Upgrading From phpBB 3.0.7 to 3.3, and php 5.6.4 to php 7

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Wed Mar 18, 2020 7:22 pm

We attempted a phpBB upgrade in June 2019 from 3.0.7-PL1 and also the upgrade of php 5.6.4. to php 7. At that time we also moved from a Godaddy Windows shared hosting to Tierra.net Linux shared hosting. None of us are proficient in php but have managed this forum for about 6 years with few issues. The current forum is fairly large, over 10 Gigs; no installed mods and the style is subsilver2. We used a "cleaner", but cannot recall if it was STK. After the data was cleaned, the main problem was the amount of errors that seemed to be associated with very very old posts and this prevented the forums from displaying. We would like to preserve all the posts, regardless of their age because the forum's purpose is providing answers and solutions for engine repair. We are going to attempt the upgrade again and I have some questions. The 1st is: Saw from another post to install earlier versions instead of jumping directly to 3.3.? Not finding any archived versions on phpBB but see that sourceforge.net has older versions. is this recommended in our situation? My second question is there anything else related to our circumstances that we need to address?

janus_zonstraal · Post by **janus_zonstraal** » Wed Mar 18, 2020 7:58 pm

The current forum is fairly large, over 10 Gigs;

The files or the database or both together?

warmweer · Post by **warmweer** » Wed Mar 18, 2020 8:17 pm

What a board that large, upgrading could take some time. That is with a database that large.
If those 10 GB are mainly attachments, files, images whatever, it shouldn't be cause for concern.

Still, I wouldn't upgrade to 3.3. in one go.

First I would use the STK to make absolutely sure there are no remaining mod database edits.
Set prosilver als default style and uninstall subsilver2.
Empty the search tables. These can be repopulated once your board is fully upgraded.
Update to 3.0.14. test the board and take a database backup. (read the instructions)
Considering the size of your board I would then upgrade to 3.1.12 and then 3.2.9 and then 3.3.0.
If you do get timeouts, you'll probably need to use CLI.
As to the php version, 5.6 will get you on your way up to 3.2.9 but for 3.3.0 you'll need php 7.1+

I would use php 5.6 to get to 3.1.12 and only after uploading the 3.2.9 files, switch to php 7.2 (not higher) and then start the upgrade which will run faster than with php 5.6. If you have php 7.3 or 7.4 you could try upgrading directly to phpBB3.3.0.

However, as I mentioned, every step is going to take long and should something go wrong, the last upgrade will have to be done again, which is why I would do it in steps: 3.0.7 >3.0.14 >3.1.12>3.2.9 >3.3.0 and take a database backup for each successful step.
Since you have no modifications, always use the full package method.

See how the update to 3.0.14 goes first. If there are timeouts you'll need to use CLI.
I suggest you report back here after each step, certainly after the first.

janus_zonstraal · Post by **janus_zonstraal** » Wed Mar 18, 2020 8:24 pm

We attempted a phpBB upgrade in June 2019

But what with the new post made after June 2019??

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:16 pm

Thank-you for reading my question. My previous information was incorrect - The 10 Gigs are the files, and the data base is 9 Gigs.

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:26 pm

Sorry Janus, in June 2019, we had so many problems with having to move off of Godaddy and setting up a subdomain, we opted to back off of doing the upgrade and did not post to phpbb

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:41 pm

Thank-you warmweer for the additional information that is new from a post I read at viewtopic.php?t=2536486. Can anyone please give a definition of "a long time"? We're not php proficient, but my business partner is proficient in other programming languages and he builds custom Microsoft data bases - we're just trying to plan our weekend.

warmweer · Post by **warmweer** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 8:47 pm

clothesgirl wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:41 pm Thank-you warmweer for the additional information that is new from a post I read at viewtopic.php?t=2536486. Can anyone please give a definition of "a long time"? We're not php proficient, but my business partner is proficient in other programming languages and he builds custom Microsoft data bases - we're just trying to plan our weekend.

A "long time " for me is anything longer that 20 minutes which is probably normal for a 500MB database (although that's more an impression that actually having timed it).

A 9 GB database is truly large and in order to save time (if only with manipulations) I strongly advise to you truncate (= empty) the search tables. That will probably reduce the size with 3 GB or more.
With a database that large I fear CLI will be necessary, but you probably don't have experience with that so start using the usual procedure. And with a database that large I would certainly do it in stages, not directly to 3.3.0.
Updating from 3.0.7 to 3.0.14 will take about 15 minutes (only, I hope) but I fear the upgrade to 3.1.12 will take at least an hour, I think even closer to 2 hours.
IIRC the upgrade to 3.2 was faster, and the upgrade to 3.3.0 a lot faster.
Still in total I'ld say at least 3 hours.
The advantage of upgrading in steps is twofold:
a) should something go wrong, you only have an earlier backup to continue with
b) if it takes significantly longer, you don't have to wait until the whole upgrade is finished. Part can be done "tomorrow"

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:16 pm

Appreciate so very much the replies and all this will be very helpful. Will send a follow up message over the weekend on what I hope will be success and not a distress call

warmweer · Post by **warmweer** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:23 pm

clothesgirl wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:16 pm Appreciate so very much the replies and all this will be very helpful. Will send a follow up message over the weekend on what I hope will be success and not a distress call

Sorry, we are currently unable to answer distress calls. Please explicitly mention it if you are making a complimenting call and we'll put you through to our Service desk immediately.

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:05 pm

Ok, will report after the 1st step - thanks for that. May I clarify one item or find a source? The version 3.2.9 . . . . I'm not finding it - not on web.archive.org, not on phpbb.com/downloads and not on sourceforge.net. Am I misunderstanding something or can someone direct me to a location for the zip?

warmweer · Post by **warmweer** » Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:14 pm

clothesgirl wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:05 pm Ok, will report after the 1st step - thanks for that. May I clarify one item or find a source? The version 3.2.9 . . . . I'm not finding it - not on web.archive.org, not on phpbb.com/downloads and not on sourceforge.net. Am I misunderstanding something or can someone direct me to a location for the zip?

Older Releases

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Fri Mar 20, 2020 2:19 am

Thanks for the link!

clothesgirl · Post by **clothesgirl** » Tue Mar 24, 2020 3:18 am

We're so sad here. The 3.0.7 installed fine and imported the backup with no issues. We did the STK (it wanted to delete a table, so we let it). We deleted the content from 3 search tables and the style is set to prosilver. We uploaded the unzipped files for 3.0.14 into root folder which replaced the 3.0.7. The problem is when walking trough the conversion, it's not finding the forum, Is there a work around to the conversion? Or is there a different zip file for just updating? What are we doing wrong?

Lumpy Burgertushie · Post by **Lumpy Burgertushie** » Tue Mar 24, 2020 4:45 am

it is not a conversion, it is an upgrade.
did you by chance overwrite the existing config.php file with the new blank one when you uploaded the 3.0.14 files?

if so, you need to replace it with the backup copy you had of the 3.0.7 board.

then, go to yourboard/install/database_update.php

robert