User Activation links broken after vb5 upgrade, site name variable not working

[villagepress]

The story so far...

Migrating and upgrading from an older ubuntu server onto 16.4LTS on a new server-- the mail server has not changed.

The Problem:
After upgrading to v5 the new user Activation emails no longer include hyper links. No errors were encountered during upgrade. We have three other vBulletin installs that are functioning correctly on the new server which makes me think the issue is in the database.

Details:

MySQL changed from 5.5.52-0ubuntu0.12.04.1 to 5.7.19-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 - (Ubuntu)
PHP changed from 5.3.10-1ubuntu3.24 to 7.0.22-0ubuntu0.16.04.1
vBulletin changed from 4.2.2 PL5 to 5.3.2 PL1

Any direction or suggestions would be great.




Example of missing links:

Dear $username,

Thank you for registering at the $vboptions[bbtitle], the official bulletin board of The Home Shop Machinist, Machinist's Workshop, and Digital Machinist magazines. Before we can activate your account one last step must be taken to complete your registration.

Please note - you must complete this last step to become a registered member. You will only need to visit this url once to activate your account.

To complete your registration, please visit this url: 
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=act&u=$userid&i=$activateid 

<a href="$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=act&u=$userid&i=$activateid">America Online Users Please Visit Here to be Activated</a>

**** Does The Above URL Not Work? ****
If the above url does not work, please use your Web browser to go to:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?a=ver 

Please be sure not to add extra spaces. You will need to type in your username and activation number on the page that appears when you visit the url. 

Your Username is: $username
Your Activation ID is: $activateid

If you are still having problems signing up please contact a member of our support staff at $vboptions[webmasteremail]

All the best,
$vboptions[bbtitle]


--------------------
To stop receiving this email, please visit this url:
$vboptions[bburl]/register.php?do=deleteactivation&u=$userid&i=$activateid