1.3.8a to 1.3.9h move + upgrade = ahhh

Doing a move then upgrade.

This is not meant to be a flame post, but this is the most ridiculous upgrade process EVER. The software is great, and the admin/community here are incredible, but this upgrade situation is garbage. Expecially for sites that have any number of mods!

It's not easy to go digging into every single file to see the differences, because there are MANY. And even when you find differences, it's almost impossible to figure out what the update changed and where to put the old code for the mods.

So even when you think it's smooth and complete, eventually you will find things that were broken and quit working.

Why oh why oh why couldn't the template system work 100% (not just theme) with hooks and plugin style modifications?

Ok now to the question: can someone just install a fresh install and start over completely but selectively import only certain data from the old store database such as customers/orders/products/etc? Otherwise, this is a disaster.

:frusty: disclaimer: no offense intended.

All is well. It just takes lot patience and eventually things come together. Of course there is always concern that maybe one peice of code was missed and will come back to cause problems later. Other than that it's better to upgrade!

pricediscrimination:

Why oh why oh why couldn't the template system work 100% (not just theme) with hooks and plugin style modifications?Because it was written before such architectures were in common use.

Moving to an architecture that supports this one of the primary reasons for the 2.0 development. But that's a huge undertaking and involves reworking virtually every line of code.

pricediscrimination:

Ok now to the question: can someone just install a fresh install and start over completely but selectively import only certain data from the old store database such as customers/orders/products/etc? Otherwise, this is a disaster.
You can certainly do a fresh install, then add new versions of your mods and either import your old template or take the opportunity to do a new one. (I've done it both ways recently.) As for selectively importing data from the old database, that is only for those with serious experience in db management and deep knowledge of ZC's db. Better to just import a copy of the old db, rerun install to do the database upgrade, then retweak your admin settings and any SQL needed by your mods -- as described in the docs.

Rob

kuroi:

Because it was written before such architectures were in common use.

Moving to an architecture that supports this one of the primary reasons for the 2.0 development. But that's a huge undertaking and involves reworking virtually every line of code.

Zen cart was already way ahead of their time since the beginning. 2.0 is going to be a great, and with an updated architecture, it will also boost the add-ons and overall development of the product. Can't wait! But the transition sounds like it will be hell for upgrading from the old school stuff. Ahhhh!

rstevenson:

You can certainly do a fresh install, then add new versions of your mods and either import your old template or take the opportunity to do a new one. (I've done it both ways recently.) As for selectively importing data from the old database, that is only for those with serious experience in db management and deep knowledge of ZC's db. Better to just import a copy of the old db, rerun install to do the database upgrade, then retweak your admin settings and any SQL needed by your mods -- as described in the docs.

Rob

If you've done it both ways, which did you prefer?

From importing the old db and rerunning the install, I am losing stuff from the database.

You won't lose any live data if you actually upgrade the live database after you've done all your testing in a staging environment first, as described in the docs.

DrByte:

You won't lose any live data if you actually upgrade the live database after you've done all your testing in a staging environment first, as described in the docs.

Thanks. I don't know exactly what happens with the database when it is upgraded, so although the docs describe the scneario, it is not easy to understand.

For example, if extra columns were added for an extra product field in the admin, will that column be overwritten when upgrading the database?

And more importantly, if you overwrite all the old files with the upgraded files, but still did not perform the database upgrade, will the admin show the upgraded version in the top right corner? ie, is that version number smart enough to know you upgraded the db or is the number solely based on the actual files on the server?

:lamo:

When you run zc_install and select Database Upgrade, it simply applies any changes needed to add things to the database to support the new version (adding indexes, adding new system fields, adding new tables, sometimes restructuring some data, etc). It leaves all your existing data intact, including any custom fields you have, etc.

The version number in the database is handled entirely separately from the version number in the PHP files. If there is a discrepancy between what's "found" vs "expected", it's going to present a big red error banner telling you about it.

As for updating PHP files, if you don't also upgrade the database using zc_install, you're going to get the error message telling you as much.

That's why the documentation outlines the steps the way they're written.
The system is pretty smart. Don't make it more difficult on yourself.

DrByte:

When you run zc_install and select Database Upgrade, it simply applies any changes needed to add things to the database to support the new version (adding indexes, adding new system fields, adding new tables, sometimes restructuring some data, etc). It leaves all your existing data intact, including any custom fields you have, etc.

The version number in the database is handled entirely separately from the version number in the PHP files. If there is a discrepancy between what's "found" vs "expected", it's going to present a big red error banner telling you about it.

As for updating PHP files, if you don't also upgrade the database using zc_install, you're going to get the error message telling you as much.

That's why the documentation outlines the steps the way they're written.
The system is pretty smart. Don't make it more difficult on yourself.

I couldn't have asked more a more clear and detailed answer to my questions. For that I thank you!

The reason why I confused myself if because I had to do it over and over about 5 times since yesterday and forgot whether I had updated the db with zc_install this most recent time. Apparently I did because I have no error banners!

It's the newsletter mod giving so many problem!!! That mod required so many changes to core files that things really went awry after the upgrade.

pricediscrimination:

It's the newsletter mod giving so many problem!!! That mod required so many changes to core files that things really went awry after the upgrade.
Yup - I've hated that thing from the very beginning.

pricediscrimination:

If you've done it both ways, which did you prefer?
It depends on the site. I did the upgrade-only process on a site that was 1.3.8a and absolutely needed to have its template and mods brought over intact. (New versions of the mods were used where they were available.) I did the fresh-install process on an older site which needed major rebuilding, including new mods and a completely new template.

Rob

I agree with Rob.

I have to bring several 1.3.9+ carts up to date, I'll probably build category trees manually for those for use on all sites.

A couple of carts prior to 1.3.9 I'll probably just do a fresh install, re-installing around our images and such folders.

If you follow the posted instructions, it will take care of all those issues.