UBB.threads 6.5.1.1 to 7.0 upgrade notesEdit

Backup

• Log in to control panel and close board
• Copy text from control panel, "Display Options", "General", "HTML Includes"
• Perform backup of database:

mysqldump --opt -u USERNAME -p -h localhost DATABASE_NAME | \
  bzip2 -c > BACKUP_FILE.sql.bz2

Installation

• Create a new database for the new forums:

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE new_db_name;
GRANT ALL ON new_db_name.* TO 'new_user_name'@'localhost';
SET PASSWORD FOR 'new_user_name'@'localhost' = OLD_PASSWORD('new_password');
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

(The OLD_PASSWORD trick is necessary because UBB.threads will be connecting to the database using PHP, and the version of PHP on the server is compiled against a pre-4.1 version of the MySQL libraries; see this page on password hashing for more information.)

• Create new forums directory:

sudo -u WEB_USER mkdir new-forums
sudo -u WEB_USER /bin/echo "Forums currently unavailable while upgrade is in progress" > \
  new-forums/index.html

• Move old forums out-of-the-way:

sudo -u WEB_USER mv forums old-forums
sudo -u WEB_USER mv new-forums forums

• Install the new forums according to the instructions into new-forums:

sudo -u WEB_USER mkdir new-forums

• Upload the files into, then set permissions and move new forums into place:

cd new-forums
sudo chmod 777 includes
sudo chmod 666 includes/*
sudo chmod 777 sessions
sudo chmod 777 templates/compile
sudo chmod 777 templates
sudo chmod 777 cache
sudo chmod 777 cache_builders
sudo chmod 777 cache_builders/custom
sudo chmod 666 cache_builders/custom/*
sudo chmod 777 styles
sudo chmod 666 styles/*.php styles/*.css
cd ..
sudo rm -r forums
sudo mv new-forums forums

• Run the upgrade script at: http://example.com/path_to_forums/install/install.php
• Use a custom cookie prefix to prevent cookies from other apps (such as Bugzilla) from interfering with the forums.
• As this is an upgrade installation, do not create an admin user; instead proceed directly to the "Creating your tables" step.

Import

• Upload importer script
• Execute in browser

Importing Banned Host: NULL
Script:
Line#:
SQL Error:
SQL Error #: 0
Query: insert into ubbt_BANNED_HOSTS values ( NULL )

On investigation:

mysql> USE old_database_name;
mysql> SELECT * FROM w3t_Banned;
+------------+
| B_Hostname |
+------------+
| NULL       |
+------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> delete from w3t_Banned;

Inspection of the threads_import.php script indicated that it would probably be safe to go back and pick up import from where it left off by visiting: http://example.com/path_to_forums/importers/threads_import.php?ubb=extras

Only glitch at end is that I saw some PHP warnings with regard to my open_basedir restriction; may have to disable that for the forums directory.

• Restore settings not transferred in the import:
  • Master Settings
    • Primary Settings
      • General
        • Community Name: Wincent Forums
        • Board Email Address: noreply@example.com
        • Show Debug Information in Footer? no
      • Censor
        • Enable Censor?: yes
    • Feature Settings
      • General
        • Member List Visibility: No Users
        • Enable "Mail Topic to Friend"?: no
        • Flood Check Time: 60
        • Enable Topic Ratings?: yes
        • Enable Member Ratings?: yes
  • Display Options
    • General
      • Primary
        • Homepage URL: http://wincent.dev/
        • Text for homepage URL: Wincent
        • Contact Link Type: Contact URL
        • "Contact Us" URL: http://wincent.dev/a/contact/mail/
        • Text for contact link: Contact
        • Privacy Statement Link: Use Privacy Statement URL
        • Privacy Statement URL: http://wincent.dev/a/about/privacy/
        • Who’s Online Timeframe: 60
        • Show Forum Moderators? no
      • Date & Time
        • Default Time Format: d M Y | h:i A
        • Available Time Formats: (add) d M Y | h:i A
  • Membership
    • Registration Settings
      • Basic Options
        • Enable Email Verification?: yes
        • Allow Special Characters in Display Names?: no
        • Board Rules: (update)
      • Registration Screen
        • Add "Show" for:
          • Avatar
          • Accept Private Messages
          • Signature
          • Homepage
          • Occupation
          • Hobbies
          • Location
          • Time Format
          • Time Offset
          • View Signatures
          • Flat or Threaded
          • Topics Per Page
          • Replies Per Page
          • Show Users’s Avatars
          • Email on Private Message Receipt
        • Add "Show & Require" for:
          • Visible on "Who’s Online"
      • Reserved Names: (add) (.*?)wincent(.*?)
• Customize forum templates to get old "look and feel" back
  • See "Default Header" and "Header Insert" in the "Display Options/General/HTML Includes" section of the control panel.
• Replace ugly redirect in index.php with immediate (PHP) redirect
• Apply fix for RSS template bug

Cleanup

Due to permissions errors I’m temporarily turning off PHP Safe Mode within the forums directory and changing the ownership on all files:

cd path_to_forums
sudo chown -R apache_user:apache_group *

• Drop old database

USE mysql;
DROP DATABASE old_database_name;
DELETE FROM user WHERE User = 'old_username';
DELETE FROM db WHERE Db = 'old_database_name';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

• Remove old forum files
• Upload redirection scripts so that old links will continue to work
• Delete importers and install subdirectories