This document will tell you how to move your Discus board from one server to another. If you are simply changing the URL to your board but the board exists on the same server, you need this page instead.

The term "old server" represents the server that currently hosts the Discus board. The term "new server" represents the server that is going to be the final destination for the Discus board.

This procedure applies to version 3.10 and higher only. If you are moving data from a version 3.01 or before board, you must follow the procedure for a freeware Discus board below.

1. On the new server, install the latest available version of Discus Professional according to its installation instructions. This is a brand new distribution downloaded from the DiscusWare web site, NOT something you copy over from your old server. Following installation, you should test your installation by posting a message, logging into administration, and so on. Make sure it works.

2. On the old server, log in to the administration program and go to Options Manager. Put your board into Maintenance Mode by checking that box and then saving the options. This prevents new activity while you're making your backup and transferring your content.

3. Go into Backup Manager on the old server and create a minimal backup of your board. (If you are using the MySQL database, you must leave the box checked to "Export MySQL database to backup files."

4. Transfer the backup you made in step 3 to the new server. Do this by downloading the tar file by FTP using binary mode from the old server's "backups" directory to your computer, and then uploading the file by FTP in binary mode to the "backups" directory of the newly installed board on the new server.

5. Log into administration as the board administrator on the new server. Go to Backup Manager and click the "Open" icon for the backup file you recently uploaded. Choose to do an automatic restoration and wait for the procedure to finish.

6. If the board on the new server is running Discus Professional 3.10, go into Board Manager to the bottom section allowing you to regenerate your pages. Check the box for moving from one server to another and ensure that the URL of your old board appears in the box. Click the button to regenerate the pages.

7. Go to your board and test. All of the files should now properly be transferred to your new server.

8. Restoring from a backup does not import your files into your MySQL back-end database. If you were using the MySQL database on the old server and wish to continue using MySQL on the new server, then you may need to update the database connection parameters, and you will need to re-initialize the database tables, import the data, and toggle on the database. Or perhaps your new server does support MySQL, but your old one did not.

   Please refer to the administration instructions for details on importing your flat file data into MySQL.

9. On the new server, go to Options Manager and take your board out of maintenance mode.

Following this procedure, you'll eventually need to redirect traffic from the old server to the new one, and eventually you'll need to shut down the old board. Doing this is up to you.

1. On the old server, save:

   • All files in and under your Discus administration directory with extension .txt (EXCEPT the 'dep.txt' file in the 'source' directory in version 3.10)

   • All files in the "data" subdirectory of your Discus administration directory

   • All files in and under your Discus "messages" directory

   • All files in and under your Discus "secure" directory (Discus Professional only)

   • All files in and under your Discus "profiles" directory (Discus Professional only)

   • All files in and under your Discus "queue" directory (Discus Professional only)

2. On the new server, install the latest available version of Discus according to its installation instructions. Following installation, you should test your installation by posting a message, logging into administration, and so on. Make sure it works.

3. Transfer the backup you made in step 1 to the new server. Transfer the files individually, all in ASCII mode except any image files, which must be transferred in binary mode. Set permissions on all files and directories you upload to 0777 (rwxrwxrwx).

4. Most users will NOT need to do this step.

   • If your old server was running version 3.00 or 3.01, and you have installed version 3.10 on your new server, then you need to do the following:

     • Log into administration as the superuser

     • Go to Version Manager

     • Click the link under "Discus File Update Procedure", and follow the instructions accordingly

   • If your old server was running version 3.10, and you have installed version 4.0 on your new server, then you need to do the following:

     • Log into administration as the superuser

     • Go to Data Recovery - Upgrade

     • Click the button to upgrade the file structure

5. Log into administration as the superuser on the new server. Then:

   • Version 4.x: Go to Appearance Manager - Regeneration. Check the box for "Change URL from:" and ensure that the URL of your old board appears in the box. Click the button to regenerate your board.

   • Version 3.0/3.1: Go into Board Manager to the bottom section allowing you to regenerate your pages. Check the box for moving from one server to another and ensure that the URL of your old board appears in the box. Click the button to regenerate the pages. (In version 3.01 and before, this is in the "Board Appearance" section.)

6. Go to your board and test. All of the files should now properly be transferred to your new server.