Backup from 2012 used in a fresh install

[monzadave1]

Hello,

I used to run a forum more than 10 years ago and stopped due to rising costs of hosting and a drop in traffic (mainly due to Facebook leaching all of my traffic).

I recently decided to have a small side project of getting the forum back up and running, but am having some issues trying to get the backup I have from 2012 working. I cannot seem to access my PHPmyAdmin account for my DB, which is not helping, but can I even get an old backup to populate a new install? ,

I have the following files

swdubsc1_forum-posts.sql
swdubsc1_forum.sql

Do I have a chance? Or am I just better off starting from scratch?

[thecoalman]

Explain the issue you are having with the backup.

As far as the additional files import them into DB and see what they are.

[monzadave1]

I have managed to get access to my DB. Stupid question, but where do I upload the files I have?

[warmweer]

I have managed to get access to my DB. Stupid question, but where do I upload the files I have?

If you have access to the DB, you can import the backups (using phpMyAdmin or similar)

You apparently have 2 .sql files.
Those are probably backups of that database.

HOWEVER!!
swdubsc1_forum-posts.sql is probably only the posts_table, whereas
swdubsc1_forum.sql is either a full backup or a backup without the posts_table.
That something you can figure out by opening the files to see the contents (use notepad, Notepad++ or something similar, NOT Word, Wordperfect or similar. Important: after opening the file , close it without saving!!!.

Should the forum.sql contain a posts_table, you should look for the most recent post to see whether it's more recent than the separate posts_table.
If the separate posts_table is more recent, do not import that blindly as the more recent posts could have been made by users not in the full backup, and in topics which are not in the full backup.

Usually at the top of the SQLs you see the date on which they were made.

[monzadave1]

Thank you.

The fourm sql seems to have posts in and both were created at around the same time and day.

Where/how do I import the files?

The files were created so long ago (2012), are they likely to be compatible to the new install I have?

[warmweer]

The forum sql seems to have posts in and both were created at around the same time and day.

search for version in that file to find the phpBB version that database is for

Where/how do I import the files?

In PhpMyadmin or similar.
I take it you have a hosting package

The files were created so long ago (2012), are they likely to be compatible to the new install I have?

No.
BUT... if it was an unmodified board then upgrading is simple.
If not then you have find the database version and install that.

Before going into details, find out which php version the database mentions (search for the field "version").

[monzadave1]

The version in the forum.sql is 3.4.10.2

(PHP version 5.2.17)

The old forum was pretty clean. Auto_cookies.mod is the only mod file I can see in the old backup I have.

[warmweer]

The version in the forum.sql is 3.4.10.2

That's very strange as that phpBB version never existed. Wouldn't that be the phpMyAdmin version?

Auto_cookies.mod is the only mod file I can see in the old backup I have.

Since there's a mod, the phpBB version = 3.0.something

[P_I]

Wouldn't that be the phpMyAdmin version?

Very likely. phpMyAdmin - 3.4.10.2 Released 2012-03-28.

[monzadave1]

Oh balls. Sorry.

I have the following at the start of the Forum file,

-- phpMyAdmin SQL Dump
-- version 3.4.10.2
-- http://www.phpmyadmin.net
--
-- Host: localhost
-- Generation Time: Jun 07, 2012 at 08:33 AM
-- Server version: 5.1.63
-- PHP Version: 5.2.17

and within the file I have

('dbms_version', '5.0.91', 0),

and

('version', '3.0.9', 0),

All other mentions of 'version' are either in post content or within what looks to be unrelated data.

[warmweer]

('version', '3.0.9', 0),

That's the phpBB version.

First thing to do is to is to reinstall that version, then use the official STK to inspect the database and remove all mods.
Once that's done I would update to 3.0.14.

After that you need to switch PHP version (to a version compatible for phpBB 3.3.13) and then upgrade.