Re: Upgrade from 2.0.19 to 2.1.X impossible, imcompatible, and empty.

[gatesco]

Hello,

I had the same problem as FinsandFur because I made the same mistake (trying to upgrade from 2.0.19 to 2.1.2 via the package manager). So first of all thank you for your support, your responses to FinsandFur also helped me.

Now, I'm a little scared of the update (because it will remove mods and themes), so a question: how can I safely test the update before updating the forum? I don't know what could be wrong during and after the update and I don't want to set the forum offline to fix the potential errors, check the theme, reorder the mods and / or look for new ones... meanwhile the users would not be happy... It would have become a race against time for me 

Is there a way to create a clone copy of the forum (even in a subdirectory of the same web space) to do all the tests and make me ready for the actual update? What steps should I follow?

Thanks again for your support

[Kindred]

Split topic, since you replied to a solved topic and have additional questions

Read the faq on how to move a forum. Follow those same steps (except copy the directory and database with a different name) to create a copy

[Doug Heffernan]

Now, I'm a little scared of the update (because it will remove mods and themes), so a question: how can I safely test the update before updating the forum? I don't know what could be wrong during and after the update and I don't want to set the forum offline to fix the potential errors, check the theme, reorder the mods and / or look for new ones... meanwhile the users would not be happy... It would have become a race against time for me 

Is there a way to create a clone copy of the forum (even in a subdirectory of the same web space) to do all the tests and make me ready for the actual update? What steps should I follow?

There is no need to be scared. Upgrading Smf isn easy process. I like the approach that you are taking btw. To expand a bit on what was said above, here is the link that you need to read up.

https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Hosting_-_How_do_I_move_my_SMF_forum_to_a_different_host

It is for moving to a new host, but it can be applied to moving your forum to a new folder as well.

Please let us know if you will have any additional questions.