Help! I'm ready to install phpbb 2.05 - but how do I backup

You need to alter your steps somewhat.

I'll write this up on my lunch break.

Thanks Craven - and remember, you're writing for someone with a smaller brain than a hamster!
Looking at the documentation, it seemed to me I'd have to play around with $cfg[ ] implying i'd have to code a small php module - which i find kinda silly but hey, if that's what i have to do....

It'll actually be quite easy.

BEFORE YOU START: make sure all the instructions are clear and ask me anything you need before you start. You need to plan this and go through the steps without doing them just to make sure that there are no steps that I have explained poorly.


1) First of all you will need to shut down your boards. I usually just do this with an hta access password (you can use the control panel ipowerweb provided to password protect your forum directory).

The reason you need to shut down the forums is because you don't want people writing to a database that you are either trying to back up or have already backed up.

2) You will need to backup your database through phpmyadmin.

You do not have SSH access so if you want to do it any other way you'll need help from ipowerweb techs.

To backup your forum through the control panel you have do this:

Click SQL database > scroll down and click phpmyadmin

Now the rest depends on the phpmyadmin you have (I tried to see what ipowerweb uses and I logged in to my ipowerweb account but they suspended my mysql use).

On the version of phpmyadmin that I have access to you do this:

There is an "export" tab. Click it and you will see a list of all your tables.

A) select them all
B) select the "Structure and data" option
C) select the "Add 'drop table'" option
D) select the "Complete inserts " option
E) select the "Save as file " option

A download of an SQL backup should pop up

3) Now FTP all the phpbb 2.0.5 files to a test directory. (remember it needs to be a subdirectory of your root if you want a portal).

4) create a new database with the same user and password as the old one.

5) do a fresh install of phpbb with the files you uploaded.

6) upload your backup database to the new database.

To do this click on SQL in phpmyadmin and then choose to upload from a file.

It should complete after a long time (depending on your DB size) and then you should have a backup database ready for testing.

7) make sure that the configuration of your forum is correct (reflecting the new subdirectory).

8) In the install folder there is a "upgrade to 2.0.5" php page.

Direct your browser to this and let it run.

That should be it. There is a lot more work with trimming down the unused tables etc but I gotta go eat.

Don't be in a hurry. Make sure you understand what I'm sayin' before you try. If you understand steps 1-5 but then my #6 is inccomprehensible then you will be stuck and I might not be around to explain my steps.

it seems all i do is say thank you, but thank you! I'm printing out your instructions now, though i won't be able to do the changes till monday at the earliest. anyway....
I understood just about all of it (i think) with my biggest 3 questions being:
1) how do you find the time to help me?
2) using ws-ftp, i have never once seen my database (although it does get backed up with cpanel) - i searched but can't find it in my gadgetaddict "folder" or however i'm organized on ipowerweb's server. myadmin reports the database with a name@localhost which i assume is actually the server i'm on, but i've never once been able to directly see it - so i don't know how i can upload a new one - i can envision backing up the data, and having myadmin create a new database, and then exporting the data back in, which i believe is what you're talking about, but then i don't know how to create the proper directory structure you were referring to - i THOUGHT you had said my database should go in the highest subdirectory i could place it, but maybe i misunderstood, and you really mean the phpbb goes in the highest directory?
3) my intention is to create a subdirectory to the effect of "forum" so it does not conflict with my current "forums" so the structure would be http://www.gadgetaddict.com/forum for the 2.05 install, though from a ws-ftp standpoint it would technically be: http://www.gadgetaddict.com/public_html/forum - is that correct, i.e. i would rename the phpbb2 master directory to be forum, then ws-ftp the whole thing such that forum would become that phpbb2 master...then i'd follow the rest of the install using forum
4) my plan would be to get the 2.05 system running in vanilla mode, and then start installing your spider mods (thanks again!!!) and finally i'd install phpadsnew - my god that's fully realized program!
5) finally, my intention would be to export the soon to be defunct current database i'm using, and then import into the working vanilla database, and then finally delete the original database - that way the vanilla board would only have a few days of staleness - unless there's a way for me to export only the newer posts and then import them, but that's probably more work than anything else - then again, what do i know?
i could potentially save any major posts between the backup and going live, and then import them via cut and paste or some other manual method
is this a plan? and if you use a pocket pc, lemme know what model and what accessories you'd like

p.s. here's a paste of the choices i have with phpadmin:

Structure only
Structure and data
Data only
Export to XML format
LaTeX
Select All / Unselect All


Add 'drop table'
Complete inserts
Extended inserts
Enclose table and field names with backquotes
Save as file


so i understand my choices to be on the right, structure and data, and everything else on teh bottom, i.e. add drop table, complete inserts, extended inserts, enclose table and field names with backquotes, and save as file...and to be doubly safe, i'd also consider a second backup WITHOUT enclosing the table and field name with backquotes - sound about right?
PS: Welcome to phpMyAdmin 2.4.0
MySQL 4.0.12 running on localhost as name@localhost

I post very quickly, hence the typos (a fair tradeoff by my estimation).



The database files are stored outside the directory you have access to.



I assume that "name" is your username. Localhost just means your local computer as opposed to a remote computer.

You really never "see" the database except through an application that queries the mysql engine. PHPMyAdmin IS "seeing" the database (you can edit a field here and there) and your forums are another way to "see" the database.

The actual database is just a bunch of files that only the mysql engine really understands (with excepotions of course).



Aha! Thanks for pointing that out. ipowerweb does not allow you to create your own DBs if I remember correctly. You might need to pay them a $10 one-time fee to set up a new one.



It wasn't what I was talking about but it is a faster way. The downside is that if something goes wrong you can't just ropen the forum while you tinker with the secondary DB.

In any case you CAN do it this way.



Whoa, I must have been typing too fast. All the databases on the server you are on (and there are a few hundred sites on teh server you are on) have their own folder in the mysql directory.

And you do not have access to that directory since you do not have root access.

The directory structure only referrs to the phpbb files you upload.

Your root directory should (IMO) be for your portal and your forum should be a subdirectory.



No no, public_html IS your root directory. The directories above that are for FTP and other things. yourdomain leads directly to the public_html directory.



I'm not sure I follow but lemme say this:

If you want to simply overwrite the database (since you have a backup) you might as well just overwrite the forums directory.

If you do it this way there is the issue I mentioned about not being able to revert to your old forums if there is an error.

But it's faster.

In any case doing it this way means you MUST be SURE that your DB backup performs correctly.

IF you want I can help you verify this.



IMO you should completely forget about the mods for now. Let's just get your site up. The mods take a few minutes.




Hmm, you really can do all of this in less than one hour. But to do so means you need to be prepared.



No no, you don't want to add a few posts afterward. It's not just the text of the posts but whole bunches of other things that are inserted.

It would take me longer to figure out how to add a few important posts than to create 25 forums and the potential for error would be big.

BTW, I use an old palm pilot III xe. And the only accessory I want I don't beleiev exists (a USB cradle).

Hi Craven!
In no particular order: Typos are a great tradeoff to quick responses (unless it's actual code
what i'll try to do today (was stuck in court all day yesteday) is:
1) backup the entire drive image
2) separately backup the database using phpbb
3) backup the database using powerweb
4) GASP
Now here comes the tough part: I have a FEW images uploaded in an images file, and some avatars - i was thinking about deleting the entire forums subdirectory, then creating forums and installing phpbb2 to that - so there is no chance old files would linger and confuse things.
Or, I could simply overwrite the old files (so i'd have maybe 1 extra meg of "dead" mod files - i'm not THAT worried about dead space on my account, i just don't want them to follow me when i (hopefully) need to switch providers for more bandwidth, etc. - or would you recommend i manually delete all the old phpbb files while leaving the directory structure (and those few uploads) intact?
Thanks again and again and again
And if/when you move over to the pocket pc camp, i'll be able to set you up with some accessories. if you want some swag for the palm let me know, my sources are far more limited with palm - and i'm unaware of ANY palm accessories, so i couldn't tell you if a usb cradle existed - but hell, for the help you've already given, i'd buy the damn thing for you

phpbb's built in backup does not work well (that's an understatement, I have seen many webmasters marvel if it works at all). I'd use phpMyAdmin for the DB backup.

I personally would do a full delete. But overwriting is easier.

Don't worry bout payback. This is just something I do for fun. Plus, like I said, people help me. I am duty bound to pass it on.

Okay - here's the plan:
1) backup
2) backup again (this time just the db)
3) bite nails
4) bite them again. don't forget toes.
5) move the images and links folders elsewhere - also anything that has avatars, smilies, that stuff
6) go for it - delete forums/
7) rename phpbb2/ to forums on my desktop
8) upload phpbb2.05, using forums as the first subdirectory below public_html (which i believe should properly make it .com/forums
9) configure, and try to link back into my mysql database
10) drink a lot. and nibble on the toes

are these the steps you'd recommend? after, my plan would be:
101) install fetch all for the portal
102) install your spider mods
103) install adsnew as the mondo add server
104) have more toenails and beer

okay, other than the nails references does this seem like a logical and sane way to go?

Sounds good.

Make sure to save your config.php file. If you do so then you will need to just alter your routine like this:

After uploading the phpbb files upload your old config file.

Then direct your browser to:
forums/install/update_to_205.php

Then delete the install and contrib directories. You should have a vanilla phpbb all nice and upgraded to 2.0.5

awesome! I completely forgot about config although i had read about it elsewhere - this way i shouldn't have to muck around too much - i'm not sure of the correct setup for my mysql file, etc. - i just know the thing works (kinda so i'm glad i waited around like a kid, pulling on your apron, instead of saying, "This is simple stuff, i can do it
i'm going to begin some backing up now, and then when i'm braver i'll take the plunge - you should see smoke coming from the east....

update - copying those subdirectories with ws-ftp is a disaster - sure, it took me about 15 seconds to select what i want to copy and where i want it to go, now i need those unix commands to go through - torture! been at least 15 minutes - took something like 5 minutes to copy config.php and that was only 1k!!!!! well, maybe it's taking so long because i'm in the middle of a large download - which means i won't upload 2.05 until the bandwidth is available - stay tuned for more second by second info!

LOL don't download while you are restoring your site man!! If I did that I'd have a mailbox with even more hatemail!

The more downtime you have with a web forum the more likely you are to receive death threats!

lol - the good news is nobody is going to my site anyway! thanks so much, google, for completely ignoring me!
anyway, once the bandwidth is clear, i'll disable the board, see about putting a small html message up that says new install coming - please check back and put in a time about 1 hour from when i start, and then cross my fingers! Right now it transfered a total of 37k, which reads as 2%, and that's been about 30 or more minutes - once i'm finished with my important download the bandwidth should clear up to at least a crawl, and then i can finally do the darn thing! the LAST thing i'll do is the actual backups - so i can get the latest content - then i can start deleting like a madman!

If you are overwriting your forum files you should shut down the forums now.

BTW, are you on dial up?

actually, i'm on dsl - i've had VERY slow ftp experiences in the past, but this is crazy - what's it been, an hour or so already? i've only gotten 5% which is 88k from my avatars folder - and i'm not sending it to myself, i'm copying it from a directory on powerweb to another directory - at a whopping .1k/sec - my other downloads have completed, so the bandwidth should be clear. i don't have this kind of patience - so choice # 2 may be for me to go in the forums, and appropriate subdirectories, and delete everything under the sun - does that make the most sense to you?

I am at a loss to explain or even understand.

Why is the FTP so slow? Are you downloading or uploading?

What FTP client do you use?

Do you have really slow upload DSL speed? Remember that your download speed is several times faster than the upload speed. If you have experienced slow FTPing in the past your DSL provider might be choking off your bandwidth. Uploading a vanilla phpbb should take less than 15 minutes.

Latest update: I've killed the manual subdirectory backup (from server to server) and instead have selected the subdirectories i want to keep and am ws-ftp'ing them down to my machine now - still not at blazing speeds - started at 32k/sec, down to something liek 1k/sec now - ugh. anyway, once i have all that done, THEN i'll be ready to delete the files (or better, simply overwrite phpbb2) and then at leisure (with your guidance, or after looking at what is included and not included with phpbb2, i can then delete the dead empty mods - i'm more concerned with later confusion and carrying them from host to host than i am about the relatively small 1 meg or so they take up.
My time got eaten up today - so i plan to actually write files to the server tomorrow. BTW - i did of course do a complete server backup (20 meg, takes 5 minutes, with a few minutes to download to my machine). in the past i've also experienced that powerweb to powerweb writing takes forever - don't know why - i can upload fine, delete fine, but if i want to rename a file, or move a file, well, that can be 10 minutes or so - for moving a file it's far quicker for me to download to my machine, and then re-upload to the new directory - the file copy command just makes everything unhappy.
Is there a time tomorrow that might be less busy for you for when i shoot my inevitable HELP questions?
I was also looking for the thread i thought i began, "to the effect that i'm installing a vanilla phpbb, what should i add?" - if i can't find it now, i'll start it, but i'm pretty sure i made one already. i've downloaded your spyder (although i'm not sure what that first file was, you didn't say what to name it or where it went) - the other files were easy - you named those.
Also, I downloaded fetch-all and fetch-posts - and naturally i don't know what they do, so i won't install without your nod of approval
Thanks again for everything!
Gary

My time tomorrow is pretty much the same as always. Right now I am on lunch and I usually tak it about this time.

As to teh spider mod I think the first part was just the mod instructions.

There should only be two files. One is php and the other is .tpl.


As to ipowerweb server woes it might just be that the ipwoerweb server is slow. Last I checked they used a slower type of FTP that logs. Since they have hundreds of sites on each server things can be slow, but still, not that slow.

Fetch posts is not needed, use fecth all.

If you are unsure what it does look at the home page of this site. That started with a fetch all example code and has since evolved so much that I am considering releasing it separately (right now it would take me over 100 hours to get it to a point where it can be distributed for outside use).

Lemme know how I can help tomorrow. The main thing is to keep your config.php file and your DB backup.