OT Repost from Dynamo re phpBB

Hi Guys,

Having been recommended, I posted this query earlier to the Dynamo List, but my first reply has suggested a posting to the Off Topic List might well be more useful, so I do apologise for the cross posting.

A fellow Freeway user suggested that it might be possible for me to find some answers here. I have been stumbling around in the dark all weekend, and I’m simply wasting too much time now struggling on my own.

I have been asked to take over an existing medium sized very successful phpBB Forum, and my present knowledge level of phpBB is worse than zero, rather like when I started with Freeway 3.5 a few years ago. For unbeknown reasons, the guy who started the board, although happy to hand over whatever I might need, is so far reluctant, read point blank refuses, to communicate by telephone.

After a couple of false starts, I now have xampp & phpBB3 successfully installed, and have also succeeded in launching a small test Forum. Obviously I need to learn exactly what is involved before going live, and I have a few months in hand, so time is not a problem. What I need therefore is to be able to create a successful local installation so that I can work my way through the learning curve offline.

Here is the problem. As well as not wanting to discuss anything by telephone, the existing Forum is put together on a PC, so even the instructions I am receiving tend to be a tad difficult to follow. Among the files which I have received, are what purports to be a copy of the Forum, and this is what I have been told.

“Before we start delete all files in the htdocs folder but not the xampp folder.

Download and copy the phpbb3 files from the link I sent you to the htdocs folder in Xampp. http://www.blah blah/download/htdocs.zip

Copy the files from this link http://www.blah blah/download/phpbb3.zip into the .xamppmysqldata folder.”

The problems I have are in knowing to which xampp “htdocs” folder he is referring, as there is an “htdocs” folder on the xampp top level, and also an “htdocs” folder within the xamppfiles folder on the second level? Also he doesn’t specify quite what he means by “delete all files in the htdocs folder but not the xampp folder” as it would seem as if at least the “Webalizer” folder should be retained.

Secondly, I can find no trace of any “mysql data” folder anywhere within the entire xampp app folder, nor as it happens within the phpBB folder either. Maybe the dot before the initial / of the “.xamppmysqldata folder” indicates where to look, but if so, it passes me by.

I understand that of course phpBB is platform agnostic, but should this mean that all the existing files created within the PC environment will happily transfer over to the Mac OS??

If there is a possibility that any UK based php guru is reading this, and could mentor me for a week or two, then I would also be extremely grateful.

Once again, my apologies for an OT topic which is absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Freeway, and I do appreciate any time taken to post any replies.

Many thanks

Neil Carter Oxford UK

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Are you wishing to move the phpBB forum to another host?

Or do you just wish to install locally for testing?

D

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Initially I want to install locally for testing and learning.

Ultimately, when I perhaps have learned a little more about what makes it tick, it will be necessary to move the existing Forum to a new host, but that won’t be essential until around the turn of the year, when the existing hosting contract comes up for renewal.

My main problem at present therefore is to be able to install and run it locally, and I feel that at the moment I still do not have enough of the existing Forum files, or at least enough info as to where to place them, or probably enough knowledge as to how to proceed to achieve a successful local installation. I will read Walter’s post a few more times, plus the links he’s listed and see if I can move forward a little.

Thanks for the help so far from Walter and from Dave, it’s much appreciated.

Neil

On 9 Aug 2010, at 16:40, DeltaDave wrote:

Are you wishing to move the phpBB forum to another host?

Or do you just wish to install locally for testing?

D

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Rather than installing locally you could use your own hosts Cpanel to install it on your own server and play with it there.

Most Cpanels have Fantastico which is essentially a 1 click install process so if you do that to get it up and running you could then import the DB files using phpMyAdmin or similar.

But if you get the install done you will see what files are installed and where.

David

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Hi David,

A couple more questions, if I may.

As mentioned, I have created my own mini forum via phpBB, which is presently hosted locally. So, where will I find the folders containing the files phpBB created, and from which it uploads my new Forum to Safari?

This may be the same question, but where will I find the relevant mysql data folders filed?

What hoops would I have to jump through to upload this forum to my own Host, for on-line testing?

Walter has suggested making invisible files visible - how??

Thanks again

Neil

On 9 Aug 2010, at 19:21, DeltaDave wrote:

Rather than installing locally you could use your own hosts Cpanel to install it on your own server and play with it there.

Most Cpanels have Fantastico which is essentially a 1 click install process so if you do that to get it up and running you could then import the DB files using phpMyAdmin or similar.

But if you get the install done you will see what files are installed and where.

David

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On Aug 9, 2010, at 3:29 PM, Neil Carter wrote:

Hi David,

A couple more questions, if I may.

As mentioned, I have created my own mini forum via phpBB, which is presently hosted locally. So, where will I find the folders containing the files phpBB created, and from which it uploads my new Forum to Safari?

If you’re using MAMP or another toolkit to enable a local Apache/MySQL/ PHP server, then the PHP files are going to be located in whatever folder that toolkit defines. Check the instructions that came with your toolkit. If you’re just using the built-in Apache that comes with Mac OS X, then you would look in /Library/WebServer/Documents or ~/ Sites, depending on whether you installed it under the main server or one of the user servers.

This may be the same question, but where will I find the relevant mysql data folders filed?

MySQL is a relational database, and while it does store files as the ultimate repository of your data, you never interact directly with those files. Instead, install a Web-based application like phpMyAdmin, or use a desktop app like the free and fabulous Sequel Pro to administer your data.

What hoops would I have to jump through to upload this forum to my own Host, for on-line testing?

You would need an FTP/SFTP application like Transmit, and you would need to understand the filesystem layout of your Apache server locally, so you could find the relevant files to add to your server’s Web root. After you have those files placed correctly, you would use the phpMyAdmin control panel on your server to install the data from your local system. There is a very full-featured export and import system in PMA, so the easiest thing to do would be to export each phpBB table from your local machine using PMA, then upload those SQL files (they’re just text files) to your server through the PMA import interface. As long as you take the step of creating the same-name database on your hosting provider’s server, you will have a completely seamless upload experience with your data.

Walter has suggested making invisible files visible - how??

This is a feature of your FTP/SFTP application. I use Transmit, so this option is part of the View menu in that application. When it’s on, you’ll see all the stuff both locally and remotely that is usually hidden. Leave it off most of the time, but definitely become familiar with this option, because often it can explain why things aren’t working the way you expect them to. Those hidden files are the “expert interface” to your Apache server, and can do way more than your cPanel admits is possible.

Walter

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When you install on the server you are given a list of DBs etc that are created and you decide where the files are to be stored. Such as:

An instance of phpBB was installed on <http://yourserver.com>
Full installation path: /home/user/public_html/phpbb
Public URL: <http://yourserver.com/phpbb/>
Admin URL: <http://yourserver.com/phpbb/adm/>
Username: admin
Password: password
MySQL database: user_phpb1
MySQL user: user_phpb1
Time of installation: Monday, 09th August, 2010 @ 11:45:15 AM

So any files in that folder will have been created for phpBB and as Walter suggested you will be able to see all files (including invisible ones) if you select that option in either your Cpanel or your FTP program

from which it uploads my new Forum to Safari?

It is not uploaded via Safari rather accessed in the same way that you use Safari to view any other web pages.

What hoops would I have to jump through to upload this forum to my own Host

One click install via Fantastico and then creation/importation of the DB files using phpMyAdmin.

There are also various threads at the phpBB forum about moving a forum to a new host. http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewforum.php?f=46

The important thing is that he has given you all the files that you will need and you have the leeway for a bit of trial and error if you do it on your own server.

D

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Also once you have an install on your server you have a Restore option

Restore

“This will perform a full restore of all phpBB tables from a saved file. If your server supports it you may use a gzip or bzip2 compressed text file and it will automatically be decompressed. WARNING This will overwrite any existing data. The restore may take a long time to process please do not move from this page till it is complete. Backups are stored in the store/ folder and are assumed to be generated by phpBB’s backup functionality. Restoring backups that were not created by the built in system may or may not work.”

So I suspect what you have been given is a Backup of the files and if you then copy that backup into the phpbb/store folder you will be able to Restore from it. Or at least give it a go.

D

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