Hello,

I have a very active forum still running under classic 6.7.1 (http://www.wine-pages.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php).

I have just successfully installed 7.5.6 and downloaded the classic_import.php importer.

I am a bit nervous about the next step of trying to import my forums - no discussion here of doing this for over a year and the classic_import.php readme.txt is pretty basic. If someone could briefly clarify/expand on the readme instructions I'd be very grateful:

>> Importin from .classic.

>> Place the classic_import.php script into the importers directory and bring it up in your browser. Follow the instructions to import your classic forum.

That seems easy enough and I have uploaded the script and given all the absolute paths it asks for, but is there anything to be aware of before I go ahead? There was talk in threads here from 2009 about members directory not working properly after import?

Also, whilst it is importing is my original forum disabled.

Also, will my original forum continue to work after import to allow me to tinker before announcing the new software to my users?


>> Redirect Scripts.

>> Edit the $URL in ultimatebb.cgi and put it in place of your original ultimatebb.cgi script.

>> Edit the $URL in ultimatebb.php and put it in place of your original ultimatebb.php script.

I cannot see an "ultimatebb.cgi" script within the root directory of my original (classic 6.7.1) installation, but I can see an "ultimatebb.php". Do I just ignore the instruction to edit the .cgi version or do I find it elsewhere?

When it says "edit" the file, I presume that is to alter the $URL to point to the *directory* containing the new installation?

Many thanks for any help with this

There are some servers where the users get put into the wrong group after the import. If that happens in your case, just let me know here or in a support ticket and we can get that taken care of for you.

Normally you should close your current forums while the import is running just to be safe.

Your other forum will continue to work after the import, just be aware that any posts or users that register after the import is finished won't be in the ubbthreads install.

Your ultimatebb.cgi script should be in the cgi-bin directory of your old ubb install.

The $URL needs to point to the full url/directory of the new install.

When I upgraded from classic. I did have a problem with the importer reading the members directory because I had mine above the root.
But it was a easy fix. I just copied the members directory below the root. And changed the path in the classic control panel.

There will be some housekeeping needed though. checking all the permissions for misc items/features/forums.

Also as far as the old classic board. The importer does not change edit or delete anything. so it will still work as is.
But if you don't close it then people will still be posting to classic instead of threads. Because that is where they goto currently.
So there is not a easy way to piece meal posts from classic to threads, it is all or nothing.

Many thanks both for the input, and I will tackle this later and report back.

I had white knuckles during my upgrade but it really went fairly easy.
You just have to remember that threads 7.5.6 is many steps away from classic. So over time many features and security items have been added and you will need to address each one. Using a different mindset from classic
But once it is done it is over.
And it just gets easier with each upgrade.

i'm doing a test conversion of a very large ubb classic 6.7.1 board. it took less than a few minutes to import 33000+ users and 171 forums, and then the importer sez "Done! About to begin importing posts. (please wait)." looks like it's hung up and have no idea what's happening. if it is working, i wish there'd at least be an idiot light blinking to give some hope. then again, there are well over a million posts to convert. anyone run into this with a large board conversion? is the system hung or happening???

thanx.
r.

I've had it hang during an import; generally just a refresh will kick it back into action since it does it step by step.

Aye. I had an issue when I was converting from threads to the newer 7.x.x versions as well.. I refreshed and it kicked it in the buttocks to go the rest of the way through. I think it is just a timeout issue with the browser.


Dunny

Bear in mind , Importing the posts is the big one.
Meaning it could take many hours to complete or a couple of days.
Because it is writing every post/text to the tables.

it's more than just hanging, it has something to do with the importer script. here's what happens the instant it starts to import the 1.2mil posts ...

Are you doing this on a production server? With large UBB.C -> UBB.T imports I'd generally only do it on a dedicated server which doesn't have much of anything else going on...

Classic in itself was a resource hog, and basically what you're doing is reading every file ever made in classic and then writing it to threads; there's just so much that can go awry and wrong during an import from that particular product...

dedicated server with a ton of horsepower and no other activity save the import/conversion.

i would expect to see the mysql db updating, but that doesn't happen at all.

soon as it begins the post import is when a popup asks what to do with the importer script. the mysql activity goes dead.

This may sound like a silly question (and probably is) but is PHP5 installed on the server (or a version of PHP)?

It is asking if you want to save a file as if it doesn't realize it is supposed to be running as a script.


Dunny

yup, php 5.1

Well something is wrong since firefox is prompting to save/open the file.
Possibly something awry in the server config.
Or even your browser.
Have you tried the compatibility test script?
Or better yet just install threads as a virgin new install and see if you have problems.

no problem installing threads on my server, and creating/populating a virgin new database, works just fine. stumped on this one ...

Could be a issue with either file permissions for the import script or a issue with the browser you are using.

I would suggest opening a support ticket with UBB to resolve.
You know they do offer upgrade services as well.

FYI,
The version you are upgrading from is probably the most tedious one to perform.
Especially with the size of your board.

before running the importer script, i made sure everything was read/write.

a few dayze ago, the ubb tech group did an import test of my forum and it worked. very long story short, i had been trying to convert my classic board to a relational database for years and no one, not vb or phpbb or smf or even ubbthreads, could make it happen. i worked with rick (former ubb owner) from the end of last year to about march this year and he had problems and it never converted. my incorrect assumption was that my forum couldn't get converted, so i didn't bother even attempting and contacted ubb tech. it appears that the import/conversion is more than just running an importer script.

I know when I upgraded from the older version of threads there was actually two imports that had to be done.... I had to go from one 6.x version to like 6.5 THEN I could change over to 7.1... maybe that is the case here as well... I remember we couldn't convert threads directly to 7.1 (depending on the version of threads it was).

Dunny

The issue is you are going from a flat file system in classic to a table driven database.
So all the data is taken from static files and written to a database.
So the script has a lot of data to convert.
Since it relies on one simple script. I would assume you are running into connection/timeout issues.
And may need to import chunks at a time.
The member stuff is small potatoes. It is the posts that write huge amounts of bytes to the tables.
If UBB was able to convert for you I would think it is well worth the money.
The typical fee is $99.00 ,I am not sure what you were quoted.

i know exactly what the flat to relational db is all about and it's requirements and methodology.

as to the posts conversion part of the converter script, for it to immediately stop dead and pop up the importer access window, that appears to be more than just having a lotta work to do 'cause it's doing nothing and failing.

this is ubb classic 6.7.1, 35k users, 178 forums, about 2mil topics/posts.

it's already been priced out at way more than 99 bucks, mostly due to the needs of the forum. post conversion requires much work that could never be part of the import, such as styles and banner ads and other essentials. not to mention the essential post conversion testing, 'cause once yer live and find something that doesn't work, yer in a tough spot. and we don't wanna be down more than a day at most.

With that size forum I would suspect you will be down a couple of days not one.
But anyway. Try a different browser for thrills.
Or if you have access try a different server.
That is all I can really suggest at this point.
I don't recall anyone here having the issues you describe.
But then again I don't recall anyone converting the size of your board from classic either.

the ubb tech said the test conversion completed within 8 hours.

Well the conversion may have completed in 8 hours.
But your post also stated that you also wanted style changes,banner ads etc.

the 8hr conversion was just for content, not for styles or banners, etc. i can do that. the import was for the basics - members, forums, posts, pm's, etc. the datasets seem to have worked fine after about an hour's testing.

i did the board conversion that you mentioned to show proof of concept. also even grabbed your header ads and duplicated the main style.

it was by no means an easy thing (evidenced by everyone to date having tried and failed), but i can say that the importer i started from is one in the same as yours.

there are some _very_ special things to consider when importing such a large forum. the first thing is actually the first forum that has 1.13million posts alone

also, your server itself has issues that cause the importer to puke or require a lotta hand holding.

so, yes you can give it a go on your own and more power to you if you get it done!

if you do, then i congratulate you as being the 2nd one to get it to work.

your forum is very special in many ways. 1 and a half million posts on bows and arrows being just ONE

good luck to you

not just "bows and arrows" dude, traditional bowhunting