Upgrading old forum from SMF 1.1 to current version - Help please

Started by nwflyboy, April 19, 2019, 02:18:52 PM

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Doug Heffernan

Quote from: Sir Osis of Liver on April 20, 2019, 04:37:25 PM

I've probably upgraded more forums than most people here (yes, even Arantor)

I seriously doubt it. But let us say for the sake of argument that you have, quantity does not mean quality. Just saying... .


GigaWatt

My only advice to nwflyboy regarding any FTP client would be don't forget to set the client to transfer files in binary mode, not ASCII or Auto mode.
"This is really a generic concept about human thinking - when faced with large tasks we're naturally inclined to try to break them down into a bunch of smaller tasks that together make up the whole."

"A 500 error loosely translates to the webserver saying, "WTF?"..."

nwflyboy

Just an update (and a couple question) to let you know this is still an active request, and I have been working on getting set up and ready...

I've spent some time in the past few days prepping my Windows PC for the task, including some things I should have done anyway - ie setting up good, solid backups (automated and ongoing), installing an FTP client (I went with FileZilla, which seems like a standard choice) and general housekeeping. It's running Windows 10 64 bit and has all the current OS updates.  I've also downloaded full copies of my forum and databases via FTP (I'm making multiple backups of everything, so just in case anything goes sideways, I should be able to contain any damage and resume with undamaged files).

A couple questions before I proceed....

I am assuming that in order to run the upgrade scripts, a version of PHP5 needs to be present and available on the host where the forum resides.  Correct?

Assuming that's the case, I have been working from the assumption that I will need to install PHP5 locally on my Windows PC, and run the upgrade there.  Reasonable expectation?

Note: as I mentioned above, I'm generally more of a Mac guy, although I have a perfectly capable Windows 10 machine here and can use it (although I probably make dumb Mac guy mistakes at times).  While I understand that I could get a version of PHP5 on my Mac, I'm assuming that you folks who will be assisting me through this process are more fluent and comfortable using such tools on Windows PCs, and I want to make it easier for you to help me.  Also, I don't really have anything on the PC that's mission-critical, so in the event that something Really Bad happens, it wouldn't kill me if I had to just re-pave the PC and start fresh (the Mac has high-value content on it).

So, a question about getting PHP5 installed on my Windows PC: There seem to be multiple sources/variants.  What source/version is recommended in my case?

Another question: I spoke with the support staff at my hosting service about the process I was about to start.  They confirmed that PHP5 has been completely removed from the server I use there.  However, it sounded like there might be other servers there where PHP5 has not yet been completely removed (this is speculation, but that was the impression I got from the way their support guy framed his answer to my question).  If that is the case, it now occurs to me that this process might be simplified somewhat if I were able to have my hosting service (temporarily) copy my forum (and database) over to one of their servers where PHP5 is still available, and try running the upgrade there.  I don't know if they would be willing to do that for me (I only thought of it as an option after I got off he phone with them).  But if they were willing to do so, would that simplify the upgrade path - or would it just complicate it further?

Thanks again for the help and for your patience.

GigaWatt

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
... installing an FTP client (I went with FileZilla, which seems like a standard choice)...

Quote from: GigaWatt on April 21, 2019, 05:27:55 PM
My only advice to nwflyboy regarding any FTP client would be don't forget to set the client to transfer files in binary mode, not ASCII or Auto mode.

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
... (I'm making multiple backups of everything, so just in case anything goes sideways, I should be able to contain any damage and resume with undamaged files).

Always a good precaution measure ;).

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
I am assuming that in order to run the upgrade scripts, a version of PHP5 needs to be present and available on the host where the forum resides.  Correct?

Yes. With 1.1 you should start with 5.4 and go up from there. I'd advise you to upgrade to 2.0.10 first (large upgrade pack), then up the PHP version to 5.6, then upgrade to 2.0.15 (large upgrade pack), then up the PHP version again to 7.1 ;).

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
Assuming that's the case, I have been working from the assumption that I will need to install PHP5 locally on my Windows PC, and run the upgrade there.  Reasonable expectation?

Yes ;).

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
Note: as I mentioned above, I'm generally more of a Mac guy, although I have a perfectly capable Windows 10 machine here and can use it (although I probably make dumb Mac guy mistakes at times).  While I understand that I could get a version of PHP5 on my Mac, I'm assuming that you folks who will be assisting me through this process are more fluent and comfortable using such tools on Windows PCs, and I want to make it easier for you to help me.  Also, I don't really have anything on the PC that's mission-critical, so in the event that something Really Bad happens, it wouldn't kill me if I had to just re-pave the PC and start fresh (the Mac has high-value content on it).

There are people here using Macs, but they're probably not the majority. Most of us use either Windows or Linux.

This is just some info gathered from here and there, can't really say this as a fact, but yes, I believe most of us are more "fluent" in either Windows or Linux ;).

I'd advice you to create a restore point on the Windows PC before you continue installing stuff on it ;).

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
So, a question about getting PHP5 installed on my Windows PC: There seem to be multiple sources/variants.  What source/version is recommended in my case?

I'd say either XAMPP or WAMP.

Quote from: GigaWatt on April 20, 2019, 10:31:59 PM
You have to install something like this on your PC.

https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Server-Tools/XAMPP.shtml

https://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/Internet/Servers/Portable-XAMPP.shtml

https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Database-Utils/WAMP5.shtml

Quote from: nwflyboy on April 26, 2019, 02:31:31 PM
Another question: I spoke with the support staff at my hosting service about the process I was about to start.  They confirmed that PHP5 has been completely removed from the server I use there.  However, it sounded like there might be other servers there where PHP5 has not yet been completely removed (this is speculation, but that was the impression I got from the way their support guy framed his answer to my question).  If that is the case, it now occurs to me that this process might be simplified somewhat if I were able to have my hosting service (temporarily) copy my forum (and database) over to one of their servers where PHP5 is still available, and try running the upgrade there.  I don't know if they would be willing to do that for me (I only thought of it as an option after I got off he phone with them).  But if they were willing to do so, would that simplify the upgrade path - or would it just complicate it further?

I was inclined to suggest something like this (I might've even suggested it, can't really remember), but you went the "I'll do it on my own PC" way, so I just backed off :P.

If it was me, I'd do it this way. Either this way or create a temporary account on a free hosting provider, do the upgrade there and delete everything afterwards ;). Of course, once you upload the data on the free host, you really can't be sure what the host will do with it in the future, but if the forum's data is not really "hush hush", I'd probably be more comfortable doing it this way ;). Besides, you'll probably learn a thing or two about managing your forum from your host's control panel, since your local PC and your host's control panel are two entirely different things.
"This is really a generic concept about human thinking - when faced with large tasks we're naturally inclined to try to break them down into a bunch of smaller tasks that together make up the whole."

"A 500 error loosely translates to the webserver saying, "WTF?"..."

nwflyboy

OK, moving this forward again...

My Windows PC has been prepped and I have some time this week scheduled to take a run at this.  I am now attempting to get an appropriate version of PHP5 downloaded and installed to my PC.  And, surprise, I've got a question already...

It's suggested above that I should initiate this with PHP5.4
OK, so I'm looking for that - PHP 5.4.  Following the links above (the first one: https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Servers/Server-Tools/XAMPP.shtml) lands me on a XAMPP download page, that looks like this:



The advice above is "With 1.1 you should start with 5.4 and go up from there."  I take it that means the suggestion is to install PHP version 5.4.x (that is, version 5.4 and any version number more specific than that (the trailing x in 5.4.x) doesn't matter.

The default download on that landing page looks like version 7.x so I assume I need to find a legacy version.  Clicking on the "Download" tab on that page brings up additional versions/options, like so:



I take it that what I need is to grab the highlighted option (or another below it) for PHP 5.4.31.  Is that correct?

Note that my PC is running Windows 10...is that going to be OK with this older version?

Once I get this installed, I'll surely have more questions.  Thanks in advance for your continued assistance and your patience with my small steps.

Sir Osis of Liver

No offense, but I don't understand why you're going to all this trouble to do a simple upgrade.  Your forum has been offline for a month, and you're knocking your brains out apparently trying to set up a local server just to do the upgrade.  You should have had your forum upgraded and back online a day or two after your original post, unless you're just doing this as a busywork project.
Ashes and diamonds, foe and friend,
 we were all equal in the end.

                                     - R. Waters

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