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TNG fails after hosting company upgraded PHP


JakobM

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Hi,

My hosting company upgraded PHP version on the server running my TNG site (http://maaloe.me) causing the site to fail (as you can see if you click the link). 😓

 

I've spent a long time entering my family's ancestry data so I'm heartbroken right now that the site is offline and I'm really afraid whether it will be possible to rescue the data in a proper way. 😳

 

Please, if you have any ideas on how to help it will be greatly appreciated! I'm thinking solutions like:

1. upgrade the site without using the GUI

2. rescue the data, install a new site and then re-initiate the site with the data

 

As far as I can tell, the site is running TNG version 10.1 and hosting company is one.com.

 

I hope that with your kind support I will be able to restore the site to a proper state. 🙂

 

Thanks for a great product!

Br.

Jakob Maaløe

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Your hosting company should have an option for you to revert to the previous version of PHP - I suggest that you start a support request with them.

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Following up on what Chris Lloyd said, you may be able to see what options are provided for you if you are running with a cPanel based system. My own IP's cPanel has within it - in the Software section - MultiPHP Manager.  This provides a dropdown list of 8 versions of PHP ranging from 5.2 through to 7.2 The title page will tell you which is your System PHP Version.

As Chris says, probably best to ask your hosting company's support people to do it for you.

Alan

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Hi again,

Thanks for the very fast reply!

 

I have asked One.com and their response is that it's not possible for them to downgrade as my site is running on a shared server with multiple sites and the change would affect all other sites. No option for downgrading exists in their system (only minor versions).

I've also tried pushing them for moving my site to another fully manageable server running the older version of PHP, but no luck. 😢

 

One solution that they suggested is to download the sites content (database and files) to a local PC and set up everything locally (w. old PHP version) however, I'm really unsure of how to do that and whether that would work I don't know (paths, etc).

 

Btw: Original PHP version was 5.6, new upgraded version is 7.2.

Br.

Jakob Maaløe

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I guess you have two choices for the time being.

One: upgrade your TNG to the latest version (currently TNG12.x) which does run under PHP7. Bear in mind that this PHP problem is one which is unlikely to go away - the powers that be say that PHP7.2 is only an interim measure and that versions 8 and 9 are already on the drawing board. I have had the experience that a site running with PHP7.1 caused a variety of errors with PHP7.2 

Two: find a hosting company that does offer MultiPHP Manager within its cPanel set up and arrange to move your site to them.

Alan 

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Newfloridian: But how do I upgrade TNG on the server when the site doesn't respond properly due to the upgraded PHP version?

Is there any way of upgrading manually?

 

Good point about finding a hosting company that offers MultiPHP manager (Which one do you use?)

/ Jakob

 

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Second point first: I use EUKhost (based in Leeds, UK). I have found their customer service very good.  (PM me if you want further details)

Upgrading TNG: On basic principles, I would have thought the upgrade process would take care of the PHP incompatibility automatically. You would need to ask the forum for help from someone who uses TNG12 to confirm this.

I'm still using TNG10.1.3  A year or so ago, I manually edited all the TNG files (27 of them if memory serves) for PHP7 I do have a local host copy running on WAMPServer 64 which is set to PHP7.1.12 

My ISP is set to PHP5.6. Recently they did an upgrade to PHP 7.2 The TNG component ran without problem but there was one intractable error generated in the admin section of my Lazarus Guestbook (not present in PHP 7.1) - which was the reason I set PHP back to 5.6 

Alan

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Jakob,

I have been using simply hosting since TNGv7 and am very happy with my choice. They offer php versions 4.4, 5.1 thru 5.6, 7.0 thru 7.3 with a very fair price. SSL certificate  https and technical support is available 24-7 with reliable personnel to get the problem corrected. There fore I recommend simplyhosting.net, because their support is second to none in my book.

I run TNGv12.03 in php version 5.6 thru 7.2. Go online here and see what they have to offer https://simplyhosting.net and you can even chat online anytime. Good luck.

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8 hours ago, JakobM said:

Hi,

My hosting company upgraded PHP version on the server running my TNG site (http://maaloe.me) causing the site to fail (as you can see if you click the link). 😓

   I've spent a long time entering my family's ancestry data so I'm heartbroken right now that the site is offline and I'm really afraid whether it will be possible to rescue the data in a proper way. 😳

Please, if you have any ideas on how to help it will be greatly appreciated! I'm thinking solutions like:

1. upgrade the site without using the GUI

 2. rescue the data, install a new site and then re-initiate the site with the data

 As far as I can tell, the site is running TNG version 10.1 and hosting company is one.com.

Jakob

You should be able to upgrade your site to TNG 12.0.3 without having to deal with all these errors that show on your page. You would

1 - If your site has a means in the cPanel or some other control panel, make a backup of your site first - the database tables and the files

2 - apply the upgrade from TNG 10 to TNG 12.0.3 - make sure to follow all the steps!!!!

3 - you should then gain access back to your site assuming that the PHP version is the only thing wrong currently.

Roger

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Thanks for all the great suggestions guys!

 

I will try what Roger mentions and if that fails, I will probably end up buying a site somewhere other than one.com and then do the upgrade there, just to be on the safe side. 🙂

 

Thanks a lot for your support!

 

Br.

Jakob Maaløe

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Jakob,

I also recommend simplyhosting.net (as does the author of TNG).

Most hosting companies, simplyhosting included, will transfer a site for you at no charge.  You give them the user name and password to your current site and they pull all code and databases and install them on their server.  With simplyhosting, this usually can be done in a few minutes to an hour or so.  Once that's done, you may have to tweak the new site to get it running smoothly.

When I do this, I leave the current site working (i.e. I don't change DNS pointers until the new site is working).  That way visitors to your site will see the version on the original host and not your new site-in-progress.  The host will give you a temporary URL -- it will likely be an IP address rather than a domain name.  You can work on the new site until you're happy with it.  Then, go to your registrar and change the DNS pointers to the new host and cancel the account with the old host.

Below is a cPanel screenshot from one of my simplyhosting.net accounts showing how to set the PHP version.

Tom

cPanel - Main8.png

cPanel - PHP Selector  extensions8.png

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note that I'm running PHP 5.6 on the MyKindred.com site as I haven't upgraded TNG and I have other scripts that won't run under PHP 7.  If you're interested in scanning for problem files (WRT upgrading PHP), I suggest php7mar.  I have other sites whose owners have current versions of TNG and they are running PHP 7.3.

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Another item -- when you change PHP version, there are two sections to it -- extensions and options.

My advice is to copy what you have at the current time and see if they're set for the new version.  I believe the default option on cPanel will satisfy all needs of TNG.

This caused me some headaches on another site as I glibly set a newer PHP version and some code had problems and I had to go back and check the extensions and options.

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John C Hannigan

Can someone clarify this for me -- is the PHP upgrade the problem or is it the MySQL that is the problem? I raise the question because the JakobM's original concern about his data -- which IMO should still be okay.

IMO - the MySQL is okay - so the database is intact.  The PHP upgrade caused a problem with the website.  If you have access to the backend - you can install 12.0.3 as a new install, fix the config file and other files necessary for configuration and you should be able to be back up quickly.

You will need to check paths - rename the old website folder (i.e., tng-old), create a new folder with the website path name and place the 12.0.3 in that folder.  If done properly, once the config files are put into place, you should be back up and spinning.

Of course, if you need assistance with this - I am sure there are people in the TNG family who will be able to help. 

I know that not everyone who uses TNG is an expert like Darrin - but what I have found in using the package for a number of years, a little work helps fix most problems.

 

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1 hour ago, John C Hannigan said:

Can someone clarify this for me -- is the PHP upgrade the problem or is it the MySQL that is the problem? I raise the question because the JakobM's original concern about his data -- which IMO should still be okay.

The PHP 7.? upgrade is an issue for those who are running TNG 10 since TNG did not change the php mysql calls to mysqli until TNG 10.1   PHP 7 drops the deprecated  or obsolete mysql code and requires that you use mysqli which TNG implemented in TNG 10.1

The rest of your post appears to be quotes from previous posts but not using the quote capability of the forum editor.

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Awesome with all the support in this forum guys! 🙂

 

As far as I can tell the current site is running 10.1 and not 10 - sorry for the confusion.

 

I have copied all files from the webserver and also made a complete dump of the database, so hopefully I should be able to recover as Roger says.

 

However, now I'm a bit confused. What would the best approach be?

 

I was expecting to follow Rogers suggestion and upgrading to 12.0.3 from 10.x. I can't do anything via the GUI as it's broken (due to the PHP errors), but shouldn't I be able to perform the upgrade replacing files and updating the database structure, right?

 

Thanks again! 

 

Br.

Jakob Maaløe

 

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Hi again,

 

Just completed the upgrade guide included with the 12.0.3 package. Initially after upgrading I got an error in the browser (complaining about an undefined function tng_header) when showing my main page. After a bit of debugging I found that after following:

"If you want to use the new Template Settings capability with your existing template files, copy the new footer.php, index.php, and topmenu.php files to your TNG folder, overwriting existing files with the same names"

I had to replace the index.php back to the original one from my site.... 

 

Now the site seems to display properly and I can browse the stuff I have tested... So far so good! 😀 👍

 

Do you have any idea on why this happend and does it matter in relation to the new functionality in 12.0.3? 

 

I still have the entire old backup so I should be able to revert.

- Jakob

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