My How-To On Migrating from VM1 to VM2

[Todd Qualls]

I have been working on migrating a Joomla site to VM2 over the last several weeks using several different builds of VM2.  The latest I have used is 2.0.6 and I believe I finally have a clean migration from a data standpoint.

There were a few "gotchas" along the way, so I have written a "How-to" on my blog about what I have learned. I hope others will find it helpful.

http://www.teqknowledgy.com/index.php/news/28-articles/44-how-to-virtuemart-1x-to-2x-migration-

Cheers,

Todd Qualls

[apelsinno]

Thanks for your efforts! i´m still thinking about this migrating step, your writing gives me courage.

[Arni]

What was the reason that you think that it's better to migrate VM before the Joomla upgrade instead of after? I mean, is there any other reason than the design itself?

And also, if you uninstall the component and modules in the old installation, wont the users and all their orders be deleted? What will you have to migrate into the new system then?

[Todd Qualls]

What was the reason that you think that it's better to migrate VM before the Joomla upgrade instead of after? I mean, is there any other reason than the design itself?

Joomla also has a new database schema that you have to get familiar with. When you migrate Joomla, your compatible extensions (e.g., VirtueMart) get migrated too and all of your VM associated shop data in the Joomla MySQL database gets moved over to the new Joomla schema at the same time. My thinking was that it was easier to get VM2 stabilized and understand its schema changes before I tackled understanding the Joomla changes. I have tried it the other way (i.e., migrated Joomla first) and from a data perspective, I found the VM, then Joomla order to give me an easier time of it from a database perspective. Keep in mind that when I say "migration" I'm really talking about the database. Once you have your shop data moved over to VM2 and can enter and calculate shipping for an order, I would then migrate Joomla without working on your shop formatting and layout. The reason for this is that the templating for both Joomla and VM2 are completely different now. If you work on your VM2 store template before migrating Joomla, you are going to have to do your VM2 template layout changes all over again. That would be a major waste of efforts.

And also, if you uninstall the component and modules in the old installation, wont the users and all their orders be deleted? What will you have to migrate into the new system then?

No, when you uninstall the extensions, your data in the Joomla database remains untouched. Again, it's the database that gets migrated, the VM2 php files are all new, so you don't want the old VM1 files cluttering up your file structure.

[Todd Qualls]

As a follow-up to my original post in this thread, I want to disclose that I have decided not to proceed with the migration to VM2. I go into detail about my rationale for this on my blog: http://www.teqknowledgy.com/index.php/news/28-articles/45-so-long-virtuemart.

The short-story is this: unless you are an experienced PHP and MySQL developer, you are better off waiting for more third-party plug-ins and extensions to become available and for the core VM2 product itself to mature. If you have a working VM1 store, as has been posted in this forum previously, I recommend you keep everything as is for now. This also means that you *should not* migrate to Joomla 2.5 either, or else you will need to make significant changes to your Joomla template to accommodate the new way VM2 does templating.

I will be happy to share what I have learned with others that choose to migrate now, but you should make sure you have some compelling reason for doing so. Everyone's situation is different, so my rationale for holding off on the migration might not make sense for you.

I will try to check back on this forum from time to time, but a more reliable way to contact me can be found through my blog.

Best of luck to all, VirtueMart team included.

Best Regards,

Todd Qualls

[911websiterepair]

Hi Todd

I agree with your points. At 911websiterepair.com we get calls from potential customers who what to upgrade. Before we agree we have to check for feasibility, and in most cases its still too early and the upgrade cannot be done. Partly because so many of the components and modules used on the old site are not available for the new virtuemart 2.0 site. Especially paypalpro and shipping modules. Then if their site has been customized, all those customizations also need to be rewritten, and that leaves the issue of the new DB schema.

Actually, we get requests all day to fix failed upgrades, some done by novices who just did not understand, but many by professional developers who failed.

The big push to get everyone to upgrade is premature. VM 2.0 is a nightmare for any but the most basic websites. I do believe it will be better in the future. We also believe that people should wait for that time when all the needed features are working and ready to go.

Your old site will not explode or stop working if you don't upgrade. If it is stable, leave it alone and wait. Your customers don't know or care what version is in use, as long as they can make their purchases. You can also keep your site secure with some basic steps that work quite well. There are many security components that i recommend, like rsfirewall. You can also simply through an htaccess file in your administrator folder and white list IPs that are allowed access to your admin.

again, I agree with Todd,  WAIT !!

[Todd Qualls]

Thanks, geekhead.  Like you, I also believe VM2 will be a great product at some point, but it's just not there yet. 

I guess the developers are anxious to start making some money, which I can empathize with, but I think they are doing the existing VM1 user base a disservice by encouraging them to upgrade stable, productive sites. I'm also disappointed that the moderators of this forum have "unstickied" my original post after I gave my opinion that most people should wait. I do think my original post about my "how-to" would still be of great assistance to people that are struggling with an existing migration. Now it will be harder for people to find information that will help them. That's really too bad.

[paulyap2k]

Build on previous partial success of VM 1.x to 2.x + Joola 1.5.x to 2.5.x migration, I have a completed migration with all VM product data, users with guides below

https://forum.virtuemart.net/index.php?topic=102783.0

[Todd Qualls]

Paulyap2k,

How are you handling "Product Attributes" and "Child Products" in your migration? In order for your guide to be "COMPLETE" for my situation and that of many others, your guide would have to address that subject.

[paulyap2k]

@ Todd. thanks for pointing this out.
The migration involves a simple catalogs of 1k+ product types without child and attributes, which needs to be enter by hand. Besides that all other information including product categories are migrated.

[Nimeshin]

Hey all

I migrated VM to version 2.0.6 from 1.1.9. The only reason i migrated a live functional site was because i was getting a currency error and the solution to the problem was update to the latest version of VM. I followed the migration steps from the link above which works well, didn't encounter any errors.

I eventually had to upgrade joomla to 2.5 because the payment gateway plugin would not work correctly on Joomla 1.5 and VM 2.0.6
I used jupgrade to upgrade joomla which works well... but doesn't migrate VM as promised to the new 2.5.4 installation. So I installed VM 2.0.6 to the new joomla 2.5.4 platform and ended up doing the migrate process of VM again which works 100%

I now have a site running Joomla 2.5.4 and VM 2.0.6 with all my categories and products with 2 major problems
When you register on the site during the checkout process, you recieve the activation email, however you can click on it, it takes you back to the home page of the website and when you try to login, it says your account is not activated.
Another problem is when you complete a purchase, the user and the administrator does not receive any notifcation emails

If you have a working site at the moment, do not waste your time and energy on migrating, the bugs are still there!!!!
Posted these faults above and waiting for fixes, so now I have a site down!

[jenkinhill]

When you register on the site during the checkout process, you recieve the activation email, however you can click on it, it takes you back to the home page of the website and when you try to login, it says your account is not activated.

This is believed to be a session issue which has appeared following a recent Joomla 2.5 version update. ( http://forum.virtuemart.net/index.php?topic=98835.msg341663#msg341663 )  I have user registration set to "New User Account Activation: None" so there is no roadblock to purchasers having to wait for an email to continue with their purchase.

Another problem is when you complete a purchase, the user and the administrator does not receive any notifcation emails

I have not had a problem with this on my servers, but a client of mine did on his low cost shared server. On using Akeeba to move his site to my server the mail started working properly. I know this is not the answer for everyone but it suggests to me that there can be issues with some server setups. Some invoicing and mail options have been improved in VM2.0.7c - but this is a development version, not advisable to use this on a live site.

[johnnyleppzxx]

Thx!!!

[Nimeshin]

Thanks Jenkinhill

I have re-installed VM 2.0.6 (do not uninstall first) and then  uninstalled and re-installed my payment module, email problem sorted out.