Saving your forums, databases and pages

[TrueGota]

So, our site currently has a huge problem which makes it unusable. After the problem gets fixed I will probably need to completely re-install IPS but I don't want to do all the forums and pages again (that was days worth of work) so I wonder if it's possible to implement the forums, databases and pages into the new version since I still have the old files.

[Joel R]

Maybe? If you have the database to should be able to easily restore.  

Send in an emergency ticket to IPS for them to diagnose

[Faqole]

23 hours ago, René Walke said:

So, our site currently has a huge problem which makes it unusable. After the problem gets fixed I will probably need to completely re-install IPS but I don't want to do all the forums and pages again (that was days worth of work) so I wonder if it's possible to implement the forums, databases and pages into the new version since I still have the old files.

You can not restore the contents with the files, assuming you meant the php files. ALl that info is stored in the database. If you have a copy of it, you can restore it. 

What problem are you having btw? Maybe it is fixable.

[TrueGota]

The last update wasn't able to be finish so our site was stuck in a half-updated state that was just a mess and impossible to use. Now I can't even re-attempt the upgrade because of some troubles and I have to re-install IPS on a fresh site. What I would like to do is import the forums, databases and stuff like that to the new installation so I don't have to do days of work again.
I have a copy of the whole old installation (which I can't restore)

[AndyF]

Implementing bits of the database 'piecemeal' can result in some interesting and 'difficult to fix' issues. Its not generally recommended as some tables rely on the data in other tables etc (relational database)

I do see your concern however. ?

Why are you not able to do the 'restore' to get back to a pre-upgrade state ? I do not understand this part. It would mean replacing the files with the ones you have in your backup and then restoring (importing) the backed up database.

Generally speaking, items such as attachments in posts / messages , download files / screenshots , gallery images , member photos etc are in the filesystem. Items like topics and posts themselves, member specific details such as account information , messages etc are in the database. There is potential in IPS4 for 'attachments' to be in the database however but that is (afaik) not really a common thing.

I guess all I'm asking is why you're not able to restore the site. ? Is the host unable to help you if you have the backup ? Talking of backups what ttype of backup do you have ? Do you have just a filesystem and a database .sql file or a complete (Cpanel type) 'full backup' ?

 

EDIT... A long time ago I did write an article on how to do a manual Cpanel backup although its not here it is still present on one of the 3rd Party sites:

http://community.invisionbyte.net/tutorials/article/82-taking-backups-with-cpanel/

2009 although most of it is still relevant.

[TrueGota]

The thing is that if I move the files back in and return to the last state of the site it doesn't even let me retry the update. It's in a strange state that is not fully updated but also not fully pre-update and it tells me that there is no update available at the moment. Plus, I tried changing some things with the files and now I can't even get back to that state anymore because it doesn't accept the database anymore which is why I could not even access the admin section at all.

If the actual data is stored in the database that is in the hands of my provider I might have a problem. Would I need to do everything again in that case?
Edit: And it's just the files copied from the server by FileZilla.

[Faqole]

3 hours ago, René Walke said:

I have a copy of the whole old installation (which I can't restore)

Do you have a copy of the database too? Or do you mean you have a copy of the forum files?

From what version were you trying to upgrade btw?

If you have a copy of both, the forum files and database, you can retry the following:

Reupload all the old version and then restore the database backup and try to upgrade your forum again. 

19 minutes ago, René Walke said:

The thing is that if I move the files back in and return to the last state of the site it doesn't even let me retry the update. It's in a strange state that is not fully updated but also not fully pre-update and it tells me that there is no update available at the moment. Plus, I tried changing some things with the files and now I can't even get back to that state anymore because it doesn't accept the database anymore which is why I could not even access the admin section at all.

If the actual data is stored in the database that is in the hands of my provider I might have a problem. Would I need to do everything again in that case?
Edit: And it's just the files copied from the server by FileZilla.

What files did you change? When you say that it does not accept the database anymore, does that mean that there is no connection at all to the database? In that case, it looks like you have edited the database info somehow. Make sure that the database info is entered correctly to the conf_global.php file.

Or, you can also submit a ticket so one of the Ips staff can look into this for you.

[TrueGota]

I have all the files and are currently trying to restore the databases (dunno if that'll work, though. It's from May).

I tried to upgrade from the previous version to the current one

Well, I thought that maybe moving the site to the core folder instead of having it in a sub one would work and rearranged the databases accordingly which was a pretty bad idea. The database might even be erased so that's why I'm trying to restore it.

[AndyF]

You don't have the database by the sounds of it :(

Ask your host if they take backups, they might (if you're lucky perhaps) do  daily backup and have it available.

The database is the 'content' (minus attachments) really, things like the settings, topics, posts etc and member data as mentioned previously.

[TrueGota]

Oh, I just noticed that they are currently trying to fix the pixel cache issues which started everything in the first place so restoring might be a bad idea that I should stop.

That probably means everything's gone. Oh well, at least I saved the texts that I was able to save in a text document.

[Faqole]

9 minutes ago, René Walke said:

Oh, I just noticed that they are currently trying to fix the pixel cache issues which started everything in the first place so restoring might be a bad idea that I should stop.

That probably means everything's gone. Oh well, at least I saved the texts that I was able to save in a text document.

If they are working on fixing the issues it is best to not do anything in meanwhile, because it can cause issues and conflicts. 

Who is your host? As @AndyF mentioned, it does not harm to ask them if they have a recent backup of your database. All decent hosts make regular backups, so you might luck out.

[TrueGota]

It's Alfahosting, a German site.

[AndyF]

19 minutes ago, René Walke said:

It's Alfahosting, a German site.

Its always worth asking them if they do have a backup of the database, (nothing to lose by a question) worst they could say is "no" , anything else is likely positive. :)