Issue: Concrete5 5.7.5 update to version 8.5.12

Hello forum community,
i have a huge problem. A productive running Concrete5 installation (Concrete5 5.7.5 & PHP 5.6) must be updated, since the provider/hoster in Germany will only support PHP 8.x in the near future. Basically I have the following idea for the update:

  1. Updated Concrete5 to version 8.5.12 and PHP to 7.2
    If point 1 is ok and executable, then to the end point with 2.
    2.) Update Concrete5 to version 9.0.2 and PHP to 8.1
    The whole thing would like to do on localhost under LaragonFull.

Now to my actual problem.
To date, all attempts to update under point 1 have failed. I’ve tried the update via dashboard and the semi-manual update (see: Manually upgrade concrete5 :: Legacy Documentation). Unfortunately neither was successful.

Can someone help me or has a good idea about this problem?
Many thanks in advance for any help.

You say the update was not successful but what were the error messages?
You could always move to a better hosting service that provides support for multiple versions of PHP.

1 Like

This is how I would approach your situation

  1. Backup your current database and application/config
  2. Upgrade 5.7.5 → 5.7.5.13 (this can not be done using the CLI so it has to be done in the browser, make sure your max execution time is HIGH)
  3. If all looks good, once again backup your database and application/config
  4. Upgrade 5.7.5.13 → 8.5.12 - If this step fails and you get a mysql error, revert back to your 5.7.5.13 database and application/config and run concrete/bin/concrete5 orm:schema-tool:update --dump-sql, copy the output and run that using phpMyAdmin or a similar program to fix whatever missing columns you have (this might take some manual work or using SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=1), once you have done that, try again
  5. If all looks good, once again backup your database and application/config
  6. Upgrade 8.5.12 → 9.1.3

I would suggest that your 8.x and higher upgrades be done using the CLI, I have found it to be much more reliable than the web interface.

Hello,
thank you in advance for your feedback.
I’ll give it a try based on your suggestion. Of course I will tell you about the result.
Thanks again.

Hello,
Unfortunately I only got around to trying your suggested solution for the update now. Of course everything went smoothly up to point 4. In point 4 came the suspected sql error. (See the screenshot).
I then ran this command (concrete5 orm:schema-tool:update --dump-sql). Unfortunately I can’t find the output you mentioned. Did I do something wrong?
I would be very happy about a renewed feedback.
Many greetings,
Paulo

When did you get this SQL error?

When you run concrete5 orm:schema-tool:update --dump-sql from the command line, it should output SQL for you to run using phpMyAdmin or tell you everything is up to date.

No, this error message comes up during the update process to 8.5.12.

I ran this command (concrete5 orm:schema-tool:update --dump-sql) in the console. This brings, or I can’t find it, no output. See the screenshot.
screenshot2

That should indicate that the site is up to date with the schema, I’m not sure why you would then get the SQL error during the update.

One thing I do notice is that it looks like all of your table names are lower case. I don’t know if that would cause problems or not, but it’s not how most sites are setup.

Hi,
I fixed the problem that caused the update process to crash, see screenshot from my last message. I fixed the errors manually in the DB. After that, the update no longer ran on this error. However, this error message came after about 30 minutes of running time. (See the screenshot). Of course I know what “collation” means in connection with a database or with a database server (in our case MariaDB, by the way). However, I have absolutely no idea why this error message comes up and what the problem could be.
Do you maybe have a tip?
Thank you again in advance.