I installed DNN 5.1.2 and put about 15-20 child/parent portals on it before I realized that something was wrong.

As I installed all of our modules I began seeing a pattern of errors like I have to install a module two or three times before it installs right, or sometimes (like UMG552) it won't install properly at all. I get timeouts once in a while, but I think I tracked those down to my cable modem or router or switch being faulty and I have to reset them every few days.

So I thought I would try upgrading to DNN 5.2.2 to see if the database and files would fix themselves, but the upgrade failed during the SQLDataProvider part. Then come to find out the backups I thought I had are all corrupt!

Is there any hope to recuperate this mess?

Most of my pages say:
A critical error has occurred.
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

I can login, but I cannot go to Site Settings or Host Settings. If I try I get:

Error: Host Settings is currently unavailable. DotNetNuke.Services.Exceptions.ModuleLoadException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. ---> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Host.HostSettings.BindModuleCacheProviderList() at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Host.HostSettings.BindData() at DotNetNuke.Modules.Admin.Host.HostSettings.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) --- End of inner exception stack trace ---

Help me Obi-wan. You're my only hope!

www.dataproservice.com

5.1.x had some problems that caused timeout errors, but your experience sounds extreme.

First, before you do anything else, make backup copies of your database and web directory, and verify that they are good. That way, you'll be able to get back to here if you need to do that.

Next, can you get to the Admin, Languages page? If you can, try going there, select the language that you want as a default, and then edit it. Make sure that the check box to enable the language is checked and then save. If the language was not enabled, you might now be able to get to the Host Settings page.

Try it and see what happens.

I have English (United States) already set as both language and fallback language and it IS enabled (and I did just verify this). I am in the process of FTPing all the files and the database right now.

I will be setting up a local computer tomorrow to run a copy of the backup site and then try upgrading that one.

Is that what you suggest?

That's a good way to start.

The dashboard shows that I'm running DNN522, but there's definitely things missing from when the upgrade failed. I tried copying the site and database to a local computer and running the upgrade there, but the only thing that happens is the browser takes a couple minutes to load and then I get a blank page.

Luckily I can get to the Portals page so now I'm in the process of exporting the templates for each portal and adding them to a good install.

Is there a good way to make differential backups, or should we just do full backups? For us, a full backup is about 3GB!

Exporting site templates is a good approach.

As for backups ... I've always just made full backups --- database AND web directory.  My largest site is about 1 Gig.  The most difficult part is downloading to my local computer for offline storage.  Your host may offer some more attractive options.

There isn't an automatic way to export site templates is there?

I use a macro builder called WinAutomation for all sorts of jobs, but if there's any sort of Scheduler event I could make that would be terrific!

I haven't come across a way to automate a Site Template export, but I'm sure it's possible if you dig into the code.

Personally, my sites are on a dedicated server that uses Plesk. Plesk has a feature to automatically backup the entire site, it can save this backup to the local disk or it can send it to another location using FTP.

I set it to FTP and send it to another hosting provider (not DNN) who provides cheap hosting space (unlimited storage and bandwidth). Each day my backup is FTPd from one hosting provder to another making it easy to manage large backups as the connection speed between the 2 providers is very fast. You can also set how many backups Plesk should keep on the FTP site so that it does not fill your other hosting provider.

That just begs the question, "Who's this host that provides unlimited space?"

Everyone I have ever checked out sets a limit that "no one should ever reach." For example, IXWebHosting.com claims unlimited space, but that really means up to 100,000 files or when you're interfering with other customers (like when I uploaded 50 DVDs to free up space on my PC ;)