Possible to Upgrade Database Only?

[Vger]

The test site is using the latest 1.3.9 version as I stated above.

Yes, and that's why I said you should import the old database into the new version and upgrade it there to 1.3.9+ - and then add your add-ons all over again, making sure they are the latest versions which are 1.3.9+ compatible. No point in reinstalling add-ons if they are not 1.3.9+ compatible.

It's still not too late. Take a backup of the live database. Access the test site database using phpMyAdmin, and "drop" all the tables. Import the old database and run the new version zc_install on the test site selecting the "Upgrade Database Only" option (the two configure.php files have to be writeable during this procedure). Any changes you made to the test site database for any add-ons you have set up on the test site will have to be redone.

No, you cannot just upgrade the database on the live site without updating the file set.

Vger

[thefather]

No, you cannot just upgrade the database on the live site without updating the file set.

Vger

Ok thats what I needed to know.

Thank you.

[acmaurer]

No, you cannot just upgrade the database on the live site without updating the file set.

Vger

And that's just nuts--especially for the minor point upgrades. Essentially, you're having people rebuild their entire sites even for minor upgrades like (in my case currently) 1.5.4 to 1.5.5a. A 1.5.4 database works with a storefront and admin on 1.5.5 so why should I have to completely rebuild the site with all the risk and disruption that could cause?

More than once I've gotten half-way through the zc_install process only to find that I've not been offered the "upgrade" option. (Yes, I've done this on test instances to test out the concept before going live.)

[DrByte]

And that's just nuts--especially for the minor point upgrades. Essentially, you're having people rebuild their entire sites even for minor upgrades like (in my case currently) 1.5.4 to 1.5.5a.

While going from v154 to v155 is listed as a "minor point update", the changes are actually VERY significant: big core code changes to improve security, provide significant enhancements to empower mobile/responsive templates, big database changes which require matching PHP code changes (so if you didn't apply them you'd get lots of errors), and more. Some could argue with some degree of accuracy that it shouldn't have been a "minor point upgrade" ... and they'd be right in several points. But it wasn't called "1.5.4b". it was called "1.5.5", which denotes that there ARE some changes that are MORE than just a couple database SQL statements to run.

You don't "have to rebuild" your site. But you DO need to carefully inspect all the changes and apply them against all your own files (customized or not).


The Zen Cart development team are working hard on a number of (very big) architectural code changes which, while they will be big when making the first jump, will make future upgrades VERY MINOR, almost trivial, because core code files won't need touching for most customizations (unless you choose to, in which case you're creating your own challenges not driven by the architecture). The jump to v160 will include some of this "pain", but will make the future much easier to manage.
In the meantime, because of the older architecture which Zen Cart inherited when it forked from osC, the 1.5.x upgrades are less pleasant than we would like. We're working on fixing that.
Until then, I recommend: http://www.zen-cart.com/entry.php?3-...d-of-upgrading