[Mediawiki-l] Using export/import instead of upgrading

[Sean McAfee]

Frames Project wrote:
 > Hello
 >
 > I would like to know why, instead of upgrading from a very old Mediawiki
 > version the following procedure is not possible :

You can but with just a dump/restore, at the very least, you'll lose 
user accounts (I'm not entirely sure how that works for images either).

Restoring everything - including accounts and preferences - is possible 
if you're not afraid of databases.  I used the following procedure to do 
a complete dump & rebuild (including users) on my PostgreSQL-based install:

1. Dump content (dumpBackup.php --full)
2. Populate database on new install via config/
3. Replace the generated LocalSettings.php
4. Run importDump.php
5. Export some tables:
pg_dump mediawiki.image -a > mediawiki.image.dump
pg_dump mediawiki.oldimage -a > mediawiki.oldimage.dump
pg_dump mediawiki.mwuser -a > mediawiki.mwuser.dump
pg_dump mediawiki.recentchanges -a > mediawiki.recentchanges.dump
pg_dump mediawiki.user_groups -a > mediawiki.user_groups.dump
pg_dump mediawiki.interwiki -a > mediawiki.interwiki.dump (NOTE: I only 
dumped this because we use custom IW prefixes)
pg_dump mediawiki.watchlist -a > mediawiki.watchlist.dump
pg_dump mediawiki.pagecontent -a > mediawiki.pagecontent.dump

6. Reimport in the required order:
TRUNCATE mediawiki.pagecontent;
\i mediawiki.pagecontent.dump
TRUNCATE mediawiki.mwuser cascade;
\i mediawiki.mwuser.dump
\i mediawiki.user_groups.dump
TRUNCATE mediawiki.image cascade;
TRUNCATE mediawiki.oldimage cascade;
\i mediawiki.image.dump
\i mediawiki.oldimage.dump
\i mediawiki.recentchanges.dump
\i mediawiki.interwiki.dump
\i mediawiki.watchlist.dump

YMMV, but the only problem I've encountered so far was a screwed up 
sequence in the user IDs that was fixed with an ALTER SEQUENCE ... 
RESTART. 

As a disclaimer, there could be plenty of other things that may go wrong 
with this procedure as it relates the DB dumps/restores.  We're 
fortunate enough to have staff that could debug and fix any of these 
problems should they come up.  I really wouldn't recommend doing 
anything beyond Step 4 if you (or your company/organization) don't have 
the experience and PHP/SQL knowledge to do serious debugging and fixing.

-- 
Sean McAfee
System Engineer

Collaborative Fusion, Inc.
 smcafee at collaborativefusion.com
 412-422-3463 x 4025

5849 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217

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