Installing fresh RC4 Forum over old 2.0 RC1.2 but keeping old posts, Pics & DB.

[Astra_200]

I want to do a complete fresh install of the forum (not an upgrade) but keep all the existing posts and boards etc

So I have searched and found the following advise.
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1. take backup of Settings.php and Settings_bak.php
2. download full version of smf you want
3. remove install.php, Settings.php and Settings_bak.php from the archive
4. extract it to a folder.
5. upload to your site
6. if you forgot to remove Settings.php and Settings_bak.php upload the backup of those iles you made

and there you go y our forum will now be  a default forum with no lose of data (if you done it correctly)

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With the above advice in mind, I have a few questions if I may? being a bit of a noob.

1. Will this work on a full upgrade from 2.0 RC1.2 to RC4? I really need to keep my old posts etc.

2. If so, just to be sure, After backing up Settings.php and Settings_bak.php from my smf folder I download the full RC4 version, remove install.php, Settings.php and Settings_bak.php from it and copy the remainder over to my smf folder via ftp allowing the new version to overwrite the old one?

3. Once updated, I re install / upload the backed up Settings.php and Settings_bak.php from my old forum?

4. I want to preserve gallery pictures, avatars too. How do I do that please?

5. For some reason I have a Settings.php and Settings_bak.php in my public_html root directory as well as my smf one, should they be there?

6. Presumably all my mods will be overwritten, so I will get no errors, just need to find new compatible ones and install them again?

Thanks in advance.

[Kays]

Hi, you can not do what you wish using the install package. You must use the large upgrade package and run upgrade.php afterwards to update the database. Except for the specific install or upgrade related files the packages are identical. Even if you succeed in doing it, you will still need to run upgrade.php.

Do backup the Settings.php files as well as your entire forums and database. Uninstall your mods, but don't remove any database settings if prompted. Then when they are reinstalled, they should work as they previously did when you do reinstall them. Gallery included.

Then upload the files from the large upgrade package and run upgrade.php. The large upgrade package does not contain Settings.php so it won't be overwritten.

Upgrading SMF

[Astra_200]

Do backup the Settings.php files as well as your entire forums and database. Uninstall your mods, but don't remove any database settings if prompted. Then when they are reinstalled, they should work as they previously did when you do reinstall them. Gallery included.
Upgrading SMF

Thanks for the reply..

This is a 2.0 RC1.2 forum being upgraded to an RC4. I was under the impression that most of, if not sll mods will not be compatable with the later RC4?

[Kays]

Your current mods maybe no because of the changes. But do check the mod site as I'm sure that most have been updated to RC4.

[Astra_200]

Ok, so am I best off deleting all the current mods before the upgrade?

I am currently using Avea Media 1.4c for my gallery, its not a problem deleting and re installing, but how can I be sure not to delete my current forums pictures so they can still be viewed in the new forum?

Thank you.

[Kays]

Yes, the mods are now stored in the database. So you either need to uninstall them or empty that table (not recommended). Don't worry about any errors you might see. You will be uploading all fresh files afterwards.

I don't know about Avea Media. It would be best to backup any folders used to store the images.

Do read this first though: Important Notice: Do you use Filezilla?  Avatars and Attachments lost?

[Astra_200]

Yes thankyou, noticed that somewhere else, and I user another ftp client.

I have backed up every single file and database on my forum, so even if it all goes wrong, like I expect it to, I hopefully will still have the basics in order to try again

Well just a little more research and I'm ready to press the button.

[Kays]

If you feel uncomfortable. Setup your site on a local server (google xampp) and upgrade that as a test.

Either way good luck with it.

[Astra_200]

Thats interesting, will take a look at that.

Thanks for your help.

[Kays]

No problem.

If (or when) you consider this resolved. Could you please click on the green "Mark Topic Solved" button below.

[Astra_200]

Ok, I used some spare space on the server to create a test account. First tried upgrade option and then run upgrade.php afterwards, just got error something like ' Older files found' so could not continue. I am trying to upgrade a 2.0 RC1.2 to RC4 so was that not expected?

Next I tried full install on fresh directory but deleted default install.php, settings.php and settings_bak.php from full install folder and uploaded my original ones later with a view to linking with my exsisting database.

Now I get error 'Fatal error: Call to undefined function call_integration_hook() in /home/****/public_html/smf2TEST/index.php on line 342'

My line 342 says 'call_integration_hook('integrate_actions', array(&$actionArray));'

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks.

[Acans]

First backup everything in your forums directory. Than delete everything except settings.php, settings_bak.php and your attachments directory. Upload the RC5 upgrade package, extract it on your server (its easier) and run upgrade.php.