Import vBulletin to XenForo

[schiller]

Hello.

I am an admin of a vBulletin 4.2.5 forum, which is based on PHP 4. That server is quite old. vB will not run with PHP 5.

We want to migrate to XenForo which shall be on a new server (to be ordered).

While preparing the migration to the new server (learning phase) we want to go on running the vB forum on the old server until we are firm with the import process to the new server, but we do not want to do that by remote import (as it is too slow). This means that we need to transfer the data base (no problem), the attachments (no problem), others ....

Now the question(s):

If we want to do that import (not remote): do we need to transfer the full tree of vBulletin-files (*.php, *.inf, ... etc.) to the new server?
If yes: do we need a running instance of that forum on the new server?

Background for this question:
The new server will probably not have PHP4 by default. We would need to install PHP4 also.

Thanks

Uwe

 

[schiller]

Sorry for posting this question.

I can see in another thread that this question is answered.

 

[Dragonfruit]

Hey @schiller

I’m not sure what answer you read, so I just wanted to give you my take on this.

You could get a server with multi-PHP installed. We did this so the vbulletin was running on 5.6 while we had the XenForo on 7.2.

This also helps with future PHP upgrades because you can get 8.0, 8.1, etc installed. Switch your domain to it, and easily switch back if you discover compatibility issues.

 

[MesterPerfect]

Ideally, you should use a server that supports multiple PHP versions. This will allow you to run both vBulletin and XenForo on their respective supported PHP versions. Additionally, the server should be able to upgrade to future versions of PHP and switch between them easily.

For the import process itself, it is not necessary for the vBulletin forum to be working. However, it is important that the vBulletin database is imported correctly. This means that the database should be complete and free of errors. Additionally, you should ensure that the entire vBulletin file tree is transferred before the import process into XenForo.

By following these guidelines, you can increase the chances of a successful vBulletin to XenForo import.

 

[schiller]

Sorry for not mentioning my findings: https://xenforo.com/community/threads/vb-3-8-6-import.214635/

Thanks for the additional info:
"Additionally, you should ensure that the entire vBulletin file tree is transferred before the import process into XenForo."

Yes, we could run both on the same server, but we do not want to touch the old system, while doing experiments on the new server.

Hence, I am satisfiled that we do not necessarily need the running instance on the new server.