Migrating 5.6.3.3 to 5.7

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Hi,

I know little about Concrete5, but I host a web site that is built using it. Over the weekend, I moved this web site to a new server but as it was using a rather old version of C5 (5.4 or so) and the new server was using a newer version of PHP, that didn't go well as the two didn't mix and I got pages of pages of errors.

Anyway, I managed to upgrade to a version that made the errors go away and then past that to version 5.6.3.3. And everything seems to be running fine.

But, having been burnt too many times by leaving out of date software to get even more out of date, I'm keen to keep the site as up to date as possible. So I'd like to move to 5.7 if I can.

I know that there is no automatic upgrade path to version 5.7. I've seen people talking about manual migrations, but I haven't been able to find a description of how I might go about doing that.

So, a few questions.

1/ Is there a cookbook describing the steps I need to follow in order to migrate my site?
2/ How easy is this process going to be?
3/ Is there a timescale for when 5.6 will no longer be supported?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave...

 
studio108 replied on at Permalink Reply
studio108
Have you seen this video from Andrew Embler?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9lzs2C88-s...
lovebus replied on at Permalink Reply
I hadn't. Thanks.

Generally, I far prefer written explanation as I can read far faster that I can watch video. But the next time I have 20 minutes to spare, I'll have a look.

Cheers,

Dave...
JohntheFish replied on at Permalink Reply
JohntheFish
Moving from 5.6 to 5.7 essentially involves re-creating a website from scratch and copying in the content.

Some automated assistance with copying the content is now available with the content export/import tools. How well the process works depends on your content, what packages and blocks your site uses, whether they are available for 5.7 and whether they use compatible data schemas.
lovebus replied on at Permalink Reply
Yes, I've now watched the migration video, so I see that.

I might try the migration tool if I have an afternoon to spare (although I can't yet find any information about how to install it). But if the migration is a complex as the video makes it look, then I can't help thinking that my time might be better spent recreating the site in WordPress :-/

Cheers,

Dave...
JohntheFish replied on at Permalink Reply
JohntheFish
The vast majority of sites I work with have made the simple decision to stick with 5.6.x. Its mature. If a site works with it now, there is no reason it will stop working. It is also a lot less expense than moving, be that to 5.7 or wordpress or whatever.

The main risk is environment updates by a host, which can usually be undone and if not, moving host is a known process and not difficult.

5.6.x doesn't see many updates on github simply because it is mature and doesn't need fixing in anywhere near the volume that 5.7 does. There are functional 'features' in 5.6.x that will never be fixed, but they are known and if you don't have problems with them now, why should you in the future?

Massive amounts of ongoing maintenance is only relevant for something that needs maintaining.

So unless you have a site that is rapidly growing and running into new 5.6.x limitations on a daily basis, the sensible businesses decision for most sites is to simply stick with it.
lovebus replied on at Permalink Reply
I'm sure you're right.

I certainly don't have the time to do anything with the site currently, so leaving it on 5.6 is the easiest option. It's just that being on a version of the software that's not completely up to date makes me feel slightly uncomfortable.

So, I'll leave it as it is for now and put a note in my diary to review the situation in six months.

Thanks for your comments.

Dave...