XF 2.1 vBulletin 3.8 (1.5M posts) to Xenforo 2.1 importing

[Jon12345]

My good old trusty vBulletin software that served me well is coming to end of life. So I am imminently contemplating the switch to Xenforo 2.1. I already have another forum using Xenforo, and I am a big fan.

I've read here that the import functionality built into Xenforo can import any sized board. But I also see there are custom scripts for big boards that you can buy, and also import services from the likes of MySiteGuy and Slavik.

Any recommendations on doing the import? Should I use the built in Xenforo functionality or get a big board script? Should I use either MySiteGuy or Slavik rather than do it myself?

 

[Mr. Jinx]

The importer shouldn't have problems with that, but test it! You will have to test your import anyway.
Just try the import process, and see the difference when using the CLI import. If you see problems that you can't resolve yourself then you can always contact someone that provides import support.

 

[Alan_SP]

Before anything else, I would test upgrade on test installation and see how it goes, is it too complicated for you, etc.

In my opinion, you should be able to do that yourself, but after testing it you'll know for sure.

And yes, similar answer is posted before mine...

 

[Slavik]

My good old trusty vBulletin software that served me well is coming to end of life. So I am imminently contemplating the switch to Xenforo 2.1. I already have another forum using Xenforo, and I am a big fan.

I've read here that the import functionality built into Xenforo can import any sized board. But I also see there are custom scripts for big boards that you can buy, and also import services from the likes of MySiteGuy and Slavik.

Any recommendations on doing the import? Should I use the built in Xenforo functionality or get a big board script? Should I use either MySiteGuy or Slavik rather than do it myself?

The XenForo importers can handle it for sure, but by all means hit up a PM if you may want someone to handle it for you.

 

[Jon12345]

If I test the import myself, can you do that where I keep the forum directory the same name? Not sure how you would do that because you are importing into a directory where there are already a ton of files.

 

[andybond]

If I test the import myself, can you do that where I keep the forum directory the same name? Not sure how you would do that because you are importing into a directory where there are already a ton of files.

Create a new folder called ForumOld or something like that.
Move all the files into that
Update the AdminCP to the new URL in your legacy software

Upload the Xenforo2 files to your public root
Start a basic install
Run the importer ..

 

[Jon12345]

Thanks for that @andybond

 

[Ozzy47]

Should you look to hire someone I recommend @MySiteGuy, top notch service, his prices are cheap and he is easy to work with.

 

[Jon12345]

Regarding 301 redirects from inbound links from other websites, does the standard Xenforo import deal with that or do you need an add-on for that?

 

[Jon12345]

@ozzy47, thanks for your recommendation. I thought in fairness to both guys, I would speak to each and then make a decision. A decent price normally catches my business!

 

[Ozzy47]

Good business decision.

 

[Jon12345]

Well, I was going to do it all myself since I am a techie kinda guy, so anything is over the budget! But there are some benefits to having someone else do it.

 

[Jon12345]

Just came across this: https://xenforo.com/community/resources/xenforo-redirects-for-vbulletin.6123/

I think that would do it!

If your XenForo installation essentially overwrites your vBulletin installation, and lives at the same URL (ie: vBulletin forums lived at http://example.com/forums and XenForo lives at http://example.com/forums), there is nothing more to do for your redirects to work.

Does the above quote mean you still have to install the redirects add-on?

 

[Paul B]

If you retain IDs then you should be able to get away with standard .htaccess rewrites.

Otherwise you will need the redirection script.

 

[beerForo]

I came from 3.8 last year. I'd recommend you at least try it yourself, you'll need a few test runs if you are going to do it anyway. It's quite easy and support helped me out where I had (the very few) issues.

 

[Jon12345]

Why do you need test runs? Don't you just do it the once?

How long does the import process take for a forum my size, with 1.5M posts? I know there is the browser method and CLI method. Not sure which I should use if I did it myself.

I am excited about switching over to Xenforo for my main forum! I've got a smaller forum using it and I love the feel of Xenforo.

 

[Kier]

How long does the import process take for a forum my size, with 1.5M posts? I know there is the browser method and CLI method. Not sure which I should use if I did it myself.

I'd always recommend the CLI method to those comfortable enough with the terminal to use it. Importing a forum with 1.5m posts should take under an hour on a reasonably specced server.

 

[Kier]

Test runs are recommended with a copy of your data so that you can be certain that you are happy with the import results prior to closing your existing forum and committing to the migration.

There is currently no way to run an delta import, to import content that has been created or updated since you started the import process, so you have to close your live forum for the duration of the import.

 

[Jon12345]

Oh wow, a lot faster than I thought! That is encouraging. I've been reading posts where someone said it took 60 hours or something.

Maybe I should have a go at it myself, even if a little nervous.

Create a new folder called ForumOld or something like that.
Move all the files into that
Update the AdminCP to the new URL in your legacy software

My forums are at mysite.com/forums. Does that mean I should rename my forums folder to ForumOld (rather than copy files across), create a new blank folder called forums, and then log into vBulletin control panel to edit the board url to mysite.com/ForumOld?

Upload the Xenforo2 files to your public root
Start a basic install
Run the importer ..

By upload to public root, does it mean in my case upload the Xenforo2 files to mysite.com/forums?

 

[Jon12345]

Test runs are recommended with a copy of your data so that you can be certain that you are happy with the import results prior to closing your existing forum and committing to the migration.

So if I did a test run and it all looks ok, I just enable the board and then I'm done? I presume you just scan around a few posts to see if they all look ok. Is that essentially the verification process, or is there something more structured, like a checklist of things to look at?

Oh, my server is fairly quick. I went from a terrible host to Knownhost, with 4 cpus and 6gb ram. So much faster and great support there too. So hopefully that will help with the migration. You are getting me to think I should have a go at this myself. Damn, the support is good here!