Locked out of my own forum

[dwf_michael]

I've just moved my VB forum from a VPS to a shared server situation. All the files have moved correctly and the forum is semi-functional at the new location (the main page comes up, but nothing is linked to it).

The problem is that VB can't link up with any of its supporting files (either graphics or php files). We've figured out the source problem and changed the Apache alias file on the server, but now I need to make the corresponding change to the forum location field inside VB.

But because VB now has the wrong forum location field setting inside VB, I can't log in. Every attempt to log in just gives me "404 file not found".

Any ideas on how I can log into VB under these circumstances?

[ForceHSS]

Have you tried uploading all default files for your version and running the upgrade.php script or the tools.php file or both if needed

[dwf_michael]

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

Have you tried uploading all default files for your version and running the upgrade.php script or the tools.php file or both if needed

No, I haven't tried that.

We originally were able to log into VB at the new location and we changed the forum location setting in an attempt to solve the problem with the new server location but that wasn't the actual problem - the problem was in the Apache alias/redirects. Now that we've resolved the Apache alais/redirects issue, we now have a wrong forum location setting inside vb and that seems to be preventing the log-in. None of the VB page links work and none of the graphic elements show up (presumably because VB can't find those files where it is looking for them).

--------------- Added [DATE]1373120678[/DATE] at [TIME]1373120678[/TIME] ---------------

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

Have you tried uploading all default files for your version and running the upgrade.php script or the tools.php file or both if needed

I don't seem to have those .php files on my server (either original server or new server).

Ultimately, what I really need to do is correct the forum location setting inside VB. That's the problem. I need to log into VB to do that but I can't log into VB because it has the wrong forum location setting inside VB.

[ForceHSS]

You need to redownload the pack from the members area if you do use the tools.php remember to remove it after done you will find it in the do not upload folder

[kh99]

If you can get to the database (like using phpMyAdmin), then you could edit the field there, but it's a little tricky. You'd want to go to the datastore table and look for the row where title='options' and edit the value of the data field. It has the values of all the options in serialized format, so you need to search through the text looking for the value you need to change, and if the new value has a different length you'd also need to edit the length field. For example, if the field was currently set to "foo", somewhere in the data you'd find s:3:"foo", and if you wanted to change it to "something" you'd change it to s:9:"something".

If you get to the admincp after editing it, the options will still show the old value so the first thing you want to do is find that option and change it again (if you change anything else first, then the field you changed will go back to the old value).

Obviously this is a bit complicated if you aren't used to doing things like this, and it could be dangerous if you change the wrong thing (so you'd want to have a database backup if you don't already). Also, I'm not sure if that's what your problem is, I'm just going by what you said.

[ForceHSS]

or put in a support ticket see if they will do it for you

[dwf_michael]

Originally Posted by kh99

If you can get to the database (like using phpMyAdmin), then you could edit the field there, but it's a little tricky. You'd want to go to the datastore table and look for the row where title='options' and edit the value of the data field. It has the values of all the options in serialized format, so you need to search through the text looking for the value you need to change, and if the new value has a different length you'd also need to edit the length field. For example, if the field was currently set to "foo", somewhere in the data you'd find s:3:"foo", and if you wanted to change it to "something" you'd change it to s:9:"something".

If you get to the admincp after editing it, the options will still show the old value so the first thing you want to do is find that option and change it again (if you change anything else first, then the field you changed will go back to the old value).

Obviously this is a bit complicated if you aren't used to doing things like this, and it could be dangerous if you change the wrong thing (so you'd want to have a database backup if you don't already). Also, I'm not sure if that's what your problem is, I'm just going by what you said.

Originally Posted by ForceHSS

or put in a support ticket see if they will do it for you

Wow. I think I should follow ForceHSS's suggestion for that!

Alternatively, I'm thinking to just over-write my forum database sql file with my backup copy from the move. That has internal settings that are correct since they would be unchanged.

Btw, if I recall correctly, there are three settings inside VB options for the forum location setting. All three have to be corrected.