Vbulletin 4.2.5 to PHPBB 3...... ????

[chrisfromwa]

Hi Everyone,
I've been reading through the forum, trying to find an answer to this question. But I keep hitting a dead end.

I have an older Vbulletin forum 4.2.5.

I saw there was a converter that was made to work with PHPBB3.0, so I installed that version got the forum working.
Here is the converter I found.
viewtopic.php?p=13252438#p13252438

I got it to the point where it's starts the conversion, but it just stops spinning on a white page after a few minutes. I don't see anything in my database showing it actually did anything. I've been reading through that long topic, some people say it works great. others seem to run into some type of issue and no answers given.

Is there anything out there, that will allow me to convert my old vb forum, over to phpbb (any version).

[chrisfromwa]

anyone have any thoughts on how to make this work?

[Kailey]

Looks like the convertor was created for phpBB 3.0 (specifically, 3.0.11). I would suggest and incremental upgrade.

• Verify you are running PHP 5.4.7 or later. DO NOT USE PHP 7 OR GREATER! This KB article will guide you through setting up a local web server since most hosts won't provide the required discontinued PHP versions to do this. Once you are fully up-to-date with phpBB, you could then get help transferring to a proper web host.
• Convert to phpBB 3.0.11 (3.0.11 download)
• Upgrade from phpBB 3.0.11 to 3.1.12 (instructions, 3.1.12 download)
• Upgrade from phpBB 3.1.x to 3.2.11 (instructions, 3.2.11 download)
• Upgrade PHP to at least 7.1.3; 7.4.3 would work, I would suggest PHP 8.0 or 8.1
• Upgrade from phpBB 3.2.11 to 3.3.10 (instructions, 3.3.10 download)

[chrisfromwa]

Thank You! I had missed that it needed to be 3.0.11!

that seemed to have worked, and my data moved over.

Thank you for your help

[wonder_wonder]

Looks like the convertor was created for phpBB 3.0 (specifically, 3.0.11). I would suggest and incremental upgrade.

• Verify you are running PHP 5.4.7 or later. DO NOT USE PHP 7 OR GREATER! This KB article will guide you through setting up a local web server since most hosts won't provide the required discontinued PHP versions to do this. Once you are fully up-to-date with phpBB, you could then get help transferring to a proper web host.
• Convert to phpBB 3.0.11 (3.0.11 download)
• Upgrade from phpBB 3.0.11 to 3.1.12 (instructions, 3.1.12 download)
• Upgrade from phpBB 3.1.x to 3.2.11 (instructions, 3.2.11 download)
• Upgrade PHP to at least 7.1.3; 7.4.3 would work, I would suggest PHP 8.0 or 8.1
• Upgrade from phpBB 3.2.11 to 3.3.10 (instructions, 3.3.10 download)

I am converting from vb 4.2.5 to phpbb.
Ok it is done to phpbb 3.0.11, but once we have it in 3.0.11, why don't we upgrade phpbb 3.0.11 directly to 3.3.11?
As you advise, we should go through the main previous versions.

Thank you and greetings.

[warmweer]

Ok it is done to phpbb 3.0.11, but once we have it in 3.0.11, why don't we upgrade phpbb 3.0.11 directly to 3.3.11?
As you advise, we should go through the main previous versions.

It is possible, however it needs a PHP version suited for 3.3.11 and you should not start up phpBB 3.0.11 with that PHP version.

A simple way = update to 3.0.14, use the stk to sanitize the 3.0.14 database.
Change the PHP version to a version suited for 3.3.11 (preferably 8.0 or higher)
Follow the upgrade instructions t0 3.3.

[wonder_wonder]

Ok it is done to phpbb 3.0.11, but once we have it in 3.0.11, why don't we upgrade phpbb 3.0.11 directly to 3.3.11?
As you advise, we should go through the main previous versions.

It is possible, however it needs a PHP version suited for 3.3.11 and you should not start up phpBB 3.0.11 with that PHP version.

A simple way = update to 3.0.14, use the stk to sanitize the 3.0.14 database.
Change the PHP version to a version suited for 3.3.11 (preferably 8.0 or higher)
Follow the upgrade instructions t0 3.3.

Ok, this week I have been doing migration tests, so when I do the "final" one I want to do it in the best way possible.
What I did was: Convert vb 4.2.5 to 3.0.11 with php 5.6.
Once in 3.0.11 I upgraded to 3.3.11, obviously with that version I need higher php. So I did it via cli connected by ssh:
php bin/phpbbcli.php --safe-mode db:migrate
I did not have problems.
Once updated, I switched to php 8.2 and accessed the forum successfully.
But the point of:
"update to 3.0.14, use the stk to sanitize the 3.0.14 database."
I didn't know about it, and this one, I didn't do it.

If you advise it, then I will do it, update to 3.0.14, use the stk to sanitize from 3.0.14 and then change to php 8.2 and upgrade to 3.3.11.

Thanks and greetings!