A mod broke my forum: Difference between revisions From Online Manual

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When you install a modification (mod), you, being a good admin, will backup both your database and your forum files.
When you install a modification (mod), you, being a good admin, will backup both your database and your forum files.


Some admins, though, aren't as clever as you are. So, they install a mod without backing-up, first. Oh, dear. The forum's dead. I DON'T HAVE A BACKUP!!!
Some admins, though, aren't as clever as you are. So, they install a mod without backing-up first. Oh, dear. The forum's dead. I DON'T HAVE A BACKUP!!!


Well, relax. You MIGHT be lucky.
Well, relax. You MIGHT be lucky.


SMF, being the helpful system that it is, takes a file backup, for you. Trouble is, restoring this backup will only work for the very last mod that you installed. (You CAN use it to restore older mods, by going through the files in reverse date order, to be honest, but that's a bit involved)
SMF, being the helpful system that it is, takes a file backup, for you. It does this each time you install something, and restoring the files will take them back to the way they were just BEFORE you did the install (if you <b>had</b> to, you could work through all of the file backups in reverse order to go back further in time, but that's a bit involved)


Anyway... How do we restore the backup? Dead easy!
How do we restore the backup? Dead easy!
# you'll need to start up [[FTP_-_How_do_I_use_FTP|FTP]] or else the file manager that comes with your hosting service.
# you'll need to have a look in your forum's "Packages" directory. In there, you'll find another directory named, you guessed it, "backups". Suppose that the last mod that you installed was "PM On Registration", and that you did this on 26 Jan 2012. In the afore-mentioned "backups" directory, you'd find the file <b>2010-01-26_before_PM_On_Registration_1-0-2.tar.gz</b>
# Download that file to your desktop, or somewhere fairly empty of files and dearchive it. It's a "gz" file. When you dearchive it you'll be left with a "tar" file.
# Dearchive that gz file. You'll find loads of files and directories. Upload those files and directories to your forum, overwriting what's there now. (It'll take a while).


Using your FTP program, have a look in your forum's "Packages" directory. In there, you'll find another directory named, you guessed it, "backups". Now, let's assume, for the sake of this tutorial, that the last mod that you installed was "PM On Registration". In the afore-mentioned "backups" directory, you'd need the file:
When that's done, Voila! Your forum files should be exactly as they were, before you installed the mod!
 
This procedure will not make any changes on your forum's database, of course.
2010-01-26_before_PM_On_Registration_1-0-2.tar.gz
 
The numbers at the front of the filename are the date that the mod was installed, so they'll be different, for you.
 
Download that file to your desktop, or somewhere fairly empty of files and dearchive it. It's a "gz" file. When you dearchive it you'll be left with a "tar" file. If you dearchive that, you'll find loads of files and directories. Upload those files and directories to your forum, overwriting what's there, now. (It'll take a while).
 
When that's done, Voila! Your forum should be exactly as it was, before you installed the mod!


Next time, backup before installing mods, won't you?  ;)
Next time, backup before installing mods, won't you?  ;)
[[Category:FAQ]]
[[Category:FAQ]]

Revision as of 11:31, 3 October 2012

When you install a modification (mod), you, being a good admin, will backup both your database and your forum files.

Some admins, though, aren't as clever as you are. So, they install a mod without backing-up first. Oh, dear. The forum's dead. I DON'T HAVE A BACKUP!!!

Well, relax. You MIGHT be lucky.

SMF, being the helpful system that it is, takes a file backup, for you. It does this each time you install something, and restoring the files will take them back to the way they were just BEFORE you did the install (if you had to, you could work through all of the file backups in reverse order to go back further in time, but that's a bit involved)

How do we restore the backup? Dead easy!

  1. you'll need to start up FTP or else the file manager that comes with your hosting service.
  2. you'll need to have a look in your forum's "Packages" directory. In there, you'll find another directory named, you guessed it, "backups". Suppose that the last mod that you installed was "PM On Registration", and that you did this on 26 Jan 2012. In the afore-mentioned "backups" directory, you'd find the file 2010-01-26_before_PM_On_Registration_1-0-2.tar.gz
  3. Download that file to your desktop, or somewhere fairly empty of files and dearchive it. It's a "gz" file. When you dearchive it you'll be left with a "tar" file.
  4. Dearchive that gz file. You'll find loads of files and directories. Upload those files and directories to your forum, overwriting what's there now. (It'll take a while).

When that's done, Voila! Your forum files should be exactly as they were, before you installed the mod! This procedure will not make any changes on your forum's database, of course.

Next time, backup before installing mods, won't you?  ;)



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