XF 2.2 Is it possible to do a 'clean' reinstall of xenforo?

[electrogypsy]

I'm just trying to get some community input to see if this is possible, but here's my scenario.

I've been using XF since it was in beta (maybe even alpha? i cant remember) back in I think 2009. So around 13 years! During that time I was learning systems administration by running my little community and over the years I installed and uninstalled a LOT of addons.

I'm looking at the files on my server and there is just a cubic ton of files that are leftover from all kinds of stuff (not to mention whatever is in my database) over the past 13 years and it's taking up quite a bit of space.

I've tried copying a fresh install of XF onto a server, copying over my important folders (i.e. data and internal_data), and re-connecting the database, but I always just get a non-functional white screen.

So my question to everyone is: Is there a way to clean my mess of a site up? How would I go about this?

 

[duderuud]

You can do a clean install by extracting the xenforo setup to a new web accessible folder, create a new database and run the installer.

 

[Paul B]

You could do a new installation and import but if you still have third party add-ons installed, any content associated with those would not be imported.

I would likely just do a manual check of the files and database against a default XF install and delete any unneeded files, drop any old tables and columns, making sure to leave anything related to still installed add-ons in place.

There's also this which can be run to clean up XF1 legacy stuff: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/xf1-cleanup-command.6133/

 

[electrogypsy]

There's also this which can be run to clean up XF1 legacy stuff: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/xf1-cleanup-command.6133/

thanks for the suggestion!

Hmm, I get the same error using it that I got on my other thread here:

XF 2.2 - "Rebuilding content group cache..." reloads infinitely

I've had an issue for several months now where I constantly have a message in my admincp saying there are jobs that need to be ran. I click the link and it says "Rebuilding... content group cache" and keeps reloading the page with that message. I've let it run for upwards of 8+ hours and it's...

xenforo.com

 

[hstammlerj]

thanks for the suggestion!

Hmm, I get the same error using it that I got on my other thread here:

XF 2.2 - "Rebuilding content group cache..." reloads infinitely

I've had an issue for several months now where I constantly have a message in my admincp saying there are jobs that need to be ran. I click the link and it says "Rebuilding... content group cache" and keeps reloading the page with that message. I've let it run for upwards of 8+ hours and it's...

xenforo.com

Since you only tried Brogan's third hint, but didn't comment the first, nor the second:
Sorry, there won't be a single one-line statement or add-on which magically cleans up your system totally, but keeps everything running "like before".

What do you think about these hints?

You could do a new installation and import but if you still have third party add-ons installed, any content associated with those would not be imported.

I would likely just do a manual check of the files and database against a default XF install and delete any unneeded files, drop any old tables and columns, making sure to leave anything related to still installed add-ons in place.

Are you willing/able to do database changes on our own?
Are there still any add-ons in use?
Do you have a running (duplicated) test system to try out things first in a safe environment?


Every time we knew a system was screwed up too far (vb3, vb4, mediawiki, phpads/..new/revive), we did perform clean and empty "target state" test installations including all add-ons and tweaks still in use (always same version as used live) and then we started to compare/diff all structures "live vs. test". So this is mainly a topic of the file systems (several data/attach folders to be excluded) and the database structures (e.g. by exporting them "structure-only" and compare the dumps), but also should include tests if your target state system still acts the same way like your live version.

It is sometimes a very dull, even though demanding job, but it reveals every long-forgotten change and helps a lot to decide how to proceed.

Sometimes, just a file system clean-up and minor database realignments fix everything, maybe you perform a clean installation like @duderuud mentioned or import into a fresh installation like @Brogan said, but there is a small possibility you end up extracting just the core data and injecting them into the empty installation manually for a restart without any legacy structures.
I am sure you won't need this overkill for XenForo, but we decided to do it for Mediawiki and phpads/Revive (twice) and it helped us to leave many problems behind us.

 

[electrogypsy]

Sorry, there won't be a single one-line statement or add-on which magically cleans up your system totally, but keeps everything running "like before".

Sorry I didn't mean to imply I was looking for a single click solution, I realize doing something like this is going to be a bit of a long-term project.

Are you willing/able to do database changes on our own?
Are there still any add-ons in use?
Do you have a running (duplicated) test system to try out things first in a safe environment?

I can do the database changes on my own. There's maybe 2-3 addons with data I couldn't replace (content ratings addon) so I'm debating on how to handle that. I can also do a test system, I don't have a problem with that.

I'm goin to experiment with the import method @Brogan mentioned first and see if i can get away with that.

Thank you everyone for your advice!