I'm checking back in after being away for a couple of months and I missed the 3.1 release. I can't seem to find any info on what's new in 3.1 and also what the upgrade path should be. So, is the recommended path for upgrading from v 2.1.2 to go directly to 3.1 or do I need to go to 3.0.13 first? Are there any big issues in 3.1 that make it a "gotta have it" version?

I did a couple of 2.1.2 to 3.0.12 upgrades but haven't upgraded to or tested 3.1 yet. I have one 2.1.2 site that is commercial and I need it to be down as little time as possible. It also has a lot of third party modules.

Thank you.

Tamara - I know the core team guys have been working on the upgrade path - over the last few days - it's part of the release process and they have been making some changes and updates.  DNN continues to have an upgrade path but only with core installations. 

I suggest you investigate the support for the third party modules - and even though I have a couple of commercial sites and doing two things - 
evaluating if they really need to go to DNN3 - If their site is working well, and happy with it, then why move.. 
For other clients, I've given the option to have a dev environment to test if they want to move to 3.

However the good side i see about dnn3, is the abilty for future upgrading with the abilty to export portals, elements of content.

The process as I understand is that you go from 2.1.2 >>> Latest version.  DNN does the rest.

The key is to check your modules -  
Because my preference is to start from scratch, due to miserable upgrading attempts with hair pulling frustration, because I was running with modules that were not behaving like they should, it was nothing short of disastrous, and probably using beta versions too - and didn't read the manual carefully enough didn't help.  

But since DNN3, I've felt alot more confidence in how the long term management because it's really becoming quite a polished solution, from the design element, through the ability to export information, and port to different locations with much more confidence.. And the methodology and management overall makes DNN3 worth the effort to move in my opinion.

Hope this gives you some thoughts and I looke forward to other comments from people who go down this path - because secretly it would be JUST GREAT to have a seamless update, with all those modules attached and working without error!. *sigh* but it wouldn't be software then would it.

Nina Meiers

Nina Meiers

 xddg wrote:
But since DNN3, I've felt alot more confidence in how the long term management because it's really becoming quite a polished solution, from the design element, through the ability to export information, and port to different locations with much more confidence.. And the methodology and management overall makes DNN3 worth the effort to move in my opinion.


Nina, thank you for the insight. Yes, I do want this client on V3 because it will enhance their use and also the upgrades to the modules will work better for them. I am aware of the issue with 3rd party modules needing to be removed before any upgrade attemps are started. (I am concerned about lossing the data in the modules.) 

But I read a few threads that the upgrade to 3.1 had a few different issues than the upgrade to 3.0.12 or 3.0.13. I was wondering if v3.1 had any significant structural changes that would affect the upgrade. Or do I simply follow the outlined steps for 3.0.13 and add in the step to not overwrite the web.config file (which apparently needs to be renamed .resource)?

I'm going to ask one of the core team guys who knows more about the upgrade behaviour path.

The main thing is backup - web.config before doing anything.. 
Nina Meiers
Nina Meiers

The current upgrades using 3.1 from any previous DNN version can have some snags but are pretty good for the most part.  At this point though, I would honestly hold this off until 3.1.1 because I know upgrades were more of a focus this time than previous installs.  I can almost promise you ever single module will need to be upgraded.  I would investigate this and evaluate your decisions on a module by module case.  Some module may not have an upgrade path and in some cases it may be better to use a new module anyways.  This of course depends on many things which cannot be covered in this post.  The 3.1.1 release is just around the corner and I really think it is worth holding off until then. 
Chris Paterra


 

Forgive me, but I have to ask... it wouldn't do your post justice if I didn't. Any rough estimate of the timeframe in days or weeks of the 3.1.1 release? 

And are you implying that this may be a breaking upgrade for many 3rd party modules? 

If there are features that my client expects to have and I have to wait on a module update to run under 3.1.1, then I'll have to wait on updating to v3.1.1 and only go up to 3.0.13 or 3.1. I've promised then some improvements and simply can't wait any longer.

The 3.1.1 should take days (it's a little overdue already).
Provided there are no major issues found in the latest build that is ...

If you can't wait for 3.1.1 then you should be able to upgrade to 3.1.0 from 2.x just as easily as first to 3.0.13 and then to 3.1.0.
Just read the documentation (although the machine keys issues are no problem if you upgrade from 2.x, only if you did a fresh install of 3.0.13).

There are no breaking changes in 3.1.1 for the modules (that I know of).
Geert Veenstra

I have done an upgrade from 2.1.2 to 3.1 with the only issues being around V2 custom modules.  

The process I used was:


  
Move ALL the modules from the home page to another page I called
V2HomePage, this was done in case any modules on the home page thre
errors after updating that prevented me logging into the install.
  
detach/copy the database and install files.
  
I used Virtual PC (trial version -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=360cafd6-5098-4c64-9ca7-a30f225859f6&DisplayLang=en) 
to create a server image (using trial software
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/downloads/trialsoftware/default.mspx)
installed MSDE and then attached the backed up database and set up a
web site in IIS, checked it was working then upgarded to 3.1.  You
can use this to work out any issues.  when happy.
  
Updated live version
  
Moved working modules back to home page
  
Relaxed!

Hope this helps

Antony

 thecrispy1 wrote:
The 3.1.1 release is just around the corner
and I really think it is worth holding off until then. 


 Geert wrote:
The 3.1.1 should take days (it's a little overdue
already). Provided there are no major issues found in the latest build
that is ...




Does anyone have an update on the 3.1.1 release? I know that no one
wants to set a deadline or give a timeframe because of the backlash on
missed deadlines and quality assurance issues. But it has been 23 days
since these quotes were posted and 7 days since the last update message
was posted to the DNN site. I am waiting on updating a commercial site
from 2.1.2 and next Tuesday will be my deadline for updating. Because
it is commercial I don't anticipate being able to update them again
soon.



Tamara

Tamara,

I can not help with release dates. I am waiting too. But I can suggest that you copy your commercial database to a test PC get it working on a DNN 2 test environment, then do an upgrade to 3.1.0 to start working on any issues. Then when 3.1.1 comes out you will be prepared to upgrade the production database with knowledge of what your problem areas will be.

In fact there are many processes you can take which are safer than an inplace upgrade.
John

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www.dotnetnukesites.com

Take the weekend off... plan to spend a long night in the office on Monday... but check posts between now and then.

*wink*
Scott Willhite
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly... what is essential is invisible to the eye. 
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I am happy to report that I upgraded a small site from 2.1.2 to 3.1.1
simply by uploading the install package files and updating the
web.config file. I did not remove any of the third-party modules
(installed include weather, Articles, Webstone.Shadow, Random Photo,
Inventua players, and MyBlog). The installer ran perfectly and the site
was available again. The site did not have more than 3 accounts, but
the account info was lost. The host and admin were set back to the
defaults and 1 user account was missing. Only other issue was that
MyBlog returned an error.