By gpod on

Hi,

few years ago I had a drupal 6 website which I'd like to restore now.

I think I have all the necessary backups (full db backup generated from phpmyadmin + full website backup generated with backup and migrate module), but even if the import processes seem to complete fine (I tried both in different clean installations) I never get any content to show up.

The website was originally in mydomain.eu it is now installed in subdomain.mydomain.eu (the db name has changed form the original one).

I am really not an expert and while I'm trying to dig info from existing webpages, I simply think that I lack some key understanding of how Drupal and restoring mechanisms work.

I do not understand if there are problems with the restore process or if there are other steps that must be taken before/after restoring.

If anybody could give me a hint on how to proceed I would really appreciate it!

Thank you

As clarificiations:

I do not need to bring back up the site exactly how it was (themes, modules,...), I am trying to restore its content so that it would be visible as a legacy (unmaintained) site.

Furthermore, since all of Drupal6 is now unmaintained I would update to Drupal7 as soon as I manage to complete the restore. I'm working with this approach, because I understood that is not wise (probably is not even doable) to restore a D6 backup into a D7 installation. If this is a wrong assumption of mine, I'd be happy to know and to restore directly to D7.

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

jenna.tollerson’s picture

jenna.tollerson
she/her
Primary language English
Location Atlanta, Georgia, USA
commented

Do you have a complete copy of your old codebase? Are you getting any error messages?

I do not need to bring back up the site exactly how it was (themes, modules,...)

You may not need to do that, but it is probably the most straight forward way to make it actually happen.

Also once you've restored, you might consider skipping D7 entirely and going straight to D8. 

gpod’s picture

gpod commented

Hi Jenna,

thank you for the reply

Yes, I also have a full download of the host root directory including /public_html, at moment of the latest backup. However, everything there is up-to-date with v6.29, while I'm trying to restore into an installation with v6.38 (that's the only option my hosting service provides).

I guess the correct procedure is to copy all public_html content into the root directory of the new installation (i.e. /subdomain folder).

Best,

g

jenna.tollerson’s picture

jenna.tollerson
she/her
Primary language English
Location Atlanta, Georgia, USA
commented

Using the latest version of 6.x is good, but I would just update it manually after you have restored your site. You might try this:

  1. Restore your database by importing it with phpmyadmin.
  2. Upload your complete copy of your site's code to your new subdomain webroot (i.e. "copy all public_html content into the root directory of the new installation (i.e. /subdomain folder)." just like you said.
  3. Edit the file at sites/default/settings.php and point it to your database. The line you need to edit will look like this:
    $db_url = 'mysql://username:password@localhost/databasename';

Assuming your file permissions and such are correct, this should get you a working copy of the site.

gpod’s picture

gpod commented 
Dear Jenna,

Great, thank you very much!
Following your steps did the trick!!

I will also follow your other suggestions on upgrade and making the website static.

thanks again

Best,
g
jenna.tollerson’s picture

jenna.tollerson
she/her
Primary language English
Location Atlanta, Georgia, USA
commented

:)

jenna.tollerson’s picture

jenna.tollerson
she/her
Primary language English
Location Atlanta, Georgia, USA
commented

I am trying to restore its content so that it would be visible as a legacy (unmaintained) site.

If you're not planning to maintain the site in the future, and just want the content accessible, you might consider converting it to a static site once you have your restored version working.