Upgrading from 1.2.4 to 1.3.8

[micatex]

Hi I want to upgrade from 1.2.4 to 1.3.8 and have no knowledge (Newbie) on how to do this without shutting down the current store. Any advise on how to do this would be appreciated

[fairestcape]

There are a LOT of modifications that have occurred between 1.2.4 and 1.3.8 - both in the core files and in the database structure.

Before you upgrade, you must do the following:-

1. Backup your core files AND your database, using a reliable backup process. Ask your webhost for help if necessary.

2. In addition to the backup, it would be wise to FTP a copy of ALL your core files to your hard drive. This step is important, because you are going to have to carefully examine customisations in (for example) any PHP files, and establish how these are to be incorporated into the newer 1.3.8a version of those files.

For example: Over the years, you may have made many changes to DEFINES (text labels) in "english.php" . The 1.3.8a version of "english.php" has some different structures, compared to the 1.2.4 version, so you can't just use your 1.2.4 "over-ride" in place of the 1.3.8a version.

You are going to have to spend time COMPARING the two files - firstly to see what labels you need to change, and secondly to make sure you do not omit any key code that the newer version incorporates.

To do this efficiently, you should use WINMERGE (freely available on the WWW) which will help you COMPARE two file sets, and helps you make necessary changes.

This is time-consuming, but it must be done!

(ALL this takes place AWAY from your server - on your hard drive).

3. When you have completed the comparison, and made changes to the files in the 1.3.8a version (all neatly saved in their correct folders on your hard drive), you are ready to do the upgrade.

4. Unzip a FRESH copy of ZC 1.3.8a (keeping it well away from the files you edited earlier).

5. Follow the UPGRADE procedure (described in detail elsewhere in the forum, faq and wiki).

6. When you have finished the "install" part of the upgrade, the site is likely to "mal-function" because you will still have your 1.2.4 over-ride files in your custom folders.

7. Now, you will need to FTP the 1.3.8a versions (that you compared and edited earlier) to your server, so that they over-write these older files.)

If you have been careful to follow the upgrade steps, and have paid attention to properly changing your custom files, then your site should work OK.

ALSO:

It may be necessary to check that the VERSIONS OF PHP, MySQL, Apache (etc) on your server, are suitable for the 1.3.8a ZC version.

[felixh]

Hi Micatex,
I have just updated an online shop from ZC 1.2.5 to ZC 1.3.8a. As fairestcape posted before, that's basically what we should do.

So you might ask How to do it without shutting down the current store?
Well If you have really high traffic, at least there should be 1-5 minutes shutting down the current store, while you migrate the database from ZC1.2.4 to ZC1.3.8a. Otherwise, you can smoothly change without any disruption.

First of all create another directory in your web server, and install your fresh ZC1.3.8a there (do not delete the zc_install yet). Customize the website make sure everything is running (edit the define languages, templates, copy images, install the compatible modules, etc... just as described by fairestcape).

When the first step is done, you must carry out this step as quick as possible (1-3 minutes) so that there is only minimum changes in your ZC1.2.4 database if none (i.e. new customer registration, new order, etc).
So Drop all tables in your new ZC1.3.8a database and copy the tables from your old ZC1.2.4 database. Your ZC1.3.8a will not run at this stage, so run installation wizard again (zc_install) and follow the wizard to upgrade your database from 1.2.4 to 1.3.8a. Last but not least re-execute any SQL pathces for your modules. Make sure your ZC1.3.8a is running now.

Next redirect your URL of the shop to the new directory ofZC1.3.8a. It can be done from CPanel if your web server provide you with this feature. Now all your visitor traffic will be diverted to your new ZC1.3.8a Site.

Finally you have to check again that there is no database change when you migrate the database (you don't want to lose your customer registration or order that going through while you migrate the database).

Best of all, at the end of this upgrade process you still have your ZC1.2.4 and it's database. Remember to always backup everything before you make any changes. Hope it's help.