upgrade hosted Confluence 5.7 to 7.3
Asked by George I. Develekos:

Hello,

I need to upgrade as in the subject, while of course keeping all data.OS is CentOS 6.10.

The complete 7.3 manual on p.1136 talks about an unzipping followed by a couple of changes in some property files, with no reference to the data in the repository (!!), as if all one is looking for is a software upgrade.

On the contrary, when I downloaded 7.3 a while ago, I saw that one can only execute (not unzip) the BIN large file, and it offers an option to upgrade an existing installation.

This is rather confusing, to see a discrepancy between the doc and the software package.

In any case I need to upgrade safely, and keep all data. I already have an empty database waiting to serve the new installation, since the old one runs on MySQL 5.5.

Thanks for any pointers,

George


Answers:
author: George I. Develekos
body: I made a new installation because I followed the link I posted earlier, from official docs. I can't rely on your help alone, I have to use what docs I can find from Atlassian.

I talked about setting up a new mysql because I'm working on the live server, so I can't upgrade it, it's too risky. LIve is running 5.5.23, so I set up a fresh 5.5.62, backup/restore from 5.5.23, than a fresh 5.6.46, backup/restore from 5.5.62, and now my 5.6.46 contains all live data. These installations are done not using YUM but using the generic Linux binaries under /home/mysqlXYZ directory.

Now about tomorrow:

Based on your answer I'll create a fresh empty db on my 5.6.46, and point the fresh 5.7.1 confluence to it, and then I'll restore the XML backup into it. If it comes up OK, I'll run the 7.3 installation and follow the upgrade option during the setup.

Sounds good?

Again, million thanks for your help.


author: George I. Develekos
body: Thanks JP,

Indeed the new license worked fine on the 2nd 5.7.1 installation.

However, as I'm pointing it to the upgraded MySQL, it complains that it contains tables, and asks to remove them. In order words, it expects a fresh empty database.

How do I make it use this database as a valid existing database?

comments: author: JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_
body: Hi,

you cannot just install a new Confluence \& point it to an existing database.

1. Create a COPY of your production server (Confluence install \& home directory \& DATABASE. Database copy MUST be using the same database server version as before)

2. Get that copy running. You will have to modify the server.xml (IP address, datasource)

3 . If the copy is running, shut it down

4. You can now upgrade your database server running the copy to a new version (MySQL 5.6 -\> 5.7)

5. Startup your copy Confluence \& check if everything is working with the new database server version

6. If everything is fine, shut down copy Confluence

7. Upgrade the copy Confluence to the desired version

Best

JP


author: George I. Develekos
body: Well I'm officially confused now.

In your initial answer, you wrote that I must move to 5.6 and stay there since it's supported by 7.3, so I don't understand why you are now talking about mysql 5.7 in your step 4 above.

This official document <https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/migrating-to-another-database-148867.html> in step 4 talks about making a NEW installation, not a copy of the existing one as you suggest. That's why today I made a new installation as I try to move to my new upgraded mysql 5.6. It also talks about a data-loading step which I never saw...........

I can't understand your steps above, especially your step 4. There is no "database upgrade", all I can do (and have done) is install 5.5.62 and import the 5.5.23 backup, and then install a new 5.6.46 and import the 5.5.62 backup. That's how I have gotten to version 5.6.46.

What about the XML backup? Where does this come into play?

I don't want to be a burden to you, is there a TESTED list of detailed steps for me to follow? I have spent 3 days now on this with limited progress because of the long list of steps and outdated docs.

I have a license code, I have the software, I have an upgraded database, and STILL it seems like a mountain to climb........


author: JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_
body: Hi,

I might have mixed up your database version from 5.5 to 5.6.

Anyway it's hard to give some advice when you don't follow the steps I outlined in my first post. Why did you install a second Confluence 5.7.1 ? I didn't wrote anything about setting up a new Confluence server. Please create a copy of your running Confluence server first. This will be your Staging / Test Environment. This will not work by installing a new Confluence server \& letting it point to a copy of the database...

But you might as well setup a new Confluence server with a NEW database, create a xml backup from your old server, import that backup on your new server, and go on with the upgrade from there.

And sorry, you are not migrating to another database. You're upgrading your database server to a newer version. This is something completely different...

Are you the MySQL administrator of the database server? Upgrading from MySQL 5.5 to 5.6 will be covered by the MySQL documentation. This doesn't influence your current Confluence server installation.

Hope to lead you the right path.

Best

JP


author: JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_
body: Hi,

as printed documentation tends to be outdated fast, I would stick to:

<https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/upgrading-confluence-4578.html>

**In your case, you MUST upgrade your database to MySQL 5.6.16 or higher BEFORE upgrading Confluence. DO NOT UPGRADE TO A MYSQL VERSION 5.7 OR HIGHER.** As MySQL 5.6 is supported by your current Confluence 5.7 AND is still supported on Confluence 7.3, you shouldn't run into database problems on the Confluence upgrade.

After a successful upgrade of database \& Confluence, you can decide to move to a newer MySQL version at a later date.

Advice: Don't upgrade database \& Confluence at the same time. You will run into serious problems.

To sum it up:

1. Shutdown your current Confluence 5.7

2. Upgrade your MySQL to the latest 5.6 version

3. Startup your Confluence 5.7 \& make sure everything is working OK.

4. Shutdown your current Confluence 5.7

5. Upgrade Confluence to 7.3 (See upgrade guide at top)

**TRY THIS ON A TEST/STAGING ENVIRONMENT FIRST**

Best

JP

comments: author: George I. Develekos
body: Thanks a lot for your detailed answer.

I'm following your instructions, keeping my fingers crossed.


author: George I. Develekos
body: HI JP,

I have upgraded MySQL to 5.6.46, and now I see that I need to install a new Confluence 5.7.1 that will use this new MySQL.

I have also renewed my existing license.

Do I use the same renewed license in the 2nd 5.7.1 that I just mentioned?

And when I upgrade it to the (final) 7.3.1, will I still use the same license?

Thanks again,

George


author: JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_
body: Hi,

you will always use the new license. It's not bound to a version, only on the product (Confluence Server) \& the user count.

Best

JP


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