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[kitz]

A heads up that over the next week the site will have various maintenance work that could cause downtime.

There's quite a few changes involved  which have been time consuming for me and although I have tried done a dry run, there are still parts of the site that need work.. and its a blind process as I dont have sufficient room on this server to do replica.. so having to keep editing my host file is a PITA when my browser ignores the host host file and serves me cached page.    
The forum and main site look ok, but I still need to do work on the wiki.  I think its the skin so dont be surprised if I stick with one of the default wiki skins until everything has moved over.   There will be unavoidable downtime for DNS propagation and I will try and inform you nearer the time for that as I will be putting the forum into maintenance mode to transfer the database.  As usual, I will use the Facebook page for Service Status. 

I do apologise for not having exact info right now, but I wanted to ensure you were fore-warned before this server is switched off.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Server maintenance sucks.  Last big job I had to do on mine basically I had to spin up a new host and migrate to that.

Don't have a problem with hosts files as I can spoof DNS at the router.

[kitz]

This is turning into a complete nightmare.  I was kind of backed into a corner to pay for migration to a new server at a much higher cost than running costs can afford to get the requirements the site needs.  I supposedly paid for premium support but Im still not getting answers or help to what should be simple stuff for someone who knows what they are doing.   The server is supposed to be shut off tonight but I still dont seem to be able to update the forum on the new server nor sort out the DNS to point to the correct server.  Premium support really means nothing when tickets take time to go back and forward.  Ive spent god knows how many hours trying to research things that I feel I have no control over .  The old server is supposed to be switched off tonight, I paid for a new one a few months ago,  theres been days when Ive been too ill, but there have beed days where Ive not received replies.  I would never ever go with a godaddy backed webhost again.  I stayed with them because I felt too ill to sort this, but its turned out to be complicated and time consuming.   Sorry if things get bumpy but I#m not quite sure what I can do about it.

[roseway]

That's really rough. You have my sympathy.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yeah it sucked, I had to move from a legacy BHost (now Mythic Beasts) £8/month VPS to one now costing £24/month, to get enough RAM to run Spam Assassin on a new host.  The cheap providers all seem to have been eaten up by big corporations.

Fortunately for me I had heard Go Daddy sucked so avoided them.  But I was in a similar situation where I hung on to BHost as long as possible due to the legacy pricing.  It was only when CentOS went end of life I was forced, to avoid down time and figure out which distro I would move to.  Which was fortunate as the first distro I tried, VirtualMin did not support yet.  Not willing to pay a premium for a control panel when I hardly ever need to change anything.

If it ever gets too much, I'd take over the hosting rather than see this site go offline.  Although its not a responsibility I want to take on unless there is no other option.

[kitz]

£24 per month is substantially less than what Im paying... a heck of a lot less.   There are so many hosts that start off seeming cheap, but by the time youve added on a managed plan and Cpanel (which has gone through the roof) and then all the hidden extras....  and then VAT is never included pricing ... and then you ind the advertised price is only for a few months... it seems to easily turn out to be more like £100pm for basic specs..   I guess I had it good for too long on a bespoke server.  Ive had to plump for standard VPS and hope for the best.  If I had been feeling more up to it to manage a change of host I would have done so.  I was promised they would deal with moving to a new server, but its been just as hard work despite me supposed being on Premium support.  I'm afraid I got caught out with Europe hosting thinking that  meant UK from the 3 offered choices of Europe, North America or Asia-Pacific, but its too late now.     Theres so many things you have to look out for thats not included or costs extra. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Oh crikey, a dedicated server?  Those are understandably stupid money given how many customers they can squeeze into a single server hosting VPS services.

Cpanel certainly makes things easier, but I never felt it worth the price given once things are setup, I rarely need to change anything.  I also had VirtualMin setup to automatically backup to my home server, though I never got round to setting that back up.

I can't imagine a VPS being insufficient, I actually got upgraded recently from Intel Xeon to AMD Epyc-Milan (at least I suspect its an upgrade, I never checked what Xeon it was to compare).  You could easily have been stuck on a dedicated server that was vastly less powerful than a VPS, given how much CPUs have improved.

[Derpy]

I am a lurker but I run a fairly large php/mysql based site running on AWS (previously I migrated it from Hetzner) so if there is anything you want checked or suggested feel free to drop me a PM.
Been through the mill myself many times so you never know.

[kitz]

Before GoDaddy entered the scene I has a bespoke package with Vidahost which as far as the paperwork went was a VPS, but a low share ratio and higher hardware spec than on paper.  This is why is anything went wrong I didnt want to say much about the spec, but gradually things got changed and now theyve said this their 'x' package is what I should be paying for and they were going to switch off my server.  With being ill I honestly couldnt bear the thought of having to exit and deal with migration myself.  They did say that I would get premium support and only if I went to x package would they deal with the migration.  I was kind of backed into a corner and had to pay up to move.   Their premium support is useless it takes ages for them to answer tickets and Ive been trying to get them to swap DNS for the past week but they keep coming back with more questions which just delay.  Admittedly one of them yesterday was my fault due to a typo in my name, but that should have been obvious really.   Server is meant to be switched off on the 27th and Im still not transferred.    The new forum is in maintenance mode because that database is now weeks old and I need it updating.   Everytime I try to update it fails as I think the DB is so large.  I just want them to do a copy of this forum and move to the new... otherwise there will be lost posts.

[Derpy]

I have a friend who is decently high up in GoDaddy if you want me to poke him to buy you time?

I have avoided them myself as they are a bit of a nightmare and I can roll my own with dedicated tin or now, AWS to make thing easier.

My website and community is my business so it has to be run to a high availability.

Depending on how you are transfering the DB (Aka PHPMyAdmin) it can timeout for size but I dont know if you have ssh to do it directly.

[kitz]

I am a lurker but I run a fairly large site running on AWS (previously I migrated it from Hetzner) so if there is anything you want checked or suggested feel free to drop me a PM.
Been through the mill myself many times so you never know.

Thank you our posts crossed.

I currently have this forum on the old Server.  It has posts going back 10years and up to todays date.  I have taken an export but the file is 350MB even after trying to do everything to reduce its size.

I then have the new server.  They took a copy of the forum which is how things were during a  date in May.   

What I dont know how to do is use the exported file on the new server to update the new forum with any posts that have been between May and today.    I think I also have the problem that the filesize is far too big for phpmyadmin.   


Theres lots of other things that are wrong  mostly on the wiki, but Im hoping given time I can sort those.   The wiki doesnt like the fact Im now using php8. something.  I had asked them to put php7.4 on until I had time to sort a new skin...  but that request was ignored.

My priority really is the forum and how to update the database.    Mind yoo they still havent changed DNS, so this forum irunning on the old server is still adding new posts.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Thank you our posts crossed.

I currently have this forum on the old Server.  It has posts going back 10years and up to todays date.  I have taken an export but the file is 350MB even after trying to do everything to reduce its size.

I then have the new server.  They took a copy of the forum which is how things were during a  date in May.   

What I dont know how to do is use the exported file on the new server to update the new forum with any posts that have been between May and today.    I think I also have the problem that the filesize is far too big for phpmyadmin.

Generally you'd backup the current database on the new server just be safe, wipe the database and import the current version [yrl=https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-import-and-export-databases-in-mysql-or-mariadb]using the cli[/url] over SSH, rather than phpMyAdmin.

Or you have to fiddle around with the timeouts and upload size limit in PHP.

[kitz]

Posts crossed again.

Depending on how you are transfering the DB (Aka PHPMyAdmin) it can timeout for size but I dont know if you have ssh to do it directly

Yes I think this isnt helping.  I only found out tonight about the max file size for php.    I dont have a clue how to ssh.   This is why I opted for flly managed,   if it cant be done in cpanel/phpmyadmin Im clueless. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Are you not using Cpanel on the new server?  If not, I would have used VirtualMin, I think it supports Cpanel imports.  Or did I misunderstand and you're not using Cpanel on the old server?

[Derpy]

What format is the 350mb file? is a text sql file?

Do you have ssh access to log into the server command line?

Putty is the tool to connect via SSH, I am just not familiar with GoDaddy and their setup and you packages you are on.
Also like I say I have a guy who is part of sales and tech for godaddy and runs a large team as well so if you pm me the package you were on and new one I can see what he says.

If attachments/images are saved in the database it makes it easier, if they are stored as files you will need to move those across.

You would be best, potentially to wiped the new database and reimport fresh, it has been a quite a few years since I had a play with SMF though.

For example if you have ssh you can upload the backup sql file using WinSCP then run mysql -u{username} -p -h {SERVER ADDRESS} {database name} < filename.sql

Right now, with the ending of the old server, I would take a fresh backup of the DB and copy all files hosted just in case via FTP/SCP.

If its all a bit too much feel free to drop me a PM with a discord name, or other type of comms and I can live chat about it tomorrow morning, I just have to crack off to bed soon as I have to run the kids in the morning.

EDIT: Ugh... cpanel....

EDIT 2: I have send my mate a message just in case he can put a hold on the old server being end of lifed but he will be in bed, told him I dont know you directly so to prod support etc to speak to you as I know no details, dont want to breach any GDPR issues (he has been told not to inform me anything) but if he can prod from his end it may help and worth a shot.