XF 2.1 A funny thing happened on the way to testing the beta

[HannahP]

I know we're not supposed to install XF on a domain it's not licensed for, but I did anyway, since I remember reading here somewhere that as long as "test" was in the path it should be okay.

Well, it was okay, on the test install. Then I went back to my live forum and find that it's in maintenance mode and I can't get it out. To be clear, I changed nothing on the live forum, just copied the database to use on the beta test site.

What could have caused my live forum to implode in this scenario?

 

[Paul B]

If you have more than one installation on the same domain, you need to ensure you use separate databases, caching, and cookie prefixes.

This may help: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/how-to-duplicate-a-live-site-to-use-as-a-test-site.2792/

 

[HannahP]

I did not have two installs on the same domain.

I wanted to test the beta, so I installed on a different domain using a copy of my live forum database.

Then my live forum died.

 

[HannahP]

Let's try this then, what would make a forum that's working normally become stuck in maintenance mode?

Worse yet, what would cause the maintenance mode message to be displayed in admin when I try to go to any admin link?

 

[HannahP]

Okay. Well, I had to restore a database backup so I'm back up and running (minus the last 16 hours of posts).

I'd sure like to know what happened though. If anyone else was ever stuck in maintenance mode I'd appreciate learning anything you know about why it happened.

 

[whynot]

What could have caused my live forum to implode in this scenario?

Perhaps somehow the test forum still calling the original database?

 

[Mendalla]

Perhaps somehow the test forum still calling the original database?

That is my thought as well. @mjp, did you edit config.php in the test domain to point to the copy of the database for the test domain? If it was pointing to the live database, then that could mess things up.

Basically, read the document that @Brogan linked and follow it and you should be okay.

 

[HannahP]

Yeah, I changed config.php to point to the copy of the database.

But I never rule out the possibility that I screwed up, so you may be on to something.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I think many people make the mistake of using the live config.php (once)

even if I’m sure I changed it, I now first thing put a BIG notice up on the test forum, then go back to the live forum to make sure the notice isn’t there.