XF 2.0 Import log table and URL redirect (vB 4 to XF1/2)

[HolyK]

Hello,

We're about to migrate from vB 4.2 to XF2 and i am little bit unsure how to correctly proceed with the URL redirection. To minimize the downtime our migration scenario is as follows:
- Install XF2 (A) and prepare the basic settings (not touching users, forums, groups, etc...)
- Install XF 1.5 and don't touch anything here
- Import vB 4.2 DB into XF1.5 and archive the import log
- Upgrade the XF 1.5 to XF2 (B)
- Import the upgraded XF2 (B) into the prepared XF2 (A) ... So we will be actually doing two imports.

First question is if this is possible or if we should avoid this kind of approach and just do vB->XF1.5->XF2 and then start messing with the configuration.

If the above is possible then i wonder how should i proceed with the archived import data? Will this be "imported" as well from XF2(B) to XF2(A)? If yes should i use the archived log from this second import or do we need to dump&import the first import log from vB4->XF1.5 ?

Also i wonder for what the "vBulletin 4.x URL Redirection 1.0.0" actually is? Is this something from before the "import log" so we don't need to bother or should we use this in the middle of the process (on XF 1.5). I haven't found such thing for XF2 (so i suppose this is really obsolete solution and the import log will do the trick as described here .

Thank you in advance for clarifying this.

Alex

 

[Chris D]

- Import the upgraded XF2 (B) into the prepared XF2 (A) ... So we will be actually doing two imports.

There's no point or benefit in doing that or having an (A) installation. If anything, I might expect it to cause problems due to the relatively new code powering the XF2 import system.

First question is if this is possible or if we should avoid this kind of approach and just do vB->XF1.5->XF2 and then start messing with the configuration.

So, yeah, I'd just take this route.


For URL redirection, you just need to choose the option "Retain existing content IDs" while configuring the import. It's still worth saving the import log, but if the content IDs are the same in XF as they were in VB then you just need some fairly basic redirect rules, of which there should be some examples in this forum. Often it just entails redirecting showthreads.php?t=123 to index.php?threads/123 etc.

 

[HolyK]

@Chris Thanks (again) a lot for clarifying this. I am amazed how fast people getting their questions answered here. Just perfect !