0.15 or higher..
-
GD 2.0 or higher.
Obtaining SMFYou can download the latest distribution from the
download page on the official Simple Machines website.
There are a number of packages available, as this guide covers upgrades from YaBB SE and earlier SMF installs, so you should download either the upgrade packages or the update package. The upgrade package is needed for any upgrade other than from the last release, so if you are currently running YaBB SE, it will be the upgrade package you need to download.
We suggest you download the zip option as this is most common and therefore you are more likely to have the tools required to unzip it already installed on your computer.
Unzip the package, ensuring you keep the directory structure, if you are using Windows XP, the easiest way is to right click on the file you downloaded and select the "extract all" option and follow the wizard. If you are using another operating system, then use winzip or a similar programme.
Uploading SMFYou should now be at the stage where you can upload the SMF files to your server. Initiate an FTP connection to the server and navigate to the directory of the forum you wish to upgrade.
If you do not have an FTP client program, we recommend
SmartFTP.
Now you want to upload the SMF files over the old files so open up the folder that you unzipped the SMF package to in Windows Explorer. Select all the files and folders and copy them [goto edit > copy] and in your ftp program paste them. Your FTP program will prompt you to overwrite or skip the upload on files that already exist, you should choose to overwrite them. The files should now be uploading and, depending on the speed of your internet connection, this may take some time.
Once all the files are uploaded, if you are using a *nix server, which is likely the case, you will need to change the permissions [chmod] on a few of the files and directories. The procedure to do this varies between different FTP programs, but generally you right click on the file or directory whose permissions you wish to change and select properties & enter a number in the permissions field. If you are unsure, consult the help file of the ftp program you are using.
The files you need to change the permissions for are Settings.php and Setting_bak.php. The permissions for these two files should be set to 666.
The directories you need to change the permissions for are attachments, Packages and Themes. The permissions for these three directories should be set to 777.
The Upgrade UtilityAssuming the previous steps went well, you should now have the SMF source files on your server and their relevant permissions set, all that is needed now is to run the upgrade.php file to make the necessary changes your MySQL database structure and your Settings.php file.
Open up your favourite web browser and browse to
http://www.yourdomain.tld/forum/upgrade.php (where forum is the location of your forum). Provided you set the permissions correctly on Settings.php and Setting_bak.php and uploaded all the files you should see a form with the following tick boxes:
Backup database with the prefix "backup_yourprefix_”. Ticking this box will cause the SMF upgrade utility to save a copy of your original forum database tables prior to upgrading their structure.
Put the forum into maintenance mode during upgrade. Ticking this box will put your board into maintenance mode during the upgrade process so your users will see a friendly note that the board is being upgraded, rather than a page full of errors.
Output extra debugging information. Ticking this box will cause the upgrade utility to display extra debugging information during the conversion or upgrade process. (useful if you experience problems and want to report them.)
Convert the existing template and set it as default. This option will take the template from your old board and convert it to an SMF style theme and set it as your default board theme.
Once you have selected your desired options, click the continue link, depending on the size of your board, it may take a while, hold tight, while it may seem that nothing is happening it is, do not click continue again until the screen reloads - you will notice because it will say different things about what it's doing
.
To avoid time outs during the conversion process, the SMF upgrade utility has a number of steps.
Once the first step has finished, you will see a summary of what has been done, most things should report as Successful, if there are any error messages, make a note and please report them on the
SMF support forum. If not, everything has finished, click the continue button, again only click it once. Continue this procedure until the upgrade utility is finished and you have a link to return to your forum.
Your forum should now be successfully converted to SMF and you can explore the new features and start using it; however, before doing so you
MUST delete the upgrade.php file from the server as leaving it there can be a major security risk.
To do so return to your ftp program and in the directory you installed SMF to, locate upgrade.php, select it and hit delete.
Finishing upCongratulations, we hope you enjoy using SMF, if you have any support questions, feel free to ask them in our
support forum.
The Simple Machines Team
