XF 2.0 Anyway to export/import usergroup/node Permissions?

[tourmeister]

Howdy,

So the result of my test import from vB 3.8.1 to XF 2 is that the permissions for usergroups and forums is a mess. I'm not griping as I understand the two systems are not the same so some mess is to be expected. Here is what I would like to do.

Once I get everything working the way it should in my test install of XF2, using phpMyAdmin can I export a table(s) from the test database that contains all the permissions to a file, then after doing my final import of the live vB database, import the permissions from that file into the final XF2 database so that I don't have to go through the whole process of changing all the permissions one by one again? This would drastically cut down on the time/hassle once I shut down my live site and start the migration process over to XF2 so that I can get it live.

 

[tourmeister]

These are the only tables I can find in the XF2 database that appear to have any obvious connection to permissions.

xf_admin_permission
xf_admin_permission_entry

xf_permission
xf_permission_cache_content
xf_permission_combination
xf_permission_combination_user_group
xf_permission_entry
xf_permission_entry_content
xf_permission_interface_group

If I export the contents of these tables to a backup file once I've finalized the permissions in my test install of XF2, can I then empty these tables after the final import into the live site database and import the backup file to the live database set all the permissions the same as the test site?

Would there be an issue related to having more users in the final import process than I had when I imported the test database from vB?

 

[tourmeister]

Anyone?

Am I running off on a dead end trail here?

 

[Masetrix]

+1 @tourmeister
Here's the same problem. It takes days to edit an otherwise well-migrated forum (vB3.8.11 -> XF 2.0.10) so that you could bring it online.
The inherited permissions from vB to XenForo are set so strangely that all forums and user group rights have to be manually checked and partly reset.

Another Problem. In the time where one corrects the above mentioned rights, new users register in the old forum (vB3.x) and threads and posings are written. Is there a Querry or another possibility to take over these new data (user / threads / postings) which are added during the processing of the test installation by means of an update of the import into the test installation without having to perform the migration from scratch?

Thanks in advance. (trans. by Google)

 

[Mr Lucky]

+1 @tourmeister
Here's the same problem. It takes days to edit an otherwise well-migrated forum (vB3.8.11 -> XF 2.0.10) so that you could bring it online.
The inherited permissions from vB to XenForo are set so strangely that all forums and user group rights have to be manually checked and partly reset.

sadly it's all down to making the test permissions a practice run and making notes of what you did.

It can be made easier by streamlining stuff before the import, pruning any usergroups that are not used or not doing much. I've never understood the vb secondary groups system, xenforo is much more logical.

Another Problem. In the time where one corrects the above mentioned rights, new users register in the old forum (vB3.x) and threads and posings are written. Is there a Querry or another possibility to take over these new data (user / threads / postings) which are added during the processing of the test installation by means of an update of the import into the test installation without having to perform the migration from scratch?

I would never have a forum live while this is going on, so I'd close the old forum with a notice that maintenance is going on, when you expect to be finished and a contact form for people wanting to register so you can inform them when it's ready.

 

[Masetrix]

Thanks for your answer.
To 1.
All user groups in our forum are needed, so I can not delete anything there.
Even if I find XenForo better and more logical so I have to correct the permissions of the old forum in the new forum by hand because they are set wrong after the (repeated) migration.

To 2.
I administer a very busy help forum. I can not do that for more than a few hours. Too short for what I have to change after migrating to XenForo.
So I have to perform the migration in the test forum and adjust everything while the forum to be migrated continues. Fits with Xenforo everything so far I have to close the old vBForum, then replace the old vBForum by the migrated Xenforto and then bring online. There are still enough problems to overcome. As an example: DBSeo, URLs and Google ....

 

[tourmeister]

sadly it's all down to making the test permissions a practice run and making notes of what you did.

It can be made easier by streamlining stuff before the import, pruning any usergroups that are not used or not doing much. I've never understood the vb secondary groups system, xenforo is much more logical.

This is what I am doing. It is SLOW and a pain. I've done a LOT of stream lining and deleting in the live vB forum. I dumped a backup of the database to do a test import on the XF2 install. I got the import down from about 8 hours to 5 hours. I even nuked a few of the subforums that were giving me odd permission results after importing. So over all, I think it is going pretty well.

One thing I find hard about the XF permissions systems is trying to keep straight what is what when everything is set to inherit. If you don't have a convenient way to see what is being inherited, that can get confusing. So I have to open multiple browser windows, get them small enough that I can see them at the same time, and then do line by line comparisons. It would be nice if on the permissions list where things are set to inherit if you could actually see the setting that is being inherited. Maybe have something like "InheritYES", "InheritNO", or "InheritNEVER". That was you can tell what it is you are inheriting.

 

[Mr Lucky]

One thing I find hard about the XF permissions systems is trying to keep straight what is what when everything is set to inherit. If you don't have a convenient way to see what is being inherited, that can get confusing. So I have to open multiple browser windows, get them small enough that I can see them at the same time, and then do line by line comparisons. It would be nice if on the permissions list where things are set to inherit if you could actually see the setting that is being inherited. Maybe have something like "InheritYES", "InheritNO", or "InheritNEVER". That was you can tell what it is you are inheriting.

I may bee barking up the wrong tree, but I thought that is what is so useful about the permissions analyser.

 

[tourmeister]

I may bee barking up the wrong tree, but I thought that is what is so useful about the permissions analyser.

It is entirely possible I simply don't understand how to use it. I have messed with it and have not found it all that useful.

 

[Masetrix]

I may bee barking up the wrong tree, but I thought that is what is so useful about the permissions analyser.

That was my first thought too. But the permissions analyzer can only recognize rough, conflicting rights. In this situation completely unusable.

For us, the problem is that some users may see forums, but not others' threads. Why the importer sets the rights so I can not understand. In vB3 these users could see threads and postings of others.

 

[tourmeister]

With the analyzer, is there a way to check usergroups instead of individual users? That is really more of what I am trying to do as I have a few forums where members of the Registered are not allowed to post a new thread but they can do all the other normal stuff. Then I have one forum that only members of my "Forum Supporter" group can view the contents. Then there are the mod and admin forums. It just gets confusing trying to keep straight which group can do what were.

 

[Paul B]

Clicking into a user group will show the permissions for that user group.

Analysing permissions for a single user group isn't that useful as permissions are cumulative so all of the groups a member is in will contribute to the final value.

However, if you want to check a single group, create a test user and add them to each group in turn, and analyse the permissions for that member.

 

[tourmeister]

Clicking into a user group will show the permissions for that user group.

Analysing permissions for a single user group isn't that useful as permissions are cumulative so all of the groups a member is in will contribute to the final value.

However, if you want to check a single group, create a test user and add them to each group in turn, and analyse the permissions for that member.

I just figured out that part about the test user right before you posted I am assigning that user to various user groups so I can then plug the user into the analyzer. If I understand the results correctly when you click on "details", it should show you a list of the usergroups that user belongs to, the setting for each group, and the cumulative result. If there is a NEVER in the list, that trumps everything. If there is a yes, that trump any number of no. If there is nothing but no, then the end result is no. If that is the case, then this makes no sense to me...



Shouldn't all three of those resolve to a NO?

 

[Paul B]

The user value in each case is yes, so the final value is yes.

That suggests the member has user specific permissions set.

 

[tourmeister]

The user value in each case is yes, so the final value is yes.

That suggests the member has user specific permissions set.

Okay, I finally see it! I am still trying to wrap my head around how the permissions work. I did not even realize that there were specific user permissions independent of any user groups Even after you mentioned it above, I was still trying to look at the permissions for one node where that user has specific permissions because he basically runs that node. In that permissions screen, there were no options even relating to viewing IP address, bypassing privacy, or use spam cleaner. For whatever reason, when that user came over during the import, those three options were set to YES on his specific user permissions.

Thank you.

I will now move on to banging my head against the next thing until it sinks in...

 

[Universal4]

I apologize for reviving an older thread, but this one seemed the most appropriate.

Has anyone tried the export - import of usergroup permissions as stated above in post 2? Or is there a recommended addon that could help?

I have been doing some testing of a VB4 import, and I am a little surprised of the results of some of the permissions that were imported and was hoping maybe I could get most of what needs fixed in the usergroups, do an export and then import the group settings after a final import speeding up the process.

What I found the most odd was that in some cases the administrative group had less permissions for some things and the banned group or moderated had more. Granted, there are far more permission choices in XF but am hoping for a more streamlined approach to the usergroups at least.

Was hoping I could do an import on a test server, set the group permissions and then export them to have them ready for the live case scenario.

I have seen the suggestions on trying to simplify usergroups before doing an import, but that will not be possible in most of the cases, and we are just studying what we can do to have the least amount of down time.