forum issues?

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owei
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Re: forum issues?

Post by owei » 02 Sep 2017, 12:17

Maybe an update to a newer version of PHPbb would help. Maybe someone could investigate the options..Hirazi already made that suggestion. I can just offer minimal time for this..

Cheers,
oli

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 02 Sep 2017, 13:04

I'll try upgrading my testforum (6 years old) to the newest version and see if passwords/attachments etc. are kept.
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Hirazi Blue
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Re: forum issues?

Post by Hirazi Blue » 02 Sep 2017, 14:35

I am afraid we are scr**ed... b-(
I have tried all day to get a local version (via XAMPP) of the community running, but failed miserably.
I did a clean install of 3.0.5, one of 3.0.14 (the last version of the 3.0 era) and one of 3.2.21
Exporting the current backup from here and restoring it in the local version doesn't work for some reason.

I am at my wits end... ~x(
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 02 Sep 2017, 14:49

The db is not part of the forum directory, so this backup/restore thing has to run though somehow.
Which software did you use to create the db backup?
I'm trying phpminiadmin for my test forum right now.
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Hirazi Blue
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Re: forum issues?

Post by Hirazi Blue » 02 Sep 2017, 14:54

I created a db using phpmyadmin and let the installer of phpbb3 do the rest...
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 02 Sep 2017, 15:39

ok transfer of the 3.0.8 -> 3.2.1 of the test forum was successful (http://traypen.com/phpBB3/). Forums, attachments, avatars, logins etc. were all transfered. Old one still seems to work too but with some issues because it uses the same updated db.

I got an empty board too, found out I had to delete the install directory then everything showed up. Maybe that was it?

I've written down all the steps I've done, going to make it neat then post it here.
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FXDude
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Re: forum issues?

Post by FXDude » 02 Sep 2017, 16:00

If it may be of help...

phpBB • SID

(at first glance, seems like rray's first hunch was right)


And last post has a link to PHPBB cookie settings doc
phpBB • Knowledge Base > Fixing incorrect cookie settings



EDIT::
Perhaps this simple solution might do the trick?
How To Remove Phpbb3 SID (Session ID) from the URL – Teresa Giesecke

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 02 Sep 2017, 16:37

It looks like the cookies get written correctly by si-community.com (can see them in the browser) but the forum software somehow thinks they're not there.. maybe some php version issue, some strings processed in the wrong way possibly. I think update makes the most sense.... here's what I did

Code: Select all

(following this https://www.phpbb.com/support/docs/en/3.2/ug/upgradeguide/upgrade3/)

==== software ====
	1. download WinSCP, set up the ftp connection using normal FTP file protocol, others didn't work for me
		(for transfering files, always use Transfer Settings -> Automatic)
	2. download http://phpminiadmin.sourceforge.net/ latest version to disk (it's 1 file only, e.g. copy to D:\forumbackup\phpminiadmin.php)
	
==== backup ====
	1. transfer the whole folder ftp://ftp.test.com/forum_root_dir/ to disk (e.g. to D:\forumbackup\old_forum_root\)	
	2. open D:\forumbackup\old_forum_root\config.php in a text editor and copy the db name/username/password settings from there into phpminiadmin.php, example:
		
		config.php:
			...
			$dbms = 'mysqli';
			$dbhost = 'localhost';
			$dbport = '';
			$dbname = 'db134883484-01';
			$dbuser = 'db134883484-adm';
			$dbpasswd = 'oeqq223QF';
			$table_prefix = 'phbadm_';
			$acm_type = 'file';
			$load_extensions = '';
			$email_function_name = 'mail';
			...
			
		======>
			
		phpminiadmin.php:
			...
			#DEFAULT db connection settings
			# --- WARNING! --- if you set defaults - it's recommended to set $ACCESS_PWD to protect your db!
			$DBDEF=array(
			'user'=>"db134883484-adm",#required
			'pwd'=>"oeqq223QF", #required
			'db'=>"db134883484-01",  #optional, default DB
			'host'=>"",#optional
			'port'=>"",#optional
			'chset'=>"utf8",#optional, default charset
			);
			$IS_COUNT
			...
			
	3. copy phpminiadmin.php to secret location on ftp (e.g. ftp://ftp.test.com/phpminiadmin12312.php) .. or set a password inside phpminiadmin.php
	4. visit www.test.com/phpminiadmin12312.php in browser check if forum DB can be accessed from there
	5. if not, check for possible errors when copying the info from config.php to phpminiadmin.php
	6. go to phpminiadmin's export tab, download the sql file to disk (e.g. (e.g. D:\forumbackup\old_db\XXXYYY.sql), gz sometimes doesn't work
	7. note: from the downloaded directory and the sql file, the forum could now be restored completely if something goes wrong!
	
==== cleanup original db ====== 
	1. log in the forum as admin, go to acp
	2. in board settings, set active style to prosilver
	3. in "styles" tab disable all styles except prosilver
	4. in "system" tab delete all language packs except "en"
	5. download https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/official_tool/stk/
	6. copy the stk folder from the zip to ftp://ftp.test.com/forum_root_dir/stk
	7. back in acp, replace in the browser url .../adm/index.php?--- with .../stk/index.php?.... (this is because cookies might not work.....)
	8. in "support tools" tab, run database cleaner, click "continue" and "yes" to all questions
	9. stk suggests to do another backup, could be done but it's not necessary.
	
==== update db ==== 
	1. download/unzip phpBB latest version (3.2) to a new folder on the disk (e.g. D:\forumbackup\new_forum_root)
	2. delete directories "images", "files", "store" and the config.php file from that folder
	3. copy "images", "files", "store" and the config.php from your files backup to that folder (e.g. D:\forumbackup\old_forum_root\ into D:\forumbackup\new_forum_root)
	4. upload the whole folder to ftp://ftp.test.com/new_forum_root_dir/ 
	5. set permissions of the directories "cache", "files" and "images/avatars" to 777 (writable)
	6. visit www.test.com/new_forum_root_dir/install
	7. Click update, then update again
	8. Select "Update database only" and click Submit
	9. delete install directory
	10. delete phpminiadmin.php to be sure
	
=== final steps ===
	1. using ftp, rename the old forum_root_dir to "some_other_url"
	2. rename new_forum_root_dir to forum_root_dir
	3. delete the contents of "new_forum_root_dir/cache" dir EXCEPT index.html and .htaccess (if it's there)
	4. test if everything works, then delete some_other_url
	
Actually for this forum, to be extra safe, I'd consider making a clone of the forum with a cloned db first, make sure the clone works 100%, then update the original. That would require creating a new db in the domain administration, uploading the backup sql with myphpadmin or miniphpadmin, and updating the info in config.php.

I could have a try, but would need (temporary) admin rights here and the ftp login, and owei would need to create a new DB for the clone in the domain administration and pass me that info too (just the DB info not the domain admin login info!)
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Hirazi Blue
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Re: forum issues?

Post by Hirazi Blue » 02 Sep 2017, 17:31

In the Administrator Control Panel:

Code: Select all

Current ACP (online) > Maintenance > Backup (Full / gzip / Download / Select all tables)

New ACP > Maintenance > Restore
FXDude wrote:EDIT::
Perhaps this simple solution might do the trick?
How To Remove Phpbb3 SID (Session ID) from the URL – Teresa Giesecke
Sadly doesn't work...
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 02 Sep 2017, 17:49

Was worried this might not support backup/restore across versions, but it looks like it does, at least 3.0->3.1.9
https://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtop ... &t=2374011
So it might be possible without the db tools even. \m/
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Hirazi Blue
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Re: forum issues?

Post by Hirazi Blue » 02 Sep 2017, 19:30

It looks like there is something wrong with the backup files this board writes when zipping them to gzip.
When I try to decompress the file, 7zip gives me an error message.

Using bzip2 or text as an alternative

Code: Select all

Current ACP (online) > Maintenance > Backup (Full / bzip2 {OR} text / Download / Select all tables)

New ACP > Maintenance > Restore
Stay safe, sane & healthy!

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 03 Sep 2017, 23:49

This could be a php timeout, usually domains on shared hosting like si-community don't get a lot of php running time so other domains won't get affected by bad phps.

The same thing happens with the db import/export scripts of phpMyAdmin or phpMiniAdmin. You can really use them with domains on dedicated servers only, or with small databases.

What finally worked though for cloning this site is to have the php run shell commands using the php system command. They're allowed to run for longer. I used the mysql command to do a backup and write the .sql file to a different db.

Now copying the forum files with ftp... takes forever downloading/uploading
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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FXDude
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Re: forum issues?

Post by FXDude » 04 Sep 2017, 00:16

Thanks a bunch for the update!
(and efforts!)

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FXDude
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Re: forum issues?

Post by FXDude » 04 Sep 2017, 02:06

Indeed the clone seems to match upto your very last post,
and at first glance all seems fine with it, (along with the same issue ass here of course)
tried loging-in, as well as everything I managed to click click on, and went to the oldest post I could find.

CoolThen!
:-B

_____________________
Edit:: Or was ok a few minutes ago :)

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rray
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Re: forum issues?

Post by rray » 04 Sep 2017, 02:11

oops sorry deleted my post without noticing your new one :)

the link is broken atm, the clone is currently in some transition state where clicking might hurt 8-x <<-- gotta keep these cool smileys in the new version
_______________

edit: everythig seems to be working ok now after the forum software update
Last edited by rray on 11 Sep 2017, 18:57, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: update
softimage resources section updated Jan 5th 2024

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mc_axe
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Re: forum issues?

Post by mc_axe » 09 Mar 2018, 18:57

Anyone else getting a typing lag, lately in the reply form (full editor)? :-??

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