Moving phpbb3 to new host??

[mrmax79]

I need to move to a new host a newish phpbb 3 board (only couple hundred post, 10+ users).

My problem is I want to correct a few things. Like I didn't do categories on the 1st board, now I know what I want.

1st host
has getaway green for style

New host is raw clean install of phpbb 3.0.4

I want to copy users and forums to New Host.

Do I need to copy the exact "all files" from old host to new host?
Do I need to have the style getaway green install on new host, or will clean install of phpbb recieve the old d/b with non standard style.

Can I do a simple phpbb admin maint. backup from old host and restore to new host, even though the database will have a new name?

[kirillica]

do a DB dump and put forum files in tar archive. on the new hosting create DB from dump (for MySQL you can just copy file directory from one server to another), create user. wget forum files in tar, unpack it. that's all.

[Eelke]

There's two things you need to get on your new board
- The database from your old board
- Any custom files beyond the standard phpBB3 distribution.

The database will not be in directory of your phpBB board, you will need to get a database dump (as kirillica is saying). This will contain your users, forums and posts. If you want to rearrange the structure of your board, you can either do that before or after you transfer the database. If you want to start over completely, but want to retain the users, your best bet is to just transfer the database as a whole, and then remove any unwanted categories and forums (make sure you keep a few things as an example, it is much easier to create stuff by copying then by creating from scratch).

Then there is the filesystem. Your custom style will be on the file system of your old board. You need to copy its files over to the new board too, using whatever method you prefer to get files from your old server and onto your new one.

[mrmax79]

Ok I need to do a mysql dump

I need to copy any theme files and install.

Can I do the dump and then load the mysql dump on new site, then do syle. Reason I want to change the style.

MAJOR QUESTION: I had to use different admin name and password on new site, due to min. character requirements.
Is that going to be a problem when transfering old d/b with old admin name and password?

[wired076]

Use phpmyadmin to create the database (db) backup.

The different password on the new board should not affect anything as the db will be overwritten when you move the new one across and overwrite it. You can then customise it as you like.

[Eelke]

If you are planning to change the style, I would suggest you change the configuration of your old board to use a standard style (subsilver2 or prosilver, make it default and disable the custom style you were using) before actually transferring the database. Reason is that if the database holds configuration to use a particular style, that style really needs to be present on the filesystem (you can get around that by editing the database, but you really don't want to do that if you can prevent it).

[wired076]

If you are planning to change the style, I would suggest you change the configuration of your old board to use a standard style (subsilver2 or prosilver, make it default and disable the custom style you were using) before actually transferring the database. Reason is that if the database holds configuration to use a particular style, that style really needs to be present on the filesystem (you can get around that by editing the database, but you really don't want to do that if you can prevent it).

I agree. This needs to be done before creating your backup!

[mrmax79]

Site moved successfully!

I used the instructions from the Knowledge base "Moving Your phpBB3 Forum To A New Host Using phpMyAdmin"

Steps I used:
1. Locked down board so no changes.
2. Made the suggested changes in AdminCP.
3. Made an export of my old-site d/b using phpmyadmin per inst. in KB.
* Since my d/b was small only a couple hundred posts and few users, I used NO compression.
4. Uploaded all phpBB files to new host, chmod per install instructions.
5. Create new mysql d/b
6. Import sql d/b export via phpmyadmin
7. Edit new host phpbb config.php , edit following variables:
$dbhost = 'localhost'; (This has to match your new host mysql location)
$dbname = 'abcxyz_phpbb'; (new mysql d/b name)
$dbuser = 'abcxyz_xxxx'; (new mysql d/b user)
$dbpasswd = 'pasword1'; (new mysql d/b password)
$table_prefix = 'phpbb_vw'; (This variable from old config.php, VERY IMPORTANT)
8. Altering Cookie Settings. per KB instr.

Thanks to everyone offering help...