What are my options for getting a site from an antiquated version to the latest? I know I could upgrade icrementally, but as I understand it that would take many steps, which means the site would be down for days and I know from experience that an upgrade in that many steps is bound to encounter many problems. I have a license for Courier 2, but I believe that only works as far back as 4.5, right? I guess I just need to know what others have done in this situation and hear some stories of success. I realize this will require some effort. I appreciate any and all help from the community.
Follow up: A big key to this is whether or not it is possible to "upgrade" an existing site without losing the original. If possible, this would make going through a long series of incremental upgrades more bearable.
EDIT: Obviously a "duh" moment when I wrote the above. So I could make a copy of the existing site and the database, then start doing incremental upgrades on the copies until I get to the latest, or at least the latest that is compatible with Courier 2. Of course, we would have to be careful about any content changes during the upgrades. Does that sound like a viable plan? Is there a better one?
I've not done an upgrade from 3.x to 4.x but I think the guidline found in Lee's archive is sufficient.
Recently I did an upgrade from 4.0.2 to 4.11.8 and you should be able to just go from 4.x to 4.5.2 and from there I took this path 4.6.1>4.7.1.1>4.7.2>4.8>4.10.1>4.11.8
Perhaps it's also possible to skip some of the steps but I must admit I'm not quite sure. Also be aware that some dll files will need to be deleted and that the web.config needs to be merged etc.
I've been using winmerge to merge files from the /config/ folder as well. I've seen other people use the tool "Beyond compare" when upgrading as well - Have not tried that myself but sounds like it's a worthwhile investment.
Remember to do a backup everytime you upgrade and be prepared that 3rd party packages may no longer be working and don't panic if you get a yellow screen of death. Usually there is a logical reason why.
Thanks so much for all the helpful replies. Lee Kelleher's site looks like a gold mine for upgraders -- thanks Dennis and Jan for the links and information.
Amir, I first considered your suggestion of doing a fresh install and then bringning the content over. Frankly, this is what I prefer to do, even though it means a lot of work. I understand how to bring in templates & document types -- it's the content intself I am concerned about. The site contains hundreds of pages and thousands of media nodes. I'm afraid that might not be a viable option.
I still have a week or so before I have to settle on a plan, so any additional insight is welcome.
Well the time has finally arrived. All this week I am upgrading. It started slowly, but I am getting the hang of it and up until a little while ago, I didn't have any serious problems that couldn't be quickly worked out. But now I have hit my first major roadblock, going from 4.0.4.2 >> 4.5.0.
I followed all the general steps and made sure I covered everything I found here:
But when I tried to open the site to launch the installer, I got this:
Could not load file or assembly 'DeployLX.Licensing.v3.dll' or one of its dependencies. Invalid access to memory location. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800703E6)
Even though I was not (yet) installing Concierge, I figured this was a similar thing, so I set the 32-bit app setting as suggested and restarted IIS. But that did not fix the problem in my case.
Next I tried deleting the offending dll but not unsurprisingly that threw another YSOD: "Could not load file or assembly 'DeployLX.Licensing.v3, Version=3.1.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=798276055709c98a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified."
The interesting part about this error is that it apparently shows what compnent is trying to use the licensing dll:
Source Error:
Line 72:
Line 73: <form id="Form1" method="post" runat="server">
Line 74: <asp:ScriptManager runat="server" ID="umbracoScriptManager"> Line 75: </asp:ScriptManager>
Line 76: <cc1:UmbracoPanel Style="text-align: left;" ID="Panel1" AutoResize="false" runat="server" Height="550px" Width="680px" Text="Umbraco Configuration Wizard">
But that's about as far as my limited asp.net chops can take me. I am hoping that this information can help someone else see where my problem is. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Umbraco 3.0.5 > 6.0.x
What are my options for getting a site from an antiquated version to the latest? I know I could upgrade icrementally, but as I understand it that would take many steps, which means the site would be down for days and I know from experience that an upgrade in that many steps is bound to encounter many problems. I have a license for Courier 2, but I believe that only works as far back as 4.5, right? I guess I just need to know what others have done in this situation and hear some stories of success. I realize this will require some effort. I appreciate any and all help from the community.
Follow up: A big key to this is whether or not it is possible to "upgrade" an existing site without losing the original. If possible, this would make going through a long series of incremental upgrades more bearable.
EDIT: Obviously a "duh" moment when I wrote the above. So I could make a copy of the existing site and the database, then start doing incremental upgrades on the copies until I get to the latest, or at least the latest that is compatible with Courier 2. Of course, we would have to be careful about any content changes during the upgrades. Does that sound like a viable plan? Is there a better one?
Hi Pete, creating a copy and just doing the upgrade locally is certainly a viable option, I've done it a few times before.
How complex is the site? Sometimes its easier just to set up a fresh install and import the document types and content.
Hi Pete,
I think you should take a look on Lee Kellehers unofficial archive here http://code.leekelleher.com/umbraco/archive/
He has the recommended upgrade paths on the page.
/Dennis
Hi Pete
You should also have a look at the official guide-lines here http://our.umbraco.org/documentation/Installation/Upgrading/
I've not done an upgrade from 3.x to 4.x but I think the guidline found in Lee's archive is sufficient.
Recently I did an upgrade from 4.0.2 to 4.11.8 and you should be able to just go from 4.x to 4.5.2 and from there I took this path 4.6.1>4.7.1.1>4.7.2>4.8>4.10.1>4.11.8
Perhaps it's also possible to skip some of the steps but I must admit I'm not quite sure. Also be aware that some dll files will need to be deleted and that the web.config needs to be merged etc.
I've been using winmerge to merge files from the /config/ folder as well. I've seen other people use the tool "Beyond compare" when upgrading as well - Have not tried that myself but sounds like it's a worthwhile investment.
Remember to do a backup everytime you upgrade and be prepared that 3rd party packages may no longer be working and don't panic if you get a yellow screen of death. Usually there is a logical reason why.
Hope this input helps.
/Jan
Thanks so much for all the helpful replies. Lee Kelleher's site looks like a gold mine for upgraders -- thanks Dennis and Jan for the links and information.
Amir, I first considered your suggestion of doing a fresh install and then bringning the content over. Frankly, this is what I prefer to do, even though it means a lot of work. I understand how to bring in templates & document types -- it's the content intself I am concerned about. The site contains hundreds of pages and thousands of media nodes. I'm afraid that might not be a viable option.
I still have a week or so before I have to settle on a plan, so any additional insight is welcome.
Well the time has finally arrived. All this week I am upgrading. It started slowly, but I am getting the hang of it and up until a little while ago, I didn't have any serious problems that couldn't be quickly worked out. But now I have hit my first major roadblock, going from 4.0.4.2 >> 4.5.0.
I followed all the general steps and made sure I covered everything I found here:
http://our.umbraco.org/wiki/about/roadmap/umbraco-45/upgrading-to-umbraco-45
But when I tried to open the site to launch the installer, I got this:
Could not load file or assembly 'DeployLX.Licensing.v3.dll' or one of its dependencies. Invalid access to memory location. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x800703E6)
Upon Googling that I found this thread:
http://our.umbraco.org/forum/core/general/11114-Fresh-Install-of-451-FAILS-when-trying-to-install-PRO-Feature
Even though I was not (yet) installing Concierge, I figured this was a similar thing, so I set the 32-bit app setting as suggested and restarted IIS. But that did not fix the problem in my case.
Line 72: Line 73: <form id="Form1" method="post" runat="server"> Line 74: <asp:ScriptManager runat="server" ID="umbracoScriptManager"> Line 75: </asp:ScriptManager> Line 76: <cc1:UmbracoPanel Style="text-align: left;" ID="Panel1" AutoResize="false" runat="server" Height="550px" Width="680px" Text="Umbraco Configuration Wizard">Source File: d:\inetpub\wwwroot\umb_fcps_450\install\default.aspx Line: 74
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