Importing an older Concrete5 database into a new Concrete5 installation
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I am trying to sort out an old Concrete 5.5.1 website with various issues and am in a sad tangle. At the moment, it is running on a server with php 5.3.28 and at least from the public view, is working OK.
I tried to copy the Concrete5.5.1 site to a different server running php 5.4.28, here: http://datest.clareassoc.com/ so that I could do some testing and try to get the site updated to the latest Concrete5 version.
But apart from a bunch of php warnings, I can't get the site to show itself at all at the test location (I'm OK with the warnings, I know how to turn those off, I just can't see why the site isn't displaying anything at all apart from warnings. The server logs report no errors, only warnings, I've checked permissions etc :-( .).
Since Concrete 5.5.1 was released in Jan 2012, and php 5.4.28 was released May 2014, and the site has three dodgy custom-built packages, I am thinking that something about the newer version of php is disagreeing with either concrete5.5.1, or the custom packages, or both.
I dare not touch the live site as it's vital that go on working. I can't copy it to my preferred test location.
Can i disable the custom packages on the test site without access to the dashboard? How could I do that? I have tried deleting the package files, but the site would still not load.
If I install the latest version concrete5 to the test server, is there a decent chance I can import the old database into it? Any instructions for doing that?
Or, is the only way out of this tangle to find a test server running php 5.3, do the updates and then move to a server with php 5.4 afterwards ?
I tried to copy the Concrete5.5.1 site to a different server running php 5.4.28, here: http://datest.clareassoc.com/ so that I could do some testing and try to get the site updated to the latest Concrete5 version.
But apart from a bunch of php warnings, I can't get the site to show itself at all at the test location (I'm OK with the warnings, I know how to turn those off, I just can't see why the site isn't displaying anything at all apart from warnings. The server logs report no errors, only warnings, I've checked permissions etc :-( .).
Since Concrete 5.5.1 was released in Jan 2012, and php 5.4.28 was released May 2014, and the site has three dodgy custom-built packages, I am thinking that something about the newer version of php is disagreeing with either concrete5.5.1, or the custom packages, or both.
I dare not touch the live site as it's vital that go on working. I can't copy it to my preferred test location.
Can i disable the custom packages on the test site without access to the dashboard? How could I do that? I have tried deleting the package files, but the site would still not load.
If I install the latest version concrete5 to the test server, is there a decent chance I can import the old database into it? Any instructions for doing that?
Or, is the only way out of this tangle to find a test server running php 5.3, do the updates and then move to a server with php 5.4 afterwards ?
Thank you. Sorry if the questions seemed obvious, but this is my first time using Concrete5 and I want to make sure I'm not missing something stupidly obvious : I have read the documentation, honestly!
I tried completely deleting everything offhttp://datest.clareassoc.com/ and installing an absolutely clean copy of Concrete 5.5.1 with no additional packages, and was unable to do so, so I think you are right and I shall have to set up a test server running an old version of php.
I tried completely deleting everything offhttp://datest.clareassoc.com/ and installing an absolutely clean copy of Concrete 5.5.1 with no additional packages, and was unable to do so, so I think you are right and I shall have to set up a test server running an old version of php.
You cant just delete package directories. They need to be deleted through the dashboard.
With problem packages, sometimes you can make a temporary hack the to package controller, block controllers and view/templates to allow you to get in to the dashboard. But you really need to know what you are hacking and, judging from your questions, trying to do that is not a good idea.
Ideally you should install an older version of php, install a c5.5.1 clone of your site, get it running as an exact clone of the live site for all versions etc.
Then:
- uninstall anything you don't want
- change the theme to default or greek yogurt
- take a backup
- upgrade the c5 core to the latest version (you probably need to do that in stages)
- make another clone and install on the php 5.4
- make another backup
- start reinstalling the site theme and any custom packages