best version to upgrade to from 1.1.21

[aswuser]

I want to update my SMF install from version 1.1.21 (running on php 5.3) to version 2.


Can I upgrade using the current large upgrade directly to 2.0.18? or would it be better to upgrade in steps, to lower version first. If lover version first, which one and where can I get lower version large upgrade package?

[shadav]

are you using a lot of mods?
I mean to be honest that far behind, most of the current mods you have need updated as well, and some may not even work anymore

I would say just do a clean install of 2.0.18 and then download and reinstall all mods and themes that way everything is up to date and should work with php 7.2
smf 2.0.18 works with php 7.4 but not all mods have been updated to 7.4, most will work with 7.2 or 7.3 though.

backup your site through your control panel (not smf admin)
and you should be able to do the large upgrade package of 2.0.18, this will convert your db over and install clean files
so then after that just download the themes you want to use and install them then the mods you want to use and install them

[shawnb61]

Yes, under most circumstances you should be able to upgrade directly from 1.1.21 to 2.0.18. 

You lose all your mods & themes when you do a large upgrade like this.

Ideally, you test drive the upgrade in a test environment first.

Backup, backup, backup....   File system & DB...  You need to be able to recover if something goes sideways.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

As already mentioned, it shouldn't be necessary in this case - but if for some reason you do need the old releases, they are all kept at https://download.simplemachines.org/index.php?archive
For example, if you want to set up an old version to test with.

[Deaks]

I would say just do a clean install of 2.0.18 and then download and reinstall all mods and themes that way everything is up to date and should work with php 7.2

what?!? You know if he did a clean install he would lose all his posts etc, hbest to run the Large upgrade as that would make the necesssary changes to the db!

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Since shadav did mention the large upgrade as well, I'm thinking that was just a bit badly worded.
Not a clean install, but a large upgrade straight to 2.0.18.

[shadav]

I would say just do a clean install of 2.0.18 and then download and reinstall all mods and themes that way everything is up to date and should work with php 7.2

what?!? You know if he did a clean install he would lose all his posts etc, hbest to run the Large upgrade as that would make the necesssary changes to the db!

um it will install clean files....

Large upgrade
Upgrading from an earlier branch (SMF 2.0.17 or below)? No problem, this is what you need. This archive will upgrade/reset your forum to a clean install of the latest version and will remove all modifications.

and you should be able to do the large upgrade package of 2.0.18, this will convert your db over and install clean files

though I guess I could have worded it better

as opposed to doing updates one by one by one from 1.1.21 all the way to 2.0.18 since most mods that they may be using are out dated as well, so not worth taking the time to do each individual update, when they'd have to go through and update all mods that they may use too.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Also, to get from 1.1 to 2.0 the large upgrade is actually a requirement, so no reason to not go directly to 2.0.18 then.

[aswuser]

Thanks for your replies.

No mods installed, thankfully. I inherited this SMF and don't know much about it. It was, like, version 1.0.2 and I managed to update it to 1.1.21 but had trouble before getting it to install any 2.x version at all. It has been moved to a new host now and I am hoping to get it work this time.

Do I run upgrade.php with PHP 5.3 or should I switch to php 7 before running upgrade?