All;

I have inherited administration of a DNN site that is both highly customized and woefully out of date.  From the best that I can figure out, the version of DNN running on the site is v1.xx.  And, while I can keep the system running day to day, I am a complete newbie to DNN.

I would like to bring the system up to date, but it seems that from V1.xx to v5.xx might be dangerous for a DNN newb such as myself.  Any tips, advice, tutorial(s), HOW-TOs would be greatly appreciated, especially if you have personal knowledge and experience of so drastic an upgrade.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

V/r

Bob Kruger

Depending on the size of the site, and the degree of customization, it might make sense to start building a new site in DotNetNuke 5.x.

I would guess that many custom features might exist in the site that are no longer needed. Other features and modules available now may be desirable, but not in the existing site. And, you probably could take advantage of the opportunity to re-skin the site, make it prettier and more functional, etc.

If it is a very large site, you may consider having someone skilled look into sql migration of the content, but I am not positive how viable that would be for a version that out of date.

DNN 5 is soooo much better!

GeishaMX ^_^

Joe;

I am trying to avoid a complete restart.  I think there is enough there to be able to update versus restart.

Mostly what I am facing is that I don't know what I don't know.  What I do know is that there appear to only be to third party modules that will probably need to be restarted.  Also, the version that I am dealing with is SQL driven.  I would like to be able to leverage that rather than go through the effort of reentering the over 1000 registered users.  Now the site currently serves as a repository for organizational literature, forms, and publications.  We would like to increase the functions that it serves.

The site serves a relatively small (approx 1000 member) hobby community.  Plan for upgrade is as follows:

1.  Upgrade to v5.x while maintaining as much as possible to same look and feel of the current system.  This includes the ability to archive and download various publications and organizational literature, forms, etc.
2.  Restore functionality of photograph and forums currently provided by 3rd party modules.
3.  Integrate an on line credit card/registration function to allow current members to renew annual membership and allow new members to join.  The functionality required is:
     a.  Allow for credit card processing of various membership options (on line only, printed magazine, mailed CD, etc)
     b.  Allow for changing exchange rates between the USD and other currencies.
     c.  Notify the treasurer and the membership secretary of new member joinings and current member renewals via email.
     d.  Possibly include a Paypal option for the future
4.  Integrate an on line store function to sell various products offered by the organization.  This needs to be credit card enabled, allow for currency fluctuations, and be able to alert to person(s) responsible via email of purchases.  Paypal is possible option for the future.

Perhaps some folks here can recommend a consultant who can assist.  Funds are limited, but not impossible.

V/r

Bob

Bob,

All versions of DotNetNuke do exist at the DotNetNuke Codeplex site.  So ... you can go through step by step upgrade procedures.

If you want to try upgrading ... I would go from 1.x to the final version of 1.  Then to the first version of 2, then to the last version of 2 and so forth.  Once you get into the 3.x versions, there are a number of places (I would recommend Mitchel Sellers' blog) that have published recommended upgrade paths.

At each stage, you will want to save copies of the database and web directory, so that it will be easy to get to a known point.  You will also want to do testing and fixing at each stage, I would think.  It will be easier to deal with issues version by version.

Best wishes, and let us know how it turns out ...

Joe;

Thanks.

Probably a first good starting point would be to know the version that is currently running.  Any hints/tips on where I can go on the server to find out the actual version we have on line?

V/r

Bob

Current versions of DotNetNuke display the version on the Host Settings page.  Look there (as I have never seen a version of 1.x running, I have no idea if it is there).  If not, look and see if the version is in a database table.  It is in current versions of DotNetNuke.

And, as you have mentioned that you are new to DotNetNuke, I'd also recommend that you begin your education with some of our Beginners tutorials.  (I'm not sure of the long term history, but it looks as if Lee started DNNCreative when DotNetNuke was in the 3.x versions.)

You might also want to see if Amazon has any old DotNetNuke books that date back to the 1.x and 2.x days.

Hello,

Yes some of the first tutorials were in DNN 3.x, I started out using DotNetNuke on DNN 2.x

I would strongly recommend that you do not attempt this on the live website and that you create a backup of your live website and install it on your local host installation.

Upgrades can go wrong, and it's very likely that this upgrade will go wrong unless you work out the correct upgrade path, so that's why it is best to try this out on a localhost installation where you can keep restoring the original and testing different upgrade paths.

I would recommend you have a read of this tutorial first:
How to Upgrade DotNetNuke v3.x to v4.4.1

to give you an idea of the troubleshooting process I went through for upgrading from version 3 to version 4.

I would also recommend you look at:
How to backup a live hosted DotNetNuke website and restore it to a localhost installation
How to Upgrade DotNetNuke (Manual Method) (all versions)
How to Upgrade DotNetNuke (Auto Merge Method) (v4.6.2 to v5+)

• How to install DotNetNuke to Windows 7
• How to install DotNetNuke to Vista
• How to install DotNetNuke 4.5 to Windows XP Pro with IIS

Virtual PC is very useful for testing on a local computer, I would recommend you install it + then install DotNetNuke to a virtual PC:
How to setup and use Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

Joe;

Again, thanks for the info. 

No such luck in revealing exact version from the Host Settings page.

Any ideas as to which table its in?  I can do simple SQL query to find out.

V/r

Bob

The table is named Version in current versions.

That did it.  Looks as if I am starting out with Version 1.10

Wow!

You might want to try selling a backup copy of the site to DNN Corp. for their museum ... or donate to the Smithsonian if you are in the good old USofA.

Hehehe.  Looks like it was installed back in 2003.  Been running steady ever since.  I know this sounds crazy, but sometimes when you have something running and stable, you just leave it alone.

One more question.  Where on the Codeplex site are the older versions (v1.x, 2.x, etc)?  When I went there, all I could find was v5.x.

V/r

Bob

There is a window on the right side of the page that scrolls.  You'll find older versions there.