Thread

I’m trying to upgrade a site from 1.6.8 to 2.4.

I have started over three times now, checking that I’m doing everything written in the documentation: http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/installation/update_from_1.x.html

After finishing the upgrading successfully and deleting the folder “installer” as I’m told to - I can’t access either the control panel or the site. I get the message “Site Error: Unable to Load Site Preferences; Invalid Preference Data”.

I’m not using MSM. The only modules/addons/plugins I’m using is Freeform and i tried upgrading that to the newest version as well.

Where do I go from here? What is wrong?

Hi Visualis,

I’m sorry you are experiencing this trouble. During the upgrade process did you replace your index.php file with the new one from the zip file and added the admin.php from the zip as well. Be sure to open the file and edit the following to have the correct path to your system folder.

$system_path = ‘./system’;

Sean

Hi Sean.

Yes. I replaced my index.php + admin.php and edited the name of the system folder. The expressionengine/config/database.php looks correct. And the the expressionengine/config/config.php file also looks correct?

$config['app_version'] = '240';
$config['install_lock'] = "";
$config['license_number'] = "xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx";
$config['debug'] = "1";
$config['cp_url'] = "http://www.domain.com/system/index.php";
$config['doc_url'] = "http://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/";
$config['is_system_on'] = "y";
$config['allow_extensions'] = 'y';
$config['cookie_prefix'] = '';

i also tried

$config['cp_url'] = "http://www.domain.com/admin.php";

Hello Visualis,

I am very sorry that you are running into this.

$config[‘cp_url’] = “http://www.domain.com/admin.php”;  is correct, I would use that.

Did you run the server wizard first? I am just wondering if the MySQL driver is working here. What version of MySQL and PHP are you running? The requirements for 2.4 are different than 1.6.8.

If you check out the MySQL stuff and it all looks good, then here are some more questions. Yay! 😊

You have confirmed that $system_path = ‘—-’; is set correctly. This is good, as this is most often the cause for this error.

How do the permissions look?

They should match:

Set the following files to 666:
        system/expressionengine/config/config.php
        system/expressionengine/config/database.php
    Set the following folders to 777:
        system/expressionengine/cache/ (and subfolders)

I know I am something you may have already done, I just want to make sure that this is not something simple first.

I have also seen this error with database passwords that were changed, so the config had the wrong password. Can you double check that?

Let me know what you find and we can go from there.

Cheers,

Hi Shane

I just ran the server wizard, and all features are marked with a green “Yes”. MySQL stuff looks good, then.
Permissions looks good as well.
MySQL password is correct.

More ideas for me?

Thanks.

Hi Visualis,

Does your MySQL password happen to contain a “$” character as part of the string? This can have an effect depending on the quotation mark style used in /system/expressionengine/config/database.php Check that your password value is wrapped in single quotes vs. double quotes:

$db['expressionengine']['password'] = "pa$$word"; <- this will pass the Wizard, but fail in usage.

rather, use
$db['expressionengine']['password'] = 'pa$$word';

If that’s not the case, then we will keep working with you to sort this out!

Cheers,

Thank you for your reply, Dan.
I just checked: No “$” characters and no double quotes. This is what my database.php looks like:

<?php  if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

$active_group = 'expressionengine';
$active_record = TRUE;

$db['expressionengine']['hostname'] = 'XXXXXX';
$db['expressionengine']['username'] = 'XXXXXX';
$db['expressionengine']['password'] = 'XXXXXX';
$db['expressionengine']['database'] = 'XXXXXX';
$db['expressionengine']['dbdriver'] = 'mysql';
$db['expressionengine']['dbprefix'] = 'XXXXXX';
$db['expressionengine']['pconnect'] = FALSE;
$db['expressionengine']['swap_pre'] = 'exp_';
$db['expressionengine']['db_debug'] = TRUE;
$db['expressionengine']['cache_on'] = FALSE;
$db['expressionengine']['autoinit'] = FALSE;
$db['expressionengine']['char_set'] = 'utf8';
$db['expressionengine']['dbcollat'] = 'utf8_general_ci';
$db['expressionengine']['cachedir'] = 'XXXXXX';

/* End of file database.php */
/* Location: ./system/expressionengine/config/database.php */

If you need to take a look at a copy of the database or the files or anything, you are welcome.

I am also trying to upgrade from EE 1.6.8 to 2.4 on localhost and having the same issue.

At first, I’ve tried to upgrade on my Mac with numerous errors during the upgrade process. After reading some forum posts on this topic, I’ve tried it on my Win7 PC. This time, there were no erros when upgrading but cannot access either CP nor the site with this message after the successful upgrade:

Site Error: Unable to Load Site Preferences; Invalid Preference Data

Any ideas?

Hi Visualis,

Thanks for verifying that for me!

I’ve got a couple of other things for you to double check.

Let’s make sure that the /system/index.php and index.php are indeed the files included with 2.4 and not the versions of those files left over from 1.x The 2 versions are vastly different. On that note, it also important to make sure not to mix up /system/index.php and index.php

Now, let’s have a look at the site preferences themselves. If you have access to your database, I need you to go into the table exp_sites. In that table will be a column named site_preferences. Copy the entire contents of that field and paste them into this un-serializer utility. Be sure to check the base64 box. The utility will decode and output your site preferences.

If you get output, obfuscate any sensitive details and post it back here.

@Kim Ryu Hyun,
What have you tried so far? Have you followed the steps outlined so far in this thread?

Cheers,

Hi Dan.

I checked again that index.php and admin.php are from the 2.4 version. I even replaced them again and edited the system_path again, to be sure.

I found the exp_sites table in my database. Then I have a column named site_system_preferences - not site_preferences. Is that correct? When I copy the content from that field into the un-serializer utility i got no output… I did check the base64 box. Does this help us find out what is wrong?

Hi Visualis,

Yup, sorry for the confusion, that is the column I was referring to.

When I copy the content from that field into the un-serializer utility i got no output… I did check the base64 box. Does this help us find out what is wrong?

That’s something we will want to get in and take a look at. Be on the lookout for an email from us.

Cheers,

Hi Dan,

I’m following along on this thread. I’ve exact same issue as Visualis so far. I also have a column named site_system_preferences - not site_preferences.

When I copy the content from that field into the un-serializer utility i got no output… I did check the base64 box.

Hello Kim Ryu Hyun,

Stay tuned and I am sure Dan will post the results of the private support session.

Hoping for a quick resolution.

Thank you,

I’m having the same issue as well.  I have followed the exact steps described above and my unserialized output was also blank.

Hi
The same here for me. If i check the base64 box the result is “Not a valid input! “
If i uncheck the box i geht a list of preferences (an array).