XF 1.5 Trouble moving xenForo from shared hosting to Azure Cloud

[Zesix]

I'm trying to duplicate my current live forum to a new location, with the idea that I'll redirect the domain and then shut down the old location after the duplication is completed.

I've exported my database from phpmyadmin and uploaded the forum files from FTP to the new location.

I get a "An unexpected error occurred. Please try again later" error.

 

[Chris D]

Have you imported the database to the new platform? Presumably the login details for the database have changed so you will need to update your config.php file with the new values.

 

[Paul B]

Enable debug mode via config.php and you should see more details on the error.

There should also be ACP entries, if you can access it by navigating directly to admin.php.

 

[Zesix]

I had errors with import. I'm not sure why. Currently trying with a fresh xenForo install and seeing if that will work.

 

[Paul B]

Errors while importing the database?

I suspect that is due to using phpMyAdmin.

I would recommend using SSH and mysqldump.

 

[Zesix]

I actually changed the config file to point to my previous database (just to test) and I'm still getting the same error, so I think it's something else.

 

[Zesix]

Added the config true to the config file. The credentials are correct - double checked. Just not sure why I'm getting access denied.

An exception occurred: Access denied for user 'zems_admin'@'23.101.204.168' (using password: YES) in D:\home\site\wwwroot\library\Zend\Db\Adapter\Mysqli.php on line 333

1. Zend_Db_Adapter_Mysqli->_connect() in Zend/Db/Adapter/Abstract.php at line 315
2. Zend_Db_Adapter_Abstract->getConnection() in XenForo/Application.php at line 728
3. XenForo_Application->loadDb()
4. call_user_func_array() in XenForo/Application.php at line 971
5. XenForo_Application->lazyLoad() in XenForo/Application.php at line 1002
6. XenForo_Application::get() in XenForo/Application.php at line 1607
7. XenForo_Application::getDb() in XenForo/Model.php at line 161
8. XenForo_Model->_getDb() in XenForo/Model/DataRegistry.php at line 138
9. XenForo_Model_DataRegistry->_getMultiFromDb() in XenForo/Model/DataRegistry.php at line 97
10. XenForo_Model_DataRegistry->getMulti() in XenForo/Dependencies/Abstract.php at line 147
11. XenForo_Dependencies_Abstract->preLoadData() in XenForo/FrontController.php at line 127
12. XenForo_FrontController->run() in D:/home/site/wwwroot/admin.php at line 13

 

[Paul B]

That's the standard error when the password is incorrect: MySQL :: MySQL 5.1 Reference Manual :: 6.2.7 Troubleshooting Problems Connecting to MySQL

 

[Zesix]

The password isn't incorrect though. It's working on the live site. The config file is a literal copy of the one from the live site, downloaded via FTP and added a debug true config line.

Trying a fresh install to see if it works.

 

[Mike]

It is a MySQL permission error though. If it's not password, it could be host-based limiting in MySQL for example.

 

[Zesix]

Tried to do a fresh install on Azure.

During installation, it times out and I get:

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 120 seconds exceeded in D:\home\site\wwwroot\library\Zend\Db\Statement\Mysqli.php on line 70

Happened both times I tried to do a fresh install. Has anyone gotten xenForo running on Azure?

 

[Mike]

We have seen some problems on Azure relating to the database connection. IIRC, when I debugged it, simply running a query that touched nothing -- I think it was literally SELECT 1; -- would take around 2 seconds. The first query of a connection was fast, but then all other connections were slow.

I wasn't sure if it was specific to that user's Azure configuration, but it appears it may not be.

 

[Zesix]

Got this error when trying to import my SQL:

Error at the line 4188: INSERT INTO `adminmessage` (`adminmessageid`, `varname`, `dismissable`, `script`, `action`, `execurl`, `method`, `dateline`, `status`, `statususerid`, `args`) VALUES(2, 'after_upgrade_4110_video', 1, '', '', '', '', 1327122133, 'dismissed', 1, '');

Query: INSERT INTO `adminmessage` (`adminmessageid`, `varname`, `dismissable`, `script`, `action`, `execurl`, `method`, `dateline`, `status`, `statususerid`, `args`) VALUES(2, 'after_upgrade_4110_video', 1, '', '', '', '', 1327122133, 'dismissed', 1, '')

MySQL: Data truncated for column 'method' at row 1

 

[Chris D]

That is either from an add-on or another forum software (some of the terminology used and the format of the field names make it look like it could be a vBulletin table).

Try and exclude that from the export if you can.

FWIW all XenForo tables (and possibly some from add-ons, but not necessarily all) will be prefixed with xf_

 

[Zesix]

Ok, I got the site moved and updated the board URL in the Options menu.

However, login seems to be broken: "The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable."

Do you know why links might be broken?

 

[Chris D]

That could be related to friendly URLs being enabled.

Admin CP > Options > Search Engine Optimization (SEO) > Use Full Friendly URLs

Switch that off to see if it fixes the issue. If it does, but you want to keep friendly URLs, it will likely need some additional configuration for the new web server. Details here: Friendly URLs | XenForo

 

[Zesix]

That thread definitely covered it.

Now - I tried resetting the password on one of my accounts, but I never got the email. This concerns me, since it means new users may never get a confirmation email. Do you know what might cause this after a server move?

 

[Chris D]

Admin CP > Options > Email Options

It's possible mail on your previous server required a different configuration. I'm not sure how it works with Azure but I suspect you'll need to set something up here for it to work.

 

[Zesix]

Azure runs on IIS 7. Would that information help?

There doesn't seem to be many people who use xenForo on Azure. My Google searches on this subject haven't been turning up many results, so hopefully we can track it down here.

EDIT

Found this: Sending E-Mail from Windows Azure - Windows Azure Tribes - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

Which of these would you recommend?

 

[Chris D]

I have no idea when it comes to Azure, but even so we generally wouldn't make recommendations or support you with regards to server configuration (regardless of the type of server or its software). It's likely a better question asked to Azure Support. There may be some sort of built in solution - after all, email is a pretty core function for most mail servers, there should be something, somewhere.

Otherwise, you'd be looking to use an external SMTP server. Some people use Google Apps (or similar) for this.