Thread

I’m moving a 3-site MSM installation from one host to another. I’ve copied the database and restored it on the new server and copied all the files over. I updated permissions on the files and directories per the installation instructions. I’ve updated the config.php file on the new server.

The site, except for a missing CSS file, seems to be more or less ok on the front-end, but the the control panel on the new server is completely blank, no source or anything.

My questions are:

* What can I do about the blank control panel? I’ve tried turning on error reporting in both config.php and index.php, but still nothing.

* Once my control panel is back, how can I test for the correct installation of the 2nd and 3rd websites before DNS propagates? Sorry, but I’m a newbie to MSM! I can test the installation of the primary site by using the host’s temporary url, but I’m confused about how to verify the other 2 sites are working properly. I’d like to know before we update the DNS if possible.

Thank you for your help!

Hi hwalker,

Let’s get your control panel up and running.

1. Which version and build are you using?
2. Have you verified your main site’s path.php has the correct path to the system directory?
3. If you’re using extensions, have you tried disabling extensions via config.php to see if that lets you in?

Hi Brandon,

It’s running 1.6.4 build 20080829.

I checked path.php and the path to the system directory is correct.

I also disabled extensions via config.php, but still have a blank control panel.

Before I login to the control panel, I noticed that it’s missing CSS. I’ve seen that before, and usually correct it after logging in by updating a path. This time though, logging in just gives a blank page. Strange.

Thanks for helping me with this.

hwalker,

A blank page is usually a suppressed error so lets see if we can get it showing.

EE Wiki : HowTo Turn on Error Reporting

Additional Note: If you cannot access the Control Panel due to errors on the site or templates not rendering, you can change the system/config.php $conf[‘debug’] value to 2 temporarily which will show PHP errors to everyone.  Remember to change this back to 0 or 1 when you’ve resolved your issues.

Are you running the same version of PHP on both hosts? A common scenario would be that your new host does not have PHP 5 and an extension like FieldFrame requires it.

Hi John,

I had error reporting enabled but it wasn’t showing anything until I added the ini_set directive. The only warning (no errors) I see now is on the front-end of the site:

Deprecated: Function eregi() is deprecated in /var/www/vhtdocs/userweb61977/html/engine/db/db.mysql.php on line 342

This is only at the top and bottom of the page, the rest is intact, and it’s only on the front-end, the cp is still blank.

In this case, the new server is running PHP 5.3.2, while the old one is running 4.4.9.

Thanks.

hwalker,

EE 1.6.4 is quite old and you’re likely running into a compatibility issue with it and PHP 5.3. Best course of action would be to update to 1.6.9.

We don’t recommend PHP 5.3 on production servers yet, but EE 1.6.9 will have a much better chance of working properly with it.

Hi Brandon,

I’m checking with the site owner about upgrading.

I’m a little worried that you said 1.6.9 would have a “much better chance” of working with PHP 5.3. Do you think there might still be problems even after upgrading to 1.6.9? I didn’t know php 5.3 was so problematic.

Thanks.

I’m a little worried that you said 1.6.9 would have a “much better chance” of working with PHP 5.3. Do you think there might still be problems even after upgrading to 1.6.9? I didn’t know php 5.3 was so problematic.

I don’t know how much anecdotal testing has been done with 1.6.9 and PHP5.3. I think that’s all he meant by it.

I’m going to upgrade the installation to 1.6.9.

Normally, we’re supposed to migrate the site completely before upgrading, but in this case, do you think it’s safe to just stop where I am, which is a migrated site with a working db, but no control panel, and just follow the upgrade procedure? Just wondering if there is anything special I should do since the migration wasn’t completely successful?

Thanks for you help!

The problem you are running into is the version difference between PHP versions. In order to fix this, you need to upgrade. There’s no other way around it.

Could you upgrade on the old server first to make sure things work there? Making db backups, of course.

Hi Sue,

I could upgrade on the live server first if you think that would make a difference.

If possible, I’d rather upgrade the new server since it’s not live and if everything blows up, I could just delete everything and start over. I’d hate to affect the live site if I don’t have to. If I *really* should the upgrade on the live server, let me know and I’ll do it.

Thanks.

No, go ahead an upgrade on the new server. Wasn’t sure if the other site was still live or not.

Thanks, will do. I’ll post back with the results of the upgrade.

We’ll be here.

I upgraded to 1.6.9 and that did the trick. Apparently, ee 1.6.4 and php 5.3 don’t get along. I’m not getting any css in the control panel, but I’m verifying the correct paths with the host.

Now that I can see the control panel, albeit unstyled, I was hoping to turn to the second part of my question. As an MSM newbie, how can I go about testing the other sites on this server? Until we transfer DNS, they seem to be just directories, and I’d like to verify that all is good as much as possible before we transfer the DNS.

Is there a way to do this before propagating the domain?

Thank you!