Lots of problems after conversion from vB4.2.3 to SMF 2.0.18

Started by Mornagest, October 24, 2021, 04:24:09 PM

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Mornagest

Hello,

So I managed to run convert.php but I experience many problems afterwards:

- about two thirds of our messages are not present in the SMF forum;
- I cannot login and I'm sure nobody couldn't;
- I cannot find the last and good version of vbulletin4_to_smf.sql and convert.php which contain no bug that need to be manually corrected :(

Of course this was a local try so nothing is hurt during the process, but the goal would be to convert the full database successfully without loss...

Is there a place where I can find the very last version of those two files to run that conversion properly, please?

Many thanks for your answers! :)

GL700Wing

I went through this process 4 years ago (see Success Story - vBulletin 4.2.0 to SMF 2.0.14) but it took me 3-4 months of planning and preparation along with lots of testing - and tweaking of the conversion script to import data created by vBulletin mods - to get the result I wanted.

Despite all the time and effort it took it was well worth it in the end - the SMF forum community is much more secure, requires a lot less management and is better suited to the needs of the user community.

If you want to migrate a forum community from one lot of forum software to another I think you'll need to be prepared to do some custom coding in the process and, as per my experience, you may also have to migrate the forum to the SMF version you want to use in stages.

My months of planning, preparation and testing paid off when the actual migration process took less than 45 minutes from start to finish because along the way I had documented not only what needed to be done but also the order in which it had to be done.
Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful ...

Mornagest

Hello GL700,

Thank you for your answer!

Well, I suppose there is a lot of work to be done before I can hope for a full and clean conversion.

Anyway, I have some questions about your preparation from vB. As you, we are using mods (chatbox, statistics, and so on) and when you say they can cause some problems with the script, I'm a bit scared. What am I supposed to do about this?

To be more precise, I installed a fresh vB4.2.3 on local machine, then installed the database that I recently dumped. Then I disabled mods in order to run forum locally without having to install those mods, but maybe I have to install them locally to delete them and erase all data linked to them? (And delete tables linked to them too?).

Or maybe this is useless and I have to look for another way to make those mod-related data compatible with SMF?

I don't know if I'm very clear, sorry, English is not my native language  :-[

GL700Wing

Quote from: Mornagest on October 25, 2021, 01:21:17 PMAs you, we are using mods (chatbox, statistics, and so on) and when you say they can cause some problems with the script, I'm a bit scared. What am I supposed to do about this?
You need to decide what vBulletin data you really need - for instance, maybe you can just start with new chats (a lot of the SMF statistics will be generated from the migrated data).

QuoteTo be more precise, I installed a fresh vB4.2.3 on local machine, then installed the database that I recently dumped. Then I disabled mods in order to run forum locally without having to install those mods, but maybe I have to install them locally to delete them and erase all data linked to them? (And delete tables linked to them too?).
I copied the vBulletin database to the same website as the SMF forum and ran the conversion - I didn't actually need to have the vBulletin forum running on the same website as the SMF forum.

I've attached a zip file containing a copy of my notes from when I did the conversion and the conversion scripts I used (please keep in mind that the conversion scripts I used are now out of date - that said, they may contain information you find useful).

Good luck!
Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful ...

Mornagest

Why, thank you for the notes! I guess I'll need them very often as I'm a bit lost with that :)

About our data: we need posts of course, members profiles, PM, polls and attachments, roughly. The fact is that most of our mods are for fun (chatbox, forum legend, and so on) so we can obviously get rid of them and start using their SMF counterpart.

I read that you export the database from vBulletin but do you remember if you uninstalled mods and files linked to them before the db dump?

The worst is that we still use vBSEO... don't know what to do with this. If it were up to me, I would have throw this in the bin for a very long time  :(

Thank you for your answers!

GL700Wing

Quote from: Mornagest on October 26, 2021, 01:07:36 PMWhy, thank you for the notes! I guess I'll need them very often as I'm a bit lost with that :)
I worked in IT for 30+ years and I found that making - and using! - notes along with multiple test runs to perfect and refine the process was crucial to the success of any software implementation/ upgrade project.

QuoteAbout our data: we need posts of course, members profiles, PM, polls and attachments, roughly. The fact is that most of our mods are for fun (chatbox, forum legend, and so on) so we can obviously get rid of them and start using their SMF counterpart.
It looks like the data you need to convert is the same as the data I needed to convert.  In addition  I also had to convert the data for a 'Likes' system.[/quote]

QuoteI read that you export the database from vBulletin but do you remember if you uninstalled mods and files linked to them before the db dump?
I only used the vBulletin database that I imported - I didn't actually have or need any of the vBulletin software files.

QuoteThe worst is that we still use vBSEO... don't know what to do with this. If it were up to me, I would have throw this in the bin for a very long time  :(
The forum I converted also used vBSEO for a period of time and then stopped using it - I suggest you make a complete copy of your forum and uninstall vBSEO from the copy before trying the conversion.

Also. if you read the information I posted about the conversion I did you will see information for a .htaccess file that contains redirection information for both vBSEO and non-vBSEO posts to ensure links still work following the conversion.
Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful ...

Mornagest

Thank you for your answer!

Yeah I was hoping that installing a brand new vB4 on my machine then reimport the db dump would suffice but I can see it will be trickier indeed.

So I'll copy the production forum on my machine with FTP client and then import db on it. There I'll try uninstalling all mods and only then trying a conversion.

Maybe this would be more accurate :)

I saw one of your early posts about URL redirections to bypass vBSEO, thank you! I guess this is more effective than those so-called SEO mods which are ignored by Google and others...

But first I need a rest ^^

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