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Beginning the upgrade
Assuming the previous steps went well, you should now have the SMF source files on your server and their relevant permissions set. You practically have the new version! All that is needed now is to run the upgrade.php file to make the necessary changes in your database structure and your Settings.php file.

Open up your favorite web browser and browse to http://www.yourdomain.tld/forum/upgrade.php (where Forum is the location of your forum). Provided you set the permissions correctly on Settings.php and Setting_bak.php and uploaded all the files, you should see a form with the following tick boxes:
  • Backup database with the prefix "backup_yourprefix_".
    Ticking this box will cause the SMF upgrade utility to save a copy of your original Forum database tables prior to upgrading their structure (it is a good idea to make your own backup anyway.)
  • Put the Forum into maintenance mode during upgrade.
    Ticking this box will put your Board into maintenance mode during the upgrade process so your users will see a friendly note that the Board is being upgraded, rather than a page full of errors.
  • Output extra debugging information.
    Ticking this box will cause the upgrade utility to display extra debugging information during the conversion or upgrade process. This is useful if you experience problems and want to report them.
You may also see a Convert the existing YaBB SE template and set it as default option, which is only shown if you have an existing template.php from YaBB SE, and have not already converted it to an SMF-style template. Using this option, when upgrading from YaBB SE, is recommended. It will make your forum, by default, look very similar to how it did before. Please note, however, that not all templates convert perfectly.

Once you have selected the desired options, click the continue link. Depending on the size of your board, the upgrade process may take a while - hold tight, while it may seem that nothing is happening something reallly is, so don't click continue again until the screen reloads - you will notice because it will say different things about what it's doing.

Next: Finishing up
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Comments:
achu made the following comment on September 02, 2008, 02:40:53 AM:

am using SMF1.1.4 version, now i need WYSIWYG editor in my posts, so searched in SMF, it says in SMF2.0 WYSISYG editor comes in default, so i tried to upgrade smf from V-1.1.4 to V-20.

I've copied and pasted the 2.0 in my smf, now i cant run the upgrade.php file, because upgrade.php file is not exist. What i've to do in this situation.

I need WYSISYG editor in my posts.

Jade made the following comment on September 02, 2008, 10:23:39 AM:

You need to upload all of the files in the large upgrade package :)

afrimj made the following comment on September 09, 2008, 09:33:42 AM:

I maked all this steps but when I click continue I have error
 

Quote
Updating indexes and data on "smileys"... Unsuccessful!
This query:

    ALTER TABLE smf_smileys
    ORDER BY LENGTH(code) DESC;

Caused the error:

    You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'LENGTH(code) DESC' at line 2

how to fix this error???help me please

Jade made the following comment on September 09, 2008, 10:10:49 PM:

http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=1079.0

The above doc will help you :)

Trinity made the following comment on October 11, 2008, 12:47:26 AM:

I had the same problem as achu. (1.1.5 to 2.0 Beta 4)

On my test forum, I FTP'd the entire contents of the unzipped large package, 1380 files were listed and successfully transferred. When I was tweaking the chmod on the necessary files and folders, I realized that settings.php and settings_bak.php were not in the folder which I FTP'd over to my server. Nor was the upgrade.php. I found the upgrade.php in the unzipped package (no idea why it didn't transfer with the other files, nor why it wasn't listed as a failed transfer) but I manually uploaded it, and copied the settings and settings_bak files into the new upgrade folder. I then navigated to the upgrade page and got this:

The upgrader was unable to find some crucial files.

Please make sure you uploaded all of the files included in the package, including the Themes, Sources, and other directories.

How can I possibly know which "crucial files" are missing?? I don't understand why it left out upgrade.php when it was in the folder that I FTP'd. Do I have to manually trawl through each and every folder to find these mysterious crucial and yet missing files?

Jade made the following comment on October 11, 2008, 11:47:07 AM:

ALL of the files are needed, you need to have extracted the entire folder and uploaded all of the files..

There should be upgrade SQL text files and stuff in there too. You need to have all of the files uploaded.

davomex made the following comment on November 08, 2008, 02:23:26 AM:

i had a different challenge in my case at [link removed] i need to upgrade from 1.1.2 to 1.1.7
can you help

Jade made the following comment on November 08, 2008, 03:15:19 PM:

Do it the same way I believe. Make backups first, if it doesnt work then you will need to ask for support on the community :D.

loenk made the following comment on January 22, 2009, 04:24:14 AM:

i had a problem with upgrade.php why this file can't access my settings.php??

this is the full error message:
The upgrader was unable to obtain write access to Settings.php.

If you are using a linux or unix based server, please ensure that the file is chmod'd to 777.
If your server is running Windows, please ensure that the internet guest account has the proper permissions on it.

thx for the answer..

Jade made the following comment on January 22, 2009, 08:22:47 AM:

Please CHMOD the file to 777:

http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=5.0
http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=363.0

Butch made the following comment on March 09, 2009, 11:08:43 PM:

I cant even get the upgeade.php to run. When I point my browser at its location I get a 403 Forbidden error.
Can someone help me?
Thanks

Jade made the following comment on March 10, 2009, 08:31:10 PM:

Quote from: Jade on January 22, 2009, 08:22:47 AM
Please CHMOD the file to 777:

http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=5.0
http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=363.0

:) Try that

Estranghero made the following comment on March 13, 2009, 09:03:19 PM:

Hi everybody,
I see - here I might get my answers, I'm looking for since many days  :P!
After installing the SFM directly from my server (hostmonster) via Fantastico according to the tutorial video, A message came up saying:

"You're using an outdated version of SMF, which contains some bugs which have since been fixed. It is recommended that you update your forum to the latest version as soon as possible. It only takes a minute!"

So I hit the upgrade link, and this error message appeared:

"An Error Has Occurred!
The package you are trying to download or install is either corrupt or not compatible with this version of SMF."

How can that be? I did not make any modification yet. the forum is brand new. Please can someone help me out, what I forgot to do?
Here comes one more important question I could not figure out yet; How do I'll link from my html pages to the forum?

One more thing; What about chmod's? I can't figure out any tutorial what are they for and how to use them :-(?

It would be really great, someone could help me pout with that, please!

Jade made the following comment on March 14, 2009, 12:29:50 PM:

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=290608.0 <1.1.8 at this time, is the latest version.

Please view the above announcement.

Lionel made the following comment on March 18, 2009, 01:39:42 AM:

On bluehost.com, I upgraded my domain from 1.1.7 to 1.1.8. I had to use the code mods for SQL error (alter table above). Eventually it ran to successful completion. The problem now is that it is stuck in maint mode. When I try to login it says "Upgrading the forum...". How do I get back to normal functioning?

Jade made the following comment on March 19, 2009, 09:33:48 PM:

If you cant change it via Admin > Server Settings, please attempt to change it via the file.

Download settings.php and it will have a comment for maintenance mode which will explain how to change it :D.

Trekkie101 made the following comment on March 19, 2009, 09:34:11 PM:

Open up the Settings.php file online and set maintenance mode to 0 :)

rlaird made the following comment on April 01, 2009, 04:26:43 PM:

got the large upgrade package (to 1.1.8), uploaded it all, did the CHMODs, and now have run it...  http://mysite.com/form/incladd.php?step=1&backup=1&maint=1  but I just get a blank screen...  nothing in Page Source....  waited and waited and waited... still waiting... 20 minutes... nothing at all.  FTP says everything is still there, but it's just sitting there, doing nothing.  This is a small board.  I had previously upgraded from 1.1.4 to 1.1.7 without issue.  Any suggestions?

Jade made the following comment on April 01, 2009, 07:51:19 PM:

Did you try restarting the upgrade?

Sabrina made the following comment on May 23, 2009, 02:26:08 AM:

Quote from: Amacythe on September 10, 2005, 07:56:17 PM
Assuming the previous steps went well, you should now have the SMF source files on your server and their relevant permissions set. You practically have the new version! All that is needed now is to run the upgrade.php file to make the necessary changes in your database structure and your Settings.php file.

Open up your favorite web browser and browse to http://www.yourdomain.tld/forum/upgrade.php (where Forum is the location of your forum). Provided you set the permissions correctly on Settings.php and Setting_bak.php and uploaded all the files, you should see a form with the following tick boxes:
  • Backup database with the prefix "backup_yourprefix_".
    Ticking this box will cause the SMF upgrade utility to save a copy of your original Forum database tables prior to upgrading their structure (it is a good idea to make your own backup anyway.)
  • Put the Forum into maintenance mode during upgrade.
    Ticking this box will put your Board into maintenance mode during the upgrade process so your users will see a friendly note that the Board is being upgraded, rather than a page full of errors.
  • Output extra debugging information.
    Ticking this box will cause the upgrade utility to display extra debugging information during the conversion or upgrade process. This is useful if you experience problems and want to report them.
You may also see a Convert the existing YaBB SE template and set it as default option, which is only shown if you have an existing template.php from YaBB SE, and have not already converted it to an SMF-style template. Using this option, when upgrading from YaBB SE, is recommended. It will make your forum, by default, look very similar to how it did before. Please note, however, that not all templates convert perfectly.

Once you have selected the desired options, click the continue link. Depending on the size of your board, the upgrade process may take a while - hold tight, while it may seem that nothing is happening something reallly is, so don't click continue again until the screen reloads - you will notice because it will say different things about what it's doing.

Next: Finishing up

I'm updating to 1.1.9 from 1.1.8 and everytime I go to run the upgrade.php I get this

Quote
The upgrader found some old or outdated language files.

Please make certain you uploaded the new versions of all the files included in the package, even the theme and language files for the default theme.

Click here to try again.

I have uploaded all the new files... help?

Jade made the following comment on May 24, 2009, 12:35:53 PM:

It's strange I know, but when I got that it wanted 1.1.8 language files. Not sure what that means. Upload the 1.1.8 files, then overwrite them later with the 1.1.9 files :).

Ben made the following comment on May 28, 2009, 02:53:07 PM:

I also had the language error when upgrading from 1.9 to 2.0

Quote
Please make certain you uploaded the new versions of all the files included in the package, even the theme and language files for the default theme.

Click here to try again.

I attempted to load language files from 1.8 in previous archives.  It didn't seem to make a difference, so I just skipped that step and continued with the installation. 

I'm not sure that I recommend this though.  The whole setup was kinda funky, as there were no continue buttons.  Instead there were buttons with code in them, but I figured out which one was continue and which one was skip.  I did get the following errors in the end:

Quote
Notice: Undefined variable: context in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 36

Notice: Undefined variable: context in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 99

Notice: Undefined variable: scripturl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 155

Notice: Undefined variable: scripturl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 155

Notice: Undefined variable: scripturl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 156

Notice: Undefined variable: context in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 297

Notice: Undefined variable: context in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 304

Notice: Undefined variable: boardurl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 328

Notice: Undefined variable: scripturl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 328

Notice: Undefined variable: scripturl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/index.english.php on line 517

Notice: Undefined variable: scripturl in /home/faithwo1/public_html/forum/Themes/defaultEdit/languages/Errors.english.php on line 17

But when I went to my forum, everything appears to be working!

Jade made the following comment on May 31, 2009, 01:21:36 AM:

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=313827.0

That's a known issue, please see the post above :)

rizzi made the following comment on July 28, 2009, 01:35:25 PM:

I am upgrading from 1.1.10 to SMF 2.0 RC1.2 here is the url talkbwc.com
I can not get to http://www.talkbwc.com/forum/upgrade.php
i get this error
404 Not Found
The requested URL /forum/upgrade.php does not exist.

please help me

AnthonyJustin made the following comment on October 02, 2009, 12:56:52 PM:

Goes through the upgrade up to Database changes and asked to push continue to clean up mod, but when i push continue i get this message...  Anyway - web install wouldnt work so i tried manual and this is the message i get.

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare topic_list() (previously declared in /home/lostpro1/public_html/forum/Sources/Subs.php:4002) in /home/lostpro1/public_html/forum/Sources/Subs.php on line 4221

I have no idea but now my forum isnt online at all. I have back ups so its not a problem but any idea's as to whats wrong?

Regards,
Anthony

B made the following comment on November 04, 2009, 09:10:25 PM:

Quote from: rizzi on July 28, 2009, 01:35:25 PM
I am upgrading from 1.1.10 to SMF 2.0 RC1.2 here is the url talkbwc.com
I can not get to http://www.talkbwc.com/forum/upgrade.php
i get this error
404 Not Found
The requested URL /forum/upgrade.php does not exist.

please help me

Make sure you uploaded the upgrade.php file and that you are using the correct path when trying to get to it.

B

B made the following comment on November 04, 2009, 09:18:09 PM:

Quote from: AnthonyJustin on October 02, 2009, 12:56:52 PM
Goes through the upgrade up to Database changes and asked to push continue to clean up mod, but when i push continue i get this message...  Anyway - web install wouldnt work so i tried manual and this is the message i get.

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare topic_list() (previously declared in /home/lostpro1/public_html/forum/Sources/Subs.php:4002) in /home/lostpro1/public_html/forum/Sources/Subs.php on line 4221

I have no idea but now my forum isnt online at all. I have back ups so its not a problem but any idea's as to whats wrong?

Regards,
Anthony

That sounds like a corrupted Subs.php file. It shouldn't be defining the same function twice. You could try replacing it with the one from the package found on the downloads page and see if that works. It might mess up mods, though, if you have any installed.

B