J2.5:Migrating from Joomla 1.5 to Joomla 2.5 Part2

Backup, Backup, Backup

Skipping this part is perhaps the biggest mistake you can make. If you have a proper backup (or several) you can always revert if needed. However, if you don't properly backup your site and something goes wrong, you are going to waste a lot of valuable time and sometimes money, getting things back to the way they were. So please backup!

Using XCloner to Backup

• With XCloner you can backup your site fully, both files and database

• XCloner will produce TAR archives which can be opened with most archive clients

• After creating the backup, they can easily be restored by using its dedicated restore script

• XCloner can be downloaded for free from http://www.xcloner.com; a full documentation usage wiki is here: http://www.xcloner.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Using Akeeba to Backup

• Akeeba Backup produces a .jpa file

• The .jpa file contains all the folders and files and the MySQL database of your site.

• The .jpa file also contains an installer

• Kickstart.php (also from Akeeba) unpacks the .jpa file and then runs the installer

Akeeba and Kickstart can be downloaded from Joomla extension directory. There is a link to full instructions as well.

Upgrading with jUpgrade

Download jUpgrade

Download the latest version of jUpgrade. It is highly advisible, especially when development still is progressing, to always use the latest available version!

Optional Testing Environment

If you are really nervous by this point and your heart is beating fast, then you should probably set up a testing environment.

Install XAMPP

XAMPP is an easy-to-install package that bundles the Apache web server, PHP, XDEBUG, and the MySql database. This allows you to create the environment you need to run Joomla! on your local machine. The latest version of XAMPP is available at the XAMPP web site. Downloads are available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and Solaris. Download the package for your platform.

Important Note Regarding XAMPP and Skype: Apache and Skype both use port 80 as an alternative for incoming connections. If you use Skype, go into the Tools-Options-Advanced-Connection panel and deselect the "Use 80 and 443 as alternatives for incoming connections" option. If Apache starts as a service, it will take 80 before Skype starts and you will not see a problem. But, to be safe, disable the option in Skype.

Update

As of August 5, 2010, XDebug has been updated (to version 2.1) which fixes some important bugs (for example, watching local variables for nesting functions). The latest XAMPP package (1.7.3) now includes this new version of XDebug. If you just want to update XDebug, you can download the latest module from [1]. There is a handy website that tells you which XDebug binary you need, depending on your phpinfo() information here. To use it, you just copy the output of your phpinfo() display and paste it into the form on the site.

Installation on Windows

Installation for Windows is very simple. You can use the XAMPP installer executable (for example, "xampp-win32-1.7.3-installer.exe"). Detailed installation instructions for Windows are availablehere.

For Windows, it is recommended to install XAMPP in "c:\xampp" (not in "c:\program files"). If you do this, your Joomla! (and any other local web site folders) will go into the folder "c:\xampp\htdocs". (By convention, all web content goes under the "htdocs" folder.)

If you have multiple http servers (like IIS) you can change the xampp listening port. In <xamppDir>\apache\conf\httpd.conf, modify the line Listen 80 to Listen [portnumber] (ex: "Listen 8080").

Installation on Linux

This guides you through the installation of Xampp on Debian GNU Linux or one of its derivatives such as Ubuntu, Knoppix or GRML. Note that this guide applies to Joomla!    . It has been successfully tested on Debian 4.0 [Etch], Debian 5.0 [Lenny], Ubuntu 8.04 LTS [Hardy Heron], Ubuntu 10.10 [maverick] and Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot). It will work for allDebian based Linux distribution as well.

Download XAMPP for Linux to your your Home folder.

Open Terminal and enter:

sudo tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.7.7.tar.gz -C /opt

(replace xampp-linux-1.7.7.tar.gz with the version of XAMPP you downloaded).

This installs ... Apache2, mysql and php5 as well as an ftp server.

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start

and

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp stop

starts/stops all the services

Configure Xampp Error Reporting on Linux

By default error reporting in Xampp is set Development level. This causes several error messages on the screen that need not concern the average user. To prevent that from happening:

In your Terminal type

sudo gedit /opt/lampp/etc/php.ini

In the php.ini file, locate

error_reporting =

And change the value to

error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED

Also locate

display_errors = On

And change the value to

display_errors = Off

Stop then restart XAMPP for the new settings to take effect

To Create a GUI for XAMPP Connected to Your Ubuntu Menu

Open up the Terminal and type

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/xampp-control-panel.desktop

Then copy the following into the gedit and save.

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=XAMPP Control Panel
Comment=Start and Stop XAMPP
Exec=gksudo "python /opt/lampp/share/xampp-control-panel/xampp-control-panel.py"
Icon=/usr/share/icons/Tango/scalable/devices/network-wired.svg
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Application;Network;
StartupNotify=true

N.B. Ubuntu 11.10 needs python-glade2 installed in order to run the GUI. python-glade2 can be found in the Ubuntu Software Center.

Avoiding File Ownership Issues on Linux

Connect to localhost with an FTP client Default

nobody
lampp

Use your ftp client to create folders in your localhost and to copy files to/from your localhost.

Important:

• The XAMPP installation sets the correct Ownership of the files and permissions.
• Using the CHOWN command will cause Ownership problems with xampp.
• Using nautilus to manipulate folders/files on localhost will cause Ownership problems with xampp.