How to upgrade vBulletin

**Soliloquy** · 09-27-2008, 09:30 PM

First and foremost, always make a backup before you attempt to upgrade!

Log on to the vBulletin Member's Area and download the new version. Unzip the files, retaining the directory structure.

You should see a folder named upload and another folder named do_not_upload. Rename the upload folder to whatever name you gave your vBulletin directory on the server.

If you've made any changes to the php files of your current vBulletin installation, compare the files and see if Jelsoft has made any changes to the new version. If not, delete the file on you hard drive so you don't overwrite your changes. If they have changed the file, you'll have to reapply the modifications. (I prefer to do this after I'm sure the upgrade was successful though, so if there's a compatibility problem you know it's the mod and not vBulletin itself.)

If you've previously changed the names of your admincp and modcp subdirectories on your server, change the subdirectories on your local files as well before uploading.

Log on to vBulletin and turn it off under vBulletin Options, Turn Your vBulletin On and Off.

Some people advocate deleting your entire vBulletin directory at this point and uploading the entire new version as if it was a new install, but you would lose any extra php or xml files you've added. Only do this if you truly want a fresh start.

Upload the files to your server, overwriting everything.

Point your web browser to http://www.yoursite.com/forum/install/upgrade.php (replacing yoursite.com/forum with the actual path to your vBulletin).

Enter your customer number, the one you use to log on to the vBulletin.com web site.

Generally all you have to do now is keep clicking the Next Step button and watching for errors. If you spot any, copy the error message and run a search on it, or ask for help it you still can't figure it out.

Once it says you're done, delete install.php at the very least... better yet, delete the entire install directory.

Log on to your admincp and see if you have to revert any templates. Visit your forum and make sure everything is working.

Reapply any changes to the vBulletin files you made before upgrading.

Finally, turn the forum back on

**glennybee** · 09-27-2008, 10:35 PM

I think overwritting your whole forum directory is a BIG mistake!!! This is all very well if you have a virgin forum with no mods or hacks.

Hacks and mods required extra files for them to work, maybe it's a .php file in your forums root or an .xml file in the /includes/xml folder but most modifications will have extra files. If you overwrite EVERYTHING then you will overwrite these folders hence deleting the extra files and none of your mods will work.

I go through the folders one by one, starting with 'admincp' and copy the files to their respective folders on my server. Using this method means that the new vbulletin files overwrite their previous versions but any additional files you have uploaded in the past stay where they are. Taking each folder as a separate step in the upgrade process means you can check the status of each upload to make sure the files have transferred 100%.

Hope this helps.

**Soliloquy** · 09-28-2008, 06:09 AM

If I've modded any of the Bulletin php files then I'd be careful to note down which ones I've modified so I could make the changes again, but if Jelsoft has changed the file at all I'd overwrite my copy with it since it might contain important changes. Also, my FTP program wouldn't erase files that had no equivalent in the directory I'm uploading. I'll edit the tutorial to add your warning about modified vB files though

**glennybee** · 09-28-2008, 06:40 AM

I wasn't meaning vbulletin files, I was meaning hacks that you'd added over time.

For example, If you'd added vBSEO to your forums, there would be a whole load of vbseo files in /forums/includes and /forums/admincp but you were to copy these folders from the recent vbulletin release to your ftp, you would overwrite the current folder with the new one, hence deleting the vbseo files as vbseo is not included in vbulletin.

Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick and if so I'm sorry for screwing up your tutorial but if I drag a folder from one panel in my ftp program to the other (server side) it tells me that the folder already exists and asks if I want to overwrite it.

**Soliloquy** · 09-28-2008, 06:49 AM

You didn't screw anything up, I should have included the bit about being careful with modified vBulletin files but I tend to think of things like that as a given, and leave it out of instructions. Which is really a bad idea when writing a tutorial for someone with little experience, so I appreciate your warnings

I think our FTP programs must operate differently, mine wouldn't replace everything in the folder, just the files on the local drive. Does yours have a synchronization function, so it will only update the older files and leave the new ones alone?

**glennybee** · 09-28-2008, 07:42 AM

Not sure, I'll need to have a look at the settings. I use CuteFTP.

**Rocket 442** · 09-28-2008, 07:46 AM

I don't know of any FTP program that deletes files when you add other files to that directory.

I think you're mistaking Glenny

**glennybee** · 09-28-2008, 08:54 AM

Maybe I am mistaken. Probably better to remove all these posts and leave the original.

Sorry for any confusion.

**.RevO** · 09-28-2008, 10:08 AM

Great tut I know of some people that might be able to use this.

**Soliloquy** · 09-28-2008, 10:23 AM

point 'em towards it RevO

glad you liked it.

**wmlvb** · 04-12-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket 442

I don't know of any FTP program that deletes files when you add other files to that directory.

I think you're mistaking Glenny

It does happen! ti happen to me.

I was on phone with VB paid phone support and the told me to select all files and drag in to my Forum folder. When I did this there was the option to replace all and the guy on phone said yes. I clicked that and lost all of my files except for VBulletin.

I had to call my hosting provider and have them restore the backup!

Vbulletin definitely need to get there ducks in a row and have better manuals with detail instruction or video tutorials so stuff like this is not happening.

**Brandon Sheley** · 04-12-2009, 08:18 PM

I've never had a folder (admincp for example) remove other files that I had in it when upgrading vBulletin.