XF 1.3 Import vBulletin to XF 1.3

[WoodiE]

I have a website which is not hosted on my server running vBulletin 4.2.0 that I'd like to have moved to my server but running XF 1.3. XF is currently installed and ready to go just need to import the data and then update the DNS to the new server.

Since the site currently lives elsewhere what would be the best method to import this forum (vB) data to the the new server running XF? Can I just do a SQL dump on the current host and then import that data into a temp database on my server to import from or should I use another method?

Thanks!

 

[Jake Bunce]

Can I just do a SQL dump on the current host and then import that data into a temp database on my server to import from...

That is what I recommend. If avatars / attachments are in the file system (in vB) then you must also copy those directories.

Remote db connections for imports are usually not advisable unless the two servers are on the same network with a fast link between them.

 

[WoodiE]

Thanks Jake. That's exactly what I just finished up doing actually. Worked great.

 

[stilly]

Sorry to jump in here, I have been doing a couple test imports from vb to a clean xf DB.

I have avatars stored in the file system in vb, when I run the importer for avatars, it hangs and eventually get a 500:

Request Timeout

This request takes too long to process, it is timed out by the server. If it should not be timed out, please contact administrator of this web site to increase 'Connection Timeout', lol,

=============

Litespeed server VPS.



Attachments are in the file system as well and have no issues there and have many more than the avatars. I have check the directory path in the config importer and it is correct.



So should I copy the vb customavatar directory contents over to data->avatars directory? I see it is of course empty...

 

[Jake Bunce]

@stilly

vB's avatars directory needs to be on the same server as XF for the import. Do not directly copy the avatars to XF's data directory. The importer will write the files to data, but it needs to be able to access vB's avatars locally to be able to import them.

 

[stilly]

vB's avatars are on the same server, different directory of course, but same server,

I have restored back to the clean backup while figuring this out, lol, have done a few imports, all goes well except the avatars,

 

[stilly]

The vb directory is 777, individual avatar files are 664,

 

[Jake Bunce]

The 500 error is from the web server itself. Apparently the process is hitting a timeout. But the avatar import really shouldn't take that long.

What image library are you using?

Admin CP -> Home -> Options -> Attachments -> Default Image Processor

I have seen some instances of image libraries lagging indefinitely during image processing (which happens during the avatar import). Try using a different image library if one is available. Or upgrade your existing library on the server. This is just a guess.

Incidentally, any problem with the source data would give a specific error message. I do not believe the source data is the problem here.

 

[stilly]

Using imagemagick, I will try switching to GD and run it again and report back,

 

[stilly]

That did it, thank you Jake, image library did not match between the two - vb and xf,

GD was set at VB and imagemagick at xf, ran quick and easy when I set xf to GD,

Perhaps this should be added to the import guidelines (if you have a problem with avatars) in case anyone else runs into this,

I know it ran me round me in circles, lol,

Thanks again,

 

[Jake Bunce]

That did it, thank you Jake, image library did not match between the two - vb and xf,

GD was set at VB and imagemagick at xf, ran quick and easy when I set xf to GD,

Perhaps this should be added to the import guidelines (if you have a problem with avatars) in case anyone else runs into this,

I know it ran me round me in circles, lol,

Thanks again,

Strictly speaking, they don't have to match. Your ImageMagick library just has problems, that's all.

 

[stilly]

I seem to have it sorted, import is done and looks ok, cept a few on the forum have sticker shock, lol,