4.2 Upgrade Help

[oogrmick]

I've written elsewhere about the problems I'm having trying to upgrade to 4.2 so now I'm asking for help from anyone familiar with servers and software.

I'm just a forum admin who spends money on forum software and web hosting fees. I can install, I can ftp and so on, but when there's a problem I need some help. I use shared hosting via Bravenet as my forum is only a small community. The ips4.php test file, which admittedly was designed for 4.1 still says my server is suitable for IP Board installation (I'm good to go!) and Invision tell me that nothing has changed in 4.2 - so it should work right?

I've been in touch with Invision support who say it's nothing to do with them, or at least it's not the software. I've been in touch with my web hosts and they can't see why there should be a problem and that it must be the software. If those 2 between them can't work it out then clearly I've got no chance and right now I'm in the middle of a redirect loop myself (pass the buck I think its called)

Anyway, I was running v4.1 and have never had a problem with original install or any later updates to 4.1.19.4. The update to 4.2 failed with "too many redirects". A manual update failed likewise.

Now over the weekend I installed Wampserver on my laptop, downloaded 4.1.19.4 files and managed to update to 4.2 including the database. Everything appears to be working fine. I've just uploaded the whole lot to my website, moving original files so as not to have anything there that shouldn't be. Created a new database so that's clean 4.2 too. I've edited the conf files to point to new database and web root etc... but it still fails as before with "too many redirects". I can't access anything.

So, anyone like to hazard a guess as to where the problem might lie? Server, software,?

 

[Netherlord]

1 hour ago, oogrmick said:

I've written elsewhere about the problems I'm having trying to upgrade to 4.2 so now I'm asking for help from anyone familiar with servers and software.

I'm just a forum admin who spends money on forum software and web hosting fees. I can install, I can ftp and so on, but when there's a problem I need some help. I use shared hosting via Bravenet as my forum is only a small community. The ips4.php test file, which admittedly was designed for 4.1 still says my server is suitable for IP Board installation (I'm good to go!) and Invision tell me that nothing has changed in 4.2 - so it should work right?

I've been in touch with Invision support who say it's nothing to do with them, or at least it's not the software. I've been in touch with my web hosts and they can't see why there should be a problem and that it must be the software. If those 2 between them can't work it out then clearly I've got no chance and right now I'm in the middle of a redirect loop myself (pass the buck I think its called)

Anyway, I was running v4.1 and have never had a problem with original install or any later updates to 4.1.19.4. The update to 4.2 failed with "too many redirects". A manual update failed likewise.

Now over the weekend I installed Wampserver on my laptop, downloaded 4.1.19.4 files and managed to update to 4.2 including the database. Everything appears to be working fine. I've just uploaded the whole lot to my website, moving original files so as not to have anything there that shouldn't be. Created a new database so that's clean 4.2 too. I've edited the conf files to point to new database and web root etc... but it still fails as before with "too many redirects". I can't access anything.

So, anyone like to hazard a guess as to where the problem might lie? Server, software,?

 

I would say server. Do you use cloudflare? Make sure it's all set up correctly! Test. Disable. Test.

• Change browser - Sometimes that can be the issue with this
  
  1. Try clearing your browsing history, cache and cookies.
  2. Check your extensions as well

That said... Understand the error meaning specifically and understand the possible causes.

This message means your site is pointing to more than one location.

So it will have something to do with one of these I imagine:

• DNS ZONE
• WHERE THE NAMESERVER IS POINTING
• .Htaccess redirect
• Host Level redirect
• Misconfigured firewall? If you have one!
• SSL RELATED! (my bet) You using ssl?

If its not server related then I'm not sure how this could be software related other than possible ssl settings. I've learned only so much in my own short time.

[oogrmick]

Hi Netherlord and thank you for your input.

It's certainly not the browser - that can be ruled out. It's not happening just to me but to Bravenet support and Invision support. Likewise extensions can also be ruled out.

My nameservers are correct, there's no .htaccess redirects and no Host Level redirects that I can see or know of. I don't have a firewall and I'm not using SSL. DNS zone is beyond my comprehension but as I've been running version 4.1 for some time now I can't honestly see that any of my settings would need changing.

It's difficult to understand maybe, but just a few days ago I had a fully functioning version 4.1.19.4 that had given me no problems at all and then the auto update to 4.2 failed at the extracting files stage. And remember, even Invision support have subsequently had a go at installing it and they were unable to get it running too - and it's their baby! If they can't understand the problem then what chance is there for me. It's in their terms and conditions that their support is limited to the IP Board software only so they aren't really too bothered so long as it resembles a server issue.

All I can say is I'm sick and tired of paying for things that don't function and there's no-one able to do anything about it, and I don't know enough about it to know where to start throwing bricks.

[Netherlord]

2 hours ago, oogrmick said:

Hi Netherlord and thank you for your input.

It's certainly not the browser - that can be ruled out. It's not happening just to me but to Bravenet support and Invision support. Likewise extensions can also be ruled out.

My nameservers are correct, there's no .htaccess redirects and no Host Level redirects that I can see or know of. I don't have a firewall and I'm not using SSL. DNS zone is beyond my comprehension but as I've been running version 4.1 for some time now I can't honestly see that any of my settings would need changing.

It's difficult to understand maybe, but just a few days ago I had a fully functioning version 4.1.19.4 that had given me no problems at all and then the auto update to 4.2 failed at the extracting files stage. And remember, even Invision support have subsequently had a go at installing it and they were unable to get it running too - and it's their baby! If they can't understand the problem then what chance is there for me. It's in their terms and conditions that their support is limited to the IP Board software only so they aren't really too bothered so long as it resembles a server issue.

All I can say is I'm sick and tired of paying for things that don't function and there's no-one able to do anything about it, and I don't know enough about it to know where to start throwing bricks.

Would it be worth asking your host to move you to a different server? with default config? Might rule out server configuration? but then that seems like a hassle if its not a fix Not sure what else.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

[Joel R]

I can definitely feel your frustration when the software blames the hardware and vice versa, but no one steps up to actually diagnose.  

In addition to the steps provided by @Netherlord, make sure you disable all third party apps and plugins before upgrading.  

[oogrmick]

Thanks Joel but I have no third party apps or plugins installed - just the basic setup.

Question:

Latest communication with my webhost: -

"We can find no issues within our system that would be causing this error. Which makes me believe that there is something within the IPB upgrade script that is being affected by our reverse proxy setup."

Reverse proxy setup? Could that be why my website is recording a total of 19 x page 301 redirect messages? (according to one webapp test I did)

I would be interested to know if you've all managed to update to 4.2 and are running on shared hosting, especially if your server is a 'reverse proxy' setup as mine apparently is.

[oogrmick]

Just an update to the above post

I've uploaded the complete 4.2 fileset to another website running on the same server, so here we are attempting installation rather than any upgrade.

The ISP4.php server test file says I'm good to go but I'm still getting the same errors, even here, attempting a clean installation.

These are the headers returned if they mean anything to anyone. (URL removed)

URL:
http://www.XXXXXXXXXXXX.co.uk/ipbforum/admin/install/
http/1.1 301 moved permanently
date: Sat, 05 Aug 2017 11:27:55 GMT
server: Apache
expires
cache-control: no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate
pragma: no-cache
content-length
location: http://medusa42-el7.vc.bravenet.com/ipbforum/admin/install/?sessionCheck=1
vary: Accept-Encoding
content-type: ;charset=UTF-8
set-cookie: ips4_IPSSessionSetup=7bpelrklmj3f5fc23sj5bbu780; expires=Sat, 19-Aug-2017 11:27:55 GMT; Max-Age=1209600; path=/; HttpOnly

Redirecting URL:
http://medusa42-el7.vc.bravenet.com/ipbforum/admin/install/?sessionCheck=1
http/1.1 404 not found
date: Sat, 05 Aug 2017 11:27:55 GMT
server: Apache
set-cookie: HASCOOKIES=1; expires=Tue, 03-Aug-2027 11:27:55 GMT; path=/; domain=.bravenet.com
expires: Thu, 19 Nov 1981 08:52:00 GMT
cache-control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0
pragma: no-cache
p3p: policyref="/w3c/p3p.xml", CP="NOI DSP LAW NID PSA ADM OUR IND NAV"
vary: Accept-Encoding
connection: close
transfer-encoding: chunked
content-type: text/html

 

[Faqole]

On 4-8-2017 at 7:46 PM, oogrmick said:

It's difficult to understand maybe, but just a few days ago I had a fully functioning version 4.1.19.4 that had given me no problems at all and then the auto update to 4.2 failed at the extracting files stage.

Personally I think that upgrades bewtween major version should be done manually, rather than using the auto update. Can you try to do a manual upgrade?

What about the database, did you back it up before the upgrade btw?

[oogrmick]

Everything backed up of course.

I've tried manually. Nothing works - not even a clean installation. There's something in the v4.2 software that doesn't work on my server whereas v4.1 worked perfectly.

A message perhaps to others. Take no notice of what the IPS4.php test script tells you - even if it states you're good to go, it either doesn't take into account the changes in 4.2 or it fails to notice the potential problems.

I've spent hours these past few days trying to sort this out myself. Even had to reinstall 4.1.19 for a second time after Invision support destroyed it attempting to upgrade for me. My stomach hurts and I've had enough.  I came here from phpBB thinking this was a better option but I've just wasted 310 dollars, which is about the same in UK pounds I guess.

And I'm on holiday - thank you very much Invision Power - for nothing

[Faqole]

1 hour ago, oogrmick said:

Everything backed up of course.

I've tried manually. Nothing works - not even a clean installation. There's something in the v4.2 software that doesn't work on my server whereas v4.1 worked perfectly.

A message perhaps to others. Take no notice of what the IPS4.php test script tells you - even if it states you're good to go, it either doesn't take into account the changes in 4.2 or it fails to notice the potential problems.

I've spent hours these past few days trying to sort this out myself. Even had to reinstall 4.1.19 for a second time after Invision support destroyed it attempting to upgrade for me. My stomach hurts and I've had enough.  I came here from phpBB thinking this was a better option but I've just wasted 310 dollars, which is about the same in UK pounds I guess.

And I'm on holiday - thank you very much Invision Power - for nothing

Ipb is a much better option than phpBB, and all the other forums for that matter. But I do understand that you are frustrated right now. I find it wierd that the previous version worked fine, but the newest version is not working.

Can you try to install a fresh 4.2 forum on a test folder or subdomain and see how that will go?

[oogrmick]

I have received this response from Stuart Silvester at Invision Power Services this morning.

Quote

 

I do understand your frustration, this is one of the reasons I pulled your ticket up to advanced support earlier today. I would like to see this issue resolved for you.

The issue is indeed that 4.2 is now detecting the X_FORWARDED_SERVER header and is using that value as the base for checking that the visitor is accessing the community from the correct URL. I will be discussing this issue with a colleague on Monday so that we can look into further possible fixes.

 

So that explains the problem I've been experiencing and I can rest easy knowing it isn't me, it's not something I'm doing wrong, and it's not my server at fault.

Thank you to everyone who has offered advice and suggestions here - it was much appreciated.