Migrate from SMF 2.0.7 to 2.0.17 and move to a new server

[Trinicom]

Hi Guys,

We have a customer who is currently running SMF 2.0.7
we need to move their message boards to a new server and upgrade it to the current version.

is there any docs out there on how to move SMF to another server?
Should we upgrade before the move or after?

thanks
Keith

[Looking]

Moving depends on what kind of hosting software both hosts have. For instance, if Cpanel to Cpanel migration can be done through there.

If it were me I would upgrade now, do it now, and start fresh on new server.

[Arantor]

You're probably best upgrading first; 2.0.7 doesn't play nicely on more modern PHP versions.

There are two routes to upgrading and understanding which to use mostly depends on what customisations the site has; if it has many, you're probably best following the Patching notes and upgrading from 2.0.7 to 2.0.8 to 2.0.9 etc. Alternatively if it doesn't have many, document what it does have and then have a read of Upgrading SMF.

Moving hosts: How do I move my SMF forum to a different host? and in particular: What is repair_settings.php?

[Trinicom]

good advice,

but I think it I might prefer to get it running on the new server 1st so we do not crash the production board trying to upgrade it

what version of PHP would be safe to install on the new server to start out with and then  I will upgrade php and the board at the same time

keith

[vbgamer45]

PHP 5.6 would safe

[Trinicom]

ok awesome I have 5.6 running on centos 8 right now

does it matter with the version of MySQL?

Keith

[vbgamer45]

Yes 5.7 or less....
Centos 8 does MySQL 8... I had to roll it back.
MySQL 8 does not pickup .myiasm tables and has autneticiaton issues with PHP if less than 7.4

[Trinicom]

cool thanks for the info

I did as centos minimum install so I could build it up from scratch

cheers!
Keith

[Trinicom]

So I am trying to backup the original SQL server through the SMF interface and it stops at 27 megs.
apparently they have 884,777 Posts in 56,382 Topics by 4,279 Members so it should be a big database for sure.

Should I try manual back up from my SQL? not sure if I want to optimize it since I do not thing they ever did that and
want to make sure the DB does not crash.

[Illori]

we dont recommend using the backup in the admin panel. for that matter it has been removed in SMF 2.1.

[Kindred]

also, you can clear out the log tables (suggested to do it from SMF admin maintenance) before exporting.

[Trinicom]

Looks like the logs are all pruning between 30 and 180 days

what about
Optimize all tables
This task allows you to optimize all tables. This will get rid of overhead, effectively making the tables smaller in size and your forum faster!

could this crash the My SQL in this old version?
I made a VM back up of the server, but it takes two days so the message board would be off by two days if we crash the physical server

Keith

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Do you have access to phpmyadmin or cpanel backup utility?  Best not to run any maintenance functions on a large database without first dumping a good backup.

Looks like the logs are all pruning between 30 and 180 days

I've worked on several forums that had gb error logs with 30 day pruning, you need to clear the logs either in admin or with pma.