Restoring My Blog After Database "Upgrade"

  • My hosting company is dropping support for MySQL 4 after tomorrow (04-30-2013) and moving to MySQL 5, so I had to move my WordPress blog to a new database on the server. I used phpMyAdmin to back up my old database. I also used the backup tool in WordPress to create another backup, both of which are in folders on my home computer. Meantime I manually copied all the WP files I could see on my server to another folder on my local machine. So I have three backups.

    I then created a new database, and since I was using an old version of WP (2.8.4), I downloaded the latest (3.5.1). I edited wp-config.php to connect to the new database and followed the detailed instructions for installing/updating WordPress. I then imported my backed up database using phpMyAdmin.

    But all I have now is the WP 3.5.1 dashboard and my old plugins. None of the original blog is there — posts, comments, graphics, etc. The fact that I have the dashboard and the sample page means (I think) that the WP installation is connecting correctly with the database, but I don’t know where to look for my posts or how to restore them. I’m only technical enough to get into trouble, so I would be grateful if someone could give me a hint on how to get my posts and comments back.

    Thank you.

    EDIT, 5 MINUTES LATER: Now I can’t get to the dashboard or the blog. “Error establishing a database connection.” It worked for two hours, though, and I didn’t change anything. Possibly the server is overworked with everyone migrating at the last minute, like me. But I’m still asking (begging) for help on my main issue above.

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  • So I have three backups.

    Smart, smart Larry!

    Okay… Have you checked your “wp-config” file to make sure it is using the proper database credentials?

    The “wp-config.php” file will be located in the root folder of your WP installation. Open it in a code editor, and verify the database login details match those of your new account.

    Thread Starter larry-jones

    (@larry-jones)

    Thanks, Josh! I just went back and re-edited “wp-config,” getting the information from the web host control panel. I think it was correct, but I copied and pasted the info in anyway, and there has been no change in my situation: I have a new, blank installation of WordPress, with only a sample page. But I seem to have all the plugins from my old installation, if that is a clue.

    When I restored my new database from the backup of my old database, I had to try several times, as I kept getting the error “…the server went away.” Eventually it seemed to work, but I don’t know how to read the messages from phpMyAdmin or MySQL.

    I can’t seem to use the backup I made from within WP, because the Import plugin is looking for a WXR file (I think), and all I have is a .sql file.

    Any ideas?

    Thread Starter larry-jones

    (@larry-jones)

    My problem is fixed, but I can’t really mark this thread “Resolved,” because I don’t know how it was fixed. I spent a couple of hours poring over the WP documentation, and I tried various ways of migrating my database from MySQL 4 to a new MySQL 5 database — through phpMyAdmin and through SSH, but kept getting errors, mostly server timeouts. My blog is nine years old and contains several hundred posts and lots of comments, but it’s not really so big that the server should have choked on it. I also tried going back to the old database, backing it up AGAIN, and trying to import the newer backup, but that didn’t work either.

    Finally I called my host (1and1 Internet). Of course they had to make me prove that I had done all the preliminary steps (plug in my computer, edit wp-config, back up old, import into new, etc.), but eventually they were convinced that there was something wrong that I couldn’t fix on my end, so they manually moved the database themselves, which took about five minutes and fixed everything.

    I wish I knew how to do that, but I don’t, so… issue repaired, question not really resolved in my mind.

    Thanks for your suggestion, Josh!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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