Moving a Store's Data Directory, Products and Pages
These instructions are written for the server administrator rather than the merchant, because they require the creation of auth files and access to the command line interface of the server.
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The terms "old server" and "new server" are used in these instructions to refer to the server that is currently hosting the store and the server that the store is moving to, respectively. Likewise for "old store" and "new store."
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This method of moving a store involves copying the store's data directory to the new server.
- Verify that both servers are running the same version of ShopSite. Do not attempt to move a store and upgrade it at the same time. If the old server is running an older version of ShopSite, upgrade it before moving the store.
- In most situations, you will need a new store.auth file for the new store. Contact your ShopSite reseller to obtain the new file.
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If you will be using the same domain name for the new store that you had for the old store (for example, www.mystore.com), you may have run into problems when you are ready to test the new store while the old store is still running. Read about creating a hosts file on your computer for help with this issue.
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- On the new server, use the new auth file (or the temporary one) to install a new store.
- On the old server, go to the store's data directory and create a tar file from all files except the storeid.auth file.
$ cd ~/www/data
$ mv storeid.auth ..
$ tar cvf storedata.tar *
$ mv ../storeid.auth .
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It is very important when moving a ShopSite 7.x store to include the shopsite_db.default with the files you move. Failure to move this file will cause errors if you try to upgrade the store in the future.
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- FTP the tar file to the store's data directory on new server.
- Untar the file into the store's data directory on the new server. This copies over the vast majority of the store's configuration information, plus the store's products and pages databases.
- Follow the instructions for copying over any media files and HTML files, and making a few configuration changes.
This method of moving a store involves copying configuration files from the store's data directory, then downloading and uploading the products and pages databases.
- Verify that both servers are running the same version of ShopSite. Do not attempt to move a store and upgrade it at the same time. If the old server is running an older version of ShopSite, upgrade it before moving the store.
- In most situations, you will need a new store.auth file for the new store. Contact your ShopSite reseller to obtain the new file.
Note: |
If you will be using the same domain name for the new store that you had for the old store (for example, www.mystore.com), you may have run into problems when you are ready to test the new store while the old store is still running. Read about creating a hosts file on your computer for help with this issue.
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- On the new server, use the new auth file (or the temporary one) to install a new store.
- On the old server, go to the store's data directory and create a tar file from all files with a .aa or a .dat extension.
$ cd ~/www/data
$ tar cvf storedata.tar *aa *dat
- FTP the tar file to the store's data directory on the new server.
- Untar the file into the store's data directory on the new server. This copies over the vast majority of the store's configuration information.
- In the old store, log in as the merchant (or have the merchant perform steps 7-13) and go to Utilities > Database > Upload/Download.
- Select the Products database, then click Download to download it to a file on your local computer.
- Select the Pages database, then click Download to download it to a file on your local computer.
- Log into the new store. Since this is the first time you've logged in, you will see the ShopSite Setup Wizard. Click the ShopSite tab in the upper left corner to bypass the Wizard.
- In the new store, go to Utilities > Database > Upload/Download.
- Select the Products database, then click Upload to upload the file that you downloaded in step 8. Click the Help icon on each screen if you need more information on how to upload product information.
- Select the Pages database, then click Upload to upload the file that you downloaded in step 9.
- Follow the instructions for copying over any media files and HTML files, and making a few configuration changes.
These steps copy across images and custom HTML files used in the store, and set a few configuration options that are not stored in the data directory.
- Copy the media directory from the old store to the new store, or upload images to the new store, including any product and page graphics, and any custom buttons.
- For ShopSite SC stores that were using a real-time credit card processor, go to Commerce Setup > Payment and reselect the correct payment processor. You should not need to reenter the settings for that processor.
- For ShopSite TX stores, go to the Commerce Center in the new store and configure payment methods, tax, and shipping.
- Set the location of the server access logs. Located in Reports > Configure Reports.
- If the storefront URL is different, or if the URL of the ShopSite images directory is different, you may need to update any hardcoded URLs throughout the store configuration, such as the URLs of buttons, URLs in the store header and footer, etc.
- Enable these other options in the new store if you had them enabled in the old store:
- Customize the order system. Located in Commerce Setup > Order System.
- Enable the use of SSL in ShopSite and the Shopping Cart. Located in Preferences > Hosting Service.
- For ShopSite Pro stores with Associates, verify the URLs that Associate referrals go through.
- For ShopSite Pro stores, upload any custom pages. Located in Merchandising > Custom Pages.
- For ShopSite Pro stores, enter the path to a custom CGI. Located in Merchandising > Order API. (You must first copy the custom CGI to the new server.)
- For ShopSite Pro stores, set the Pubish (regenerate) options. Located in Utilities > Publish.
- Publish your new ShopSite store and place a test order.
- Once you have tested your new store, direct all traffic to your new store.
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If you used a temporary auth file for the new store, switch to the real auth file by following these steps:
•Copy the real auth file into the store's data directory.
•Delete the temporary auth file.
•Rename the real auth file to storeid.auth.
•Change the fields in Preferences > Hosting Service to reflect the store's domain name rather than the IP address.
•Go to Images, select all of the images in the list and click Reset Image Attributes.
•Go to Utilities > Publish and do a full regeneration of the store.
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- Give the DNS servers and your customers about one week to find your new store. Once all traffic has ceased at the old store, retrieve all order information, then close (remove) the store.
