Upgrading to vBulletin – progress log

We’re currently transferring the forums to vBulletin, this post will try to keep you updated on the status. Times will be in my local time since I cba to convert it, but it should get the point across.

16:20 – Closed the forums, started copying it to a subfolder for archive purposes.

16:36 – Whilst the files are downloading, I’m re-installing vB on my local system to transfer the tables.

16:38 – Also downloading the forums database now, fgj.

16:44 – Database download complete (all 70 MB of it), installing it on my local system now using the sexcellent script Bigdump.

16:48 – Database installed locally, 275379 queries executed. Finished vB install (on my local PC), going to import the posts and stuff now.

16:50 – Minor hitch, apparently phpMyAdmin or Bluehost didn’t properly download all tables and stopped short at 80%. Downloading the last remaining tables now, I had the same thing yesterday, so it’s all good.

16:52 – Done, starting the import now. It’s working on posts now, but shouldn’t take long.

17:01 – Import done, but I think the import of attachments and avatars has gone awry. Oh well, I don’t think there was any important stuff that can’t be replaced. Rebuilding thread information, cache, search index, etc.

17:14 – The users list doesn’t seem to work, but that’s probably a cache issue or something. Fixxing up usergroups, moderators, and permissions.

17:19 – Curséd, there’s no easy way to transfer users from group A to B. Remind me to re-instate the moderators once the move is done.

17:21 – Lolz, you lot are going to have to update your birth dates, they suck. Well, you’ll probably also have to update your passwords, so it’s all good.

17:24 – I’ll have to check the permissions once the move is done. For now though, I’ll upload the files and start installing the forums on the server.

17:29 – Moved the forums files to forums.thelifestream.net/old, uploading the vB files now. Next I’ll have to upload the database, which will probably take a while – I’ll download a dump now, see how it goes. Installing the database will also take a while probably, since I can’t put too much stress on the server.

17:34 – Still uploading files, the database dump for vB is 50 MB, so it should take… about 10 minutes or more, depending on how awesome my upload is today. And assuming my internets doesn’t quit on me again, xD

17:39 – Yawn, long upload is long. Next donation round will be spent on buying me glass fiber internets, :monster:. I’m gonna have a drink.

17:52 – I’ve got the old forums back up for backup purposes, it’s at http://forums.thelifestream.net/old/index.php. I still have it shut down though, cba to make it read-only. If there’s anyone that requires something off the old board, let me know and I’ll re-open it temporarily.

17:53 – Oh, upload’s done, going to upload the database now. Goes faster than I expected, 110 KB/sec, eta 7 minutes.

17:58 – 60% now. woot.

17:59 – Those of you trying to access http://forums.thelifestream.net now get the dreaded Database Error now, fgj =D

18:02 – DB upload complete, importing into database now. I hope. This might take a while.

18:04 – Oh, that goes faster than expected. Should be done in a few minutes, after which I’ll goan get the settings right (board URL and whatnot).

18:09 – Hrm, I’m getting odd errors, might be a file not uploaded properly. Re-uploading the ‘includes’ directory, if that don’t work, I’ll have to re-install vB manually, then re-import the database.

18:13 – Damnéd, turns out there’s still another two dozen tables that need to be uploaded. PHPMyAdmin officially sucks ass now. Going to get the leftover tables now.

18:18 – Wait, no that’s not it. Meh, vB re-install it is.

18:24 – Re-installed vB, emptied database, retrying full DB re-insert now. There was an error about some ‘forumscache’ var in the functions.php file not being set, dunno what that’s about. If this doesn’t work either, we’re going to do a selective database import, i.e. only import the tables that matter – threads, users, posts, PM’s, and some others. But I hope that won’t be needed.

18:48 – Hrm, can’t seem to fix the error. I’ve asked on the VB support forums, see what they say. I could run the import scripts on the server, which (I think) would cause no problems (since it worked fine on a clean install on the server), but I dunno if the server could manage that without causing CPU errors. We’ll have to try though if vB.com can’t help. I’m gonna get some dinner now.

19:12 – Nom nom microwaved noodles from last night. No reply yet, I’ll try importing on the server if I don’t get any other replies after dinner.

19:38 – Re-installed vB on the server and have started to import on the server itself, so far so good. Next up is posts, which is probably the biggest operation.

19:44 – Posts import is still going smoothly, so I think we’re good when it comes to that.

20:01 – Thar, import done. Going to rebuild caches, recalculate postcounts and statistics, and fix permissions now.

20:27 – Just running through the options now and setting everything to how I’d like to see them. I’ll re-open the forums then – everything seems to look allright. I’m going to have to send a bulk e-mail to all members though, since everyone is going to have to reset his / her email due to excellent password encryption.

20:41 – Put the forums to ‘active’, move done, happy posting. You’ll have to reset your password in order to log in though. I’ll send a mail to all users now, informing them of the move.

20:50 – Emails are out, they should start pouring into your inboxes now. Happy poasting, =D

21:32 – Sent the wrong password recovery, asdf. To recover / reset your password, use the following link: http://forums.thelifestream.net/login.php?do=lostpw