Hi,

I'm looking for advice. I've been approached about taking over a couple of non-profit sites. They were designed and implemented by a different company, but the non-profits are not happy with their support or service. They want to move these two DNN portals over to me.

I've never done that and I don't know what's invovled with exporting from one installation on one server to another installation on another server.

From reading I kind of grasped the idea that I have to be a superuser and export the template and then bring that over to the new server. Then do I also need to export and import the database? How does the site connect up to the new database?

I'm running 5.05. I'm not sure what version the other sites are running under. What issues might I have with versions?

So what's involved?
How difficult for someone that's not an expert at DNN or SQL Server?
How might different versions cause problems?

I'm sure people have done this before. Any help, suggestions, or examples are appreciated.

Thanks,
Jane

Jane,

There are several ways of answering this question, so bear with me ...

First, I am going to assume that you intend to combine the separate sites as multiple portals in a single DotNetNuke installation. If this is not the case, you might be better off just moving the existing sites separately to your servers.

I will also assume that all of the modules that are in use in the existing sites all support importing and exporting content. If that is the case, EXPORTING the portals from their existing locations will also export all of the content properly.

Here are some things that I would recommend that you do.

1. Establish a "development" site where you can do all of your work. It is really recommended that this be a 5.6.1 site (5.6.2 is likely to be available next week or shortly afterwards.)

2. If you want to bring the existing sites into an existing installation, you will want to copy that to your development servers. Then I would really recommend updating to 5.6.1 or .2 depending and do this before starting to migrate the other sites. You may find that third-party modules need to be upgraded.

3. If you have the option, separately upgrade all of the existing sites to the same version as your development site. This may also involve upgrading modules.

4. Upgrade all DotNetNuke modules to their latest versions in all of the sites.

5. Verify that everything in all sites is functioning correctly.

6. For each of the sites to be moved, you will first need a list of all of the modules in use and all of the skins. You will then need to install those modules and skins on your development site.

7. From the Host, Portals tab, do an Export Portal Template including content to create the exported version. This will consist of two XML files.

8. Copy the XML files to the directory structure of the dev site.

9. Now you will do a new portal and use the template created from the old site as the template for the new site. If all works well, you will have a working copy of the site. I would probably recommend that you create the new portals as child portals, mainly so that you can deal with them without simultaneously having to deal with the DNS and IIS issues involved with creating new sites. When the copied site is all set, you can then do that -- or wait until you have moved the dev installation to the live site.

10. Repeat these steps for each site.

11. Move the dev site to replace the live site. You can now deal with IIS, DNS, portal aliases and all of that.


Now, its not going to surprise me if you encounter a hiccup or three along the way. But the should be solvable. Don't forget to make backups before you start, at stages along the way (so that you can backup just a step or two when needed), and at the end. And, we're here to help you through the process.

Taking care, working methodically, and solving issues systematically are the keys. And, with backups you can always go back to where something was working and try it again.

Joe,

Thank you for the incredibly detailed response! It does sound a little over my head - I'm glad I found this site! You started with the right assumption. This will be two new portals added to my existing installation. I need to learn more about what version the current host is using and what modules and skins are in use.

Sounds like a good first step is to get my installation up to 5.6.2 sometime next week before I start anything else. I don't believe that I'll have access to update the current sites before I move them. I'm uncertain what access I'll receive and what the former host will provide to me.

The current sites will be live while I'm working on my version of the site...so I'll have time to make sure everything is right with a development version before I redirect it.

This really helped! Thanks so much,

Jane

I would, if possible, take the live sites and install them locally. Upgrade and do the export locally.

Hi Joseph

All this makes complete sense but I have 1 question please. In step 8 you say:

8. Copy the XML files to the directory structure of the dev site.

What folder should I copy the 2 template files to?. I would like to move an existing site to be a child of another existing site that is with another hosting company.

Many thanks

Jim

Copy them to the root folder. After you have created the new portal, you can delete them.