Upgrading from 1.38a to 1.50

I have my live site using 1.38a and read many posts about the old version will get hacked as time passes. Because of this, I created a testsite foler to install a 1.50 upgrade. I installed the same mods with the exception of:

1.38a: Captcha installed (not in 1.5 upgrade)
1.50: Testimonials Manager installed (did not use it in 1.38a)

This is where I am confused as I want to have the catergories and products to have the same id #'s as the urls that are indexed by google would otherwise be wrong. I read this tutorial at http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?144-how-can-i-do-a-database-backup-with-phpmyadmin. It explained the backup and restore database options but wanted to know if I have to reinstall TEstimonials Manager, since it is in the database before I restore the old database.

Hope that was not confusing.

Best to add your "new" addons after you've done your upgrade.

And, since you're talking about upgrading a site that's presently live, you probably want to minimize the downtime, so I suggest you consider the thoughts I offer in this post:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1094802#post1094802

DrByte:

Best to add your "new" addons after you've done your upgrade.

And, since you're talking about upgrading a site that's presently live, you probably want to minimize the downtime, so I suggest you consider the thoughts I offer in this post:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1094802#post1094802

Thank you, I got read the steps but confused on couple of them as shouldn't I be just moving the subfolder over to the root? Its easy for me to start from scratch and install a fresh copy of 1.5 to my subfolder and then move over the database to the new subfolder install. After this, I would install all mods. Would I then be safe to move the whole subfolder to the root and move the old store from root to subfolder. All this keeping in mind to adjust the 2 config files. Would this work also

So, simply upgrade your live shop (since it has the most current data) (THIS IS AFTER YOU'VE BUILT AND TESTED YOUR "TEST" 1.5.0 SITE IN PREPARATION):
a) put your live shop down for maintenance
b) backup your live database for safekeeping
c) replace all the php files/folders/images/everything with the new files (except the configure.php files which stay the same)
I thought the 2 config files for 1.5 had changes as a renaming of the admin folder automatically changes the config files. I know in 1.38a I had to manually change both sides, the folder and the config line

d) run zc_install and choose database-upgrade
e) re-do any admin settings relevant to the new setup (since you took notes while you did any additional customizing in your temporary 1.5 site)
f) turn off down-for-maintenance
g) do a test transaction to be sure checkout works
h) Do another backup of everything for peace-of-mind.
Take a deep breath.

grantopt:

Thank you, I got read the steps but confused on couple of them as shouldn't I be just moving the subfolder over to the root?
Well, you could do that, but then you'd lose all the data in your live store.

DrByte:

Well, you could do that, but then you'd lose all the data in your live store.

The only important data I need are the products, categories, options attributes, and reviews. I don't use the checkout system witin zencart but rather GCO, CBA and PP. So orders and customer info are not needed.

So this leads to my initial question on can I follow the backup and restore database steps in the tutorial. Or is their an additional step I need to make this work.

But ... reviews are tied to customers and if you delete your current database and replace it a week or two later with the backup you made from before starting your upgrade, then you will have lost those reviews (and the customers whom you say are not important to you).

Forgive me for being brief, but I've read and responded to too many posts of people wanting to do something different than what's been proven to work well.

DrByte:

But ... reviews are tied to customers and if you delete your current database and replace it a week or two later with the backup you made from before starting your upgrade, then you will have lost those reviews (and the customers whom you say are not important to you).

Forgive me for being brief, but I've read and responded to too many posts of people wanting to do something different than what's been proven to work well.

Yes, reviews are important but I am going to have to manually input those into Clydes testimonial manager.

I actually did the database upgrade and it went good as all products and such are moved over. Just to double check, in 1.5, I don't have to change anyting in the config files? The only thing I corrected was in the Admin-Config, Sessions and put /subfolder? I assume nothing else as 1.5 used coding that automatically changes the WS_Catalog and such path information.

And when checking my database, I see 3 old database rows that are non-existent in 1.5 - Customer wishlist, and 2 no chex payment options. Can I just leave those to be and it will not interupt the store when I go live in a week. Or would I have to clean up the database to only have the appropriate tables that 1.5 uses.

Sorry if this is a basic question, but first time upgrading as I was using 1.38a for a long time as I was used to it but didn't like the fact that it was vulnerable to threats and decided to follow the advice of yourself in other posts saying upgrading is a must.

grantopt:

Just to double check, in 1.5, I don't have to change anyting in the config files? The only thing I corrected was in the Admin-Config, Sessions and put /subfolder? I assume nothing else as 1.5 used coding that automatically changes the WS_Catalog and such path information.Anyplace that your "/subfolder" stuff exists will need to be changed to reflect the new correct path.
And, since the parts that autodetect don't even mention "/subfolder", there will of course be fewer places to change. But there will be places to change as a result of changing to another folder.
grantopt:

And when checking my database, I see 3 old database rows that are non-existent in 1.5 - Customer wishlist, and 2 no chex payment options. Can I just leave those to be and it will not interupt the store when I go live in a week. Or would I have to clean up the database to only have the appropriate tables that 1.5 uses.If you've never used those tables or don't wish to keep their content, then you don't need them. It's your choice what you want to do with them.
grantopt:

upgrading as I was using 1.38a for a long time as I was used to it but didn't like the fact that it was vulnerable to threats and decided to follow the advice of yourself in other posts saying upgrading is a must.Good choice.