Upgrading vBulletin
Save the file with the changes, and repeat the file compare process for any other files that have been changed.
If your forum has a lot of hacked files, you might need to go through each file and compare it with the file on the server. However, to make life easier, the vBulletin development team releases a change list detailing the files that have been changed—this makes the job of finding updated files easier.
We're now ready to move on to the next phase of the update process.
Uploading the Files
The next stage of the upgrade is to upload the files. There are two options open to you:
•Overwriting all the files that were previously uploaded to the web server
•Deleting all the old files and folders, and then uploading the new files
It's easier to overwrite the old files, so that's what we'll do here.
Before you do this though, one thing—close the forum! This prevents users from logging in and allows you to work in peace. It also means that you and only you see the errors if things go wrong.
Log into the AdminCP, expand vBulletin Options in the left-hand menu, and click on vBulletin Options.
In the right-hand pane, double-click on Turn Your vBulletin On and Off. Change Forum Active to No, and click on Save. Now only Administrators can access the forum.
144
Chapter 6
Once that is done, take your FTP program and upload the new files over the old files. When asked if you want to overwrite, remember to choose Yes (or whatever option your FTP application gives you).
Remember that the same rules apply here as when installing the forum (see Chapter 2):
•Transfer all text files in ASCII mode.
•Transfer all non-text files in Binary mode.
145
Upgrading vBulletin
Consult your FTP program for details of how to do this. Usually, transferring the files in auto mode will work fine.
It is important that you upload all the files from the latest vBulletin package to the web server. This includes the entire contents of the install folder. Failure to do this can result in the upgrade script being unable to complete the upgrade process.
When all the files have been uploaded, you are ready to move on to the next phase of the upgrade.
Running the Upgrade Script
With the newest vBulletin files uploaded to your web server, you are now ready to run the upgrade script.
This is the simple part of the upgrade, so it's all plain sailing from here.
To run the script point your web browser at http://www.example.com/vb/install/upgrade.php, remembering to replace www.example.com/vb with the correct path to your own vBulletin installation.
To proceed with the upgrade, you'll need your vBulletin Customer Number. The installation wizard will then begin.
This screen confirms that the files have been properly uploaded, and we are ready to begin, so click on the Next Step button to continue.
146
Chapter 6
Step 1 imports the latest vBulletin options into the database.
In step 2, the updated help files are loaded.
147
Upgrading vBulletin
The next step updates the master language files.
Next the updated vBulletin styles are loaded.
148
Chapter 6
Finally, the vBulletin version number is updated. Click on the Proceed button to finish.
149