Newbie help setting up clone for testing

[FFOC]

Hi guys, I posted in The peer to peer technical section then realised it may be the wrong area but can’t delete it.

Basically, I have taken over the task of running the forum we have for our car club, as the person who helped set it up left our club a few years ago. We have to shift the whole site and forum over to a new server. I have a cloud server so I am trying to shift it to that. I have tried to follow some guides, and others posts people have made but keep hitting a wall.

 

I have transferred the webspace contents to the new server.

I have made new Databases and uploaded the contents of them to the new server.

I have edited the conf.global.php file to reflect this.

 

Now this is where I hit a wall. I know I can setup a test install but I am struggling how to do it. I need to keep the original site live during all of this. If I go to my new URL it still takes me to my live site, I know this as I am still getting new posts That are made on the live site, on the clone. Also the address in the bar changes to the live URL. The next steps say to login to the ACP but I don’t want to do that if I am being redirected to the live site. Or is this the case?

Is there a way of ammending the license so I can add the -testinstall bit at the end for my clone site. 
 

Sorry if these are silly easy questions, but we all have to start somewhere right? I am pretty fast at picking things up and am eager to learn more so I know what I am doing going ahead.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Ford Focus Owners Club

[Miss_B]

You can install a test forum at new folder or a subdomain. Use a different database for your test forum. Then upload at that database a copy of your live forum 's database and configure the urls and paths to refect those of your test forum. Liek this there will be no interfering with your live forum. And your license key should be appended with -TESTINSTALL for the test installation and it should not be opened for public, the test forum I mean. I hope that it helps. 

If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask. There is no such thing as silly questions btw. We are all learning as we go along.

[FFOC]

Thank you for the reply.

 

I have to use a different server to do it as the current one is being closed so I want to set it up using another URL first to test it.

I have made a new database, but uploaded the tables of the live one to it as I want all of the contents in my test site. 

It is the URL paths that I think I am struggling with as it must be one that keeps sending it to the live site. I would like to retain this as a testinstall for the future too. This is where it is all new to me. 
 

Am I correct in saying that when I have this done, I should not see a post from my live site appear on my clone, unless I update the database of the clone? If this is correct them I understand how to update the license to testinstall, but can’t do it until I can prove this is the clone only.

 

Just to clarify, I have the live site at olddomain.co.uk on one server, and the clone at newdomain.co.uk/test on another server. I have changed the conf.global.php in the newdomain.co.uk to point at the new database details and points to newdomain.co.uk/test
 

I am guessing I have more links to change elsewhere to stop it going to the live site, therefore enabling me to go into a clone ACP and change the license.

[Miss_B]

You are welcome.

I take it that you created a new database at the other server for your test forum. Make a copy of the database of your live forum and restore it to the database of your test forum. You can either install a new fresh forum or move all the forum folder of your live forum. Personally I would advice you the latter, especially if you have a lot of plugins/apps installed. The conf_global.php file should hold all the details for the test forum, like the db info, board url etc. Like that, your test forum will be complete separate from your live forum. 

You can also check out this guide. At the bottom there is the part for the test forum. Hope it helps.

 

[Jim M]

54 minutes ago, Ford Focus Owners Club said:

If I go to my new URL it still takes me to my live site, I know this as I am still getting new posts That are made on the live site, on the clone. Also the address in the bar changes to the live URL.

This would indicate you are being redirected back to your live site. Check your conf_global.php to ensure the URL there is indeed your Test URL, not your Live URL. If it is, check for server redirects from .htaccess or similar files which are redirecting you back to your live site. 
 

Once you correct that, you can follow this guide to setup your Test URL and ensure it’s licensed: https://invisioncommunity.com/4guides/client-services/license-keys-urls-r344/

 

[FFOC]

33 minutes ago, Miss_B said:

You are welcome.

I take it that you created a new database at the other server for your test forum. Make a copy of the database of your live forum and restore it to the database of your test forum. You can either install a new fresh forum or move all the forum folder of your live forum. Personally I would advice you the latter, especially if you have a lot of plugins/apps installed. The conf_global.php file should hold all the details for the test forum, like the db info, board url etc. Like that, your test forum will be complete separate from your live forum. 

You can also check out this guide. At the bottom there is the part for the test forum. Hope it helps.

 

Thank you, I have done this but it still isn't separate. When I make a test post on the live forum I can see it on the clone. This is where i am stuck as I don't want to go into the ACP and continue because of this.

31 minutes ago, Jim M said:

This would indicate you are being redirected back to your live site. Check your conf_global.php to ensure the URL there is indeed your Test URL, not your Live URL. If it is, check for server redirects from .htaccess or similar files which are redirecting you back to your live site. 
 

Once you correct that, you can follow this guide to setup your Test URL and ensure it’s licensed: https://invisioncommunity.com/4guides/client-services/license-keys-urls-r344/

 

Thank you Jim, I am going to look at all of the htaccess files and see if i can see anything. Do you have an idea of what similar files to look at?

[Jim M]

25 minutes ago, Ford Focus Owners Club said:

Thank you Jim, I am going to look at all of the htaccess files and see if i can see anything. Do you have an idea of what similar files to look at?

These would be things outside our software and server-specific so hard to say. If you are not running Apache, you would want to look at your web server's configuration for any rewrites or redirects which may be including your old URL. This would cause a redirection back to your old server (aka current live URL).

If you are getting stuck and/or are uncomfortable in performing this, I would suggest reaching out to a qualified server administrator. There are some in our third party providers who are knowledgeable with servers and obviously, experienced with Invision Community: https://invisioncommunity.com/third-party/providers/

[FFOC]

Jim, thanks again. I am guessing that is the case. I must be missing a file link somewhere so if i am stuck i will have a look at that link.

[FFOC]

A quick question, would there be links inside the database tables causing this issue? 

[bfarber]

In the AdminCP navigate to System > Files and then click Storage Settings. Click the "Configuration" tab and edit each configuration present. Make sure there isn't an alternate URL specified pointing to your live site, and if there is remove it or change it to point to the new test domain.

You may also need to run the support tool in the AdminCP to clear all your caches, such as CSS files which may have URLs pointing to the live site still if you haven't taken this step.

[FFOC]

5 minutes ago, bfarber said:

In the AdminCP navigate to System > Files and then click Storage Settings. Click the "Configuration" tab and edit each configuration present. Make sure there isn't an alternate URL specified pointing to your live site, and if there is remove it or change it to point to the new test domain.

You may also need to run the support tool in the AdminCP to clear all your caches, such as CSS files which may have URLs pointing to the live site still if you haven't taken this step.

The problem is I can't get to the clone ACP, it sends me to the live website. 

I've clearly got some serious investigation and learning to do to find these links. It doesn't help the site also runs on PHP5. 4 so I can't even do an upgrade, lol. 

[Miss_B]

If your are using a different database for your test forum and all the info is set correctly inside the conf_global.php file, your test forum should not show live posts from the main forum. 

 

[FFOC]

6 minutes ago, Miss_B said:

If your are using a different database for your test forum and all the info is set correctly inside the conf_global.php file, your test forum should not show live posts from the main forum. 

 

And this is my issue, lol. It does. I am starting to wonder if there is either another File, I have checked all the htaccess ones, or something inside the database tables that is causing me the issue.

 

I am tempted to do a completely fresh install on my server to get the testlicense setup, then import the table data and see if anything changes. The problem with this is the current live site version is 3.4 and can’t be upgraded on the old server due to the PHP issue, so I am not sure how that will work doing it that way.

[Joel R]

Hi @Ford Focus Owners Club congrats on becoming the new forum owner!  

1.  Do you have IPS Cloud or your own cloud?  If IPS cloud, then send in a support ticket and they can assist.  

2.  You may want to reach out to some users on the Providers page who can help you migrate over.  They're not affiliated with IPS but many of them have years of experience with the software and server migrations.  You can check out users like @ASTRAPI @Makoto or @Spanner who can help you not only move over, but also upgrade to 4.4.  

 

[FFOC]

@Joel R, many thanks for the reply. I have just seen this. I have sorted it now. My new server wouldn’t work with PHP5.4 which the old site was running, and I couldn’t upgrade the old one to IPB 4 because of the same issue.

 

I have managed to do a new install but using the old database so kept all of the information at least. I just need to learn the rest to make it look not as basic now but I am getting their following guides and advice from here.