New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Moderator: General Support Moderators
Forum rules
Forum Rules
Absolute Beginner's Guide to Joomla! <-- please read before posting, this means YOU.
Forum Post Assistant - If you are serious about wanting help, you will use this tool to help you post.
Forum Rules
Absolute Beginner's Guide to Joomla! <-- please read before posting, this means YOU.
Forum Post Assistant - If you are serious about wanting help, you will use this tool to help you post.
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Hello. I recently upgraded to a newer version of Joomla, 3.9 (from 2.5) via GoDaddy. Everything is looking great as far as the install, I can access the admin panel and everything. However, I attached it to an existing database already on the server and it will not bring over my old content (Articles, Modules, etc.) I checked my configuration file on the server and all looks good. I am stuck as far as what to do. Please help. I will die if I have to create all my pages from scratch again.
Thanks,
Thanks,
-
- Joomla! Intern
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:33 pm
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Hi
I don't think you can upgrade your old 2.5 version to 3.9 that simple click if not mistaken, you need to get on few pit stops of version but manageable, perhaps you need to do it again
Don't worry, alternatively, you can copy your old contents, user database, articles, menus and such using this free great tool
https://extensions.joomla.org/extension/j2xml/
Thanks
I don't think you can upgrade your old 2.5 version to 3.9 that simple click if not mistaken, you need to get on few pit stops of version but manageable, perhaps you need to do it again
Don't worry, alternatively, you can copy your old contents, user database, articles, menus and such using this free great tool
https://extensions.joomla.org/extension/j2xml/
Thanks
My classifieds portal at www.pusma.biz is proudly powered by Joomla!
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
So are you saying perhaps roll back to 3.2, then gradually migrate up to 3.9?
-
- Joomla! Intern
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 2:33 pm
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Let's start again,
You did upgrade your Joomla site from 2.5 to 3.9, does it leap that much, automatically from 2.5 directly to 3.9?
Or you were presented step by step, from 2.5 to 3.0 and then from 3.0 to 3.5 to finally 3.9?
On which version you see all your old contents is missing?
You did upgrade your Joomla site from 2.5 to 3.9, does it leap that much, automatically from 2.5 directly to 3.9?
Or you were presented step by step, from 2.5 to 3.0 and then from 3.0 to 3.5 to finally 3.9?
On which version you see all your old contents is missing?
My classifieds portal at www.pusma.biz is proudly powered by Joomla!
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
I use GoDaddy as my hosting platform and it did allow me to go from 2.5 to 3.9 without any issue. I don't see my content in the new version.
- AMurray
- Joomla! Virtuoso
- Posts: 4286
- Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 7:35 am
- Location: Australia
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
That might be the issue - relying on the Host's "upgrade" methods might have toasted your site permanently - especially when a mini migration is concerned between two major releases (2.5 / 3.x), it would have been better if you had followed the upgrade instructions per those found on this forum.
viewtopic.php?f=710&t=793171
viewtopic.php?f=710&t=793171
Regards,
--------------------------------------------------------------
A Murray
Millennium Falcon - it's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs! The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A Murray
Millennium Falcon - it's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs! The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
- Per Yngve Berg
- Joomla! Master
- Posts: 25163
- Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 9:27 pm
- Location: Akershus, Norway
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Check the database prefix. If 3.9 was installed with a different prefix, you will see both sets of tables in your database.
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Per Yngve Berg, as a matter of fact the database prefix references an entirely different database that I'm not pointing to for my content. I am really confused.
A Murray,
Are you telling me that I will need to re-create my site from scratch all over again? Or should I uninstall and then upgrade to another (earlier) version first and see what happens?
A Murray,
Are you telling me that I will need to re-create my site from scratch all over again? Or should I uninstall and then upgrade to another (earlier) version first and see what happens?
- AMurray
- Joomla! Virtuoso
- Posts: 4286
- Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 7:35 am
- Location: Australia
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
If you can restore from a backup to your original site - yes start the update over, following the migration instructions I previously referred to - assuming you did a backup before updating, to allow for any problems, such as the current issue you're having.
My advice about avoiding either a Host's own upgrade scripts or something like Softaculous is only based on the many other similar posts on this forum and the same advice was given to other users.
My advice about avoiding either a Host's own upgrade scripts or something like Softaculous is only based on the many other similar posts on this forum and the same advice was given to other users.
Regards,
--------------------------------------------------------------
A Murray
Millennium Falcon - it's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs! The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A Murray
Millennium Falcon - it's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs! The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
- leolam
- Joomla! Master
- Posts: 19396
- Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:17 am
- Location: Netherlands/ UK/ S'pore/Jakarta/ North America
- Contact:
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
You have botched your (mini)migration. Roll back to your backup and follow my guide Andy referred at. You have no alternative. My guide is an extract of the migration/upgrade guide we wrote for the docs section.
Leo
Leo

Joomla's #1 Professional Support Provider:
-> Joomla Professional Support: https://gws-desk.com -
-> Joomla Specialized Hosting Solutions: https://gws-host.com -
Member Joomla Bug Squad & Joomla CMS Release Team
-> Joomla Professional Support: https://gws-desk.com -
-> Joomla Specialized Hosting Solutions: https://gws-host.com -
Member Joomla Bug Squad & Joomla CMS Release Team
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Leo,
You are right, I have botched my migration. However, I think I had no choice. The migration kept failing as I was trying to upgrade to 3.9.1 and the server made me delete my existing instance altogether. So now I am starting from scratch as if Joomla was never installed before. I confirmed my database is still there and intact as I restored from a backup. (whew!) So, should I simply install 3.5.1 and then do any additional upgrades from there? The server has many different versions out there so I can go back as far as I want. I apologize if I am confusing things. I am not an expert at this, that's why I'm talking to you all.
You are right, I have botched my migration. However, I think I had no choice. The migration kept failing as I was trying to upgrade to 3.9.1 and the server made me delete my existing instance altogether. So now I am starting from scratch as if Joomla was never installed before. I confirmed my database is still there and intact as I restored from a backup. (whew!) So, should I simply install 3.5.1 and then do any additional upgrades from there? The server has many different versions out there so I can go back as far as I want. I apologize if I am confusing things. I am not an expert at this, that's why I'm talking to you all.
- sozzled
- Joomla! Champion
- Posts: 6570
- Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:30 am
- Location: Canberra, Australia
- Contact:
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Why would you want to start with an outdated version of Joomla? This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why not start with J! 3.9.1?
Migrating the [database] content from J! 2.5.something involves converting the database tables from J! 2.5 format into J! 3.x format. There are tools that will assist you with the database conversion (see the Joomla Extension Directory for a list of migration tools). Generally-speaking, J! 2.5 content—in the database—cannot be simply attached to a J! 3.x website without reconstructing the database tables (to add new columns, etc.)
GoDaddy ... *sigh* well, enough said already. You got what you paid for.
https://www.kuneze.com/blog
Former member of Kunena project team
If you think I’m wrong then say “I think you're wrong.” If you say “You’re wrong!”, how do you know?
Former member of Kunena project team
If you think I’m wrong then say “I think you're wrong.” If you say “You’re wrong!”, how do you know?
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Sozzled, tell me if you think this would work as an alternative please.
1. Install Joomla 3.9.1 and allow it to create a "new" database
2. Copy my old data from 2.5 and put it into the new database created in step 1
Again, I appreciate everyone's help with this. I am not well versed in MySQL so I'm learning.
1. Install Joomla 3.9.1 and allow it to create a "new" database
2. Copy my old data from 2.5 and put it into the new database created in step 1
Again, I appreciate everyone's help with this. I am not well versed in MySQL so I'm learning.
- sozzled
- Joomla! Champion
- Posts: 6570
- Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:30 am
- Location: Canberra, Australia
- Contact:
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
It won't work unless you convert your J! 2.5.something database tables to J! 3.x format. As I wrote before, there are database conversion tools in the JED.
https://www.kuneze.com/blog
Former member of Kunena project team
If you think I’m wrong then say “I think you're wrong.” If you say “You’re wrong!”, how do you know?
Former member of Kunena project team
If you think I’m wrong then say “I think you're wrong.” If you say “You’re wrong!”, how do you know?
-
- Joomla! Apprentice
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:39 am
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
Update: I actually got it to work. Hopefully these steps will work for anyone that runs into the same problem i did.
1. I rolled all the way back to my original Joomla version - 2.5.19. **Allow the application to create a new database on the server, DO NOT connect to existing database**
2. Drop all records from the database just created through PHPMyAdmin
3. Import records/tables from a backed up database to the new database just created
4. I then logged into the administrator panel to see how everything looked. It looked like it did before all this started.
5. I then was able to clear my cache and find an update to Joomla version 3.5.1
6. By using the administrator tools, it converted the database to a usable format in the 3.5.1 version and installed the application.
7. Voila' - the upgrade took and all my data (minus a couple of modules here and there that were not compatible) is there.
Hopefully these steps will work for anyone that runs into the same problem i did. I appreciate everyone's input. It forced me to think of how to attack it from a different angle.
1. I rolled all the way back to my original Joomla version - 2.5.19. **Allow the application to create a new database on the server, DO NOT connect to existing database**
2. Drop all records from the database just created through PHPMyAdmin
3. Import records/tables from a backed up database to the new database just created
4. I then logged into the administrator panel to see how everything looked. It looked like it did before all this started.
5. I then was able to clear my cache and find an update to Joomla version 3.5.1
6. By using the administrator tools, it converted the database to a usable format in the 3.5.1 version and installed the application.
7. Voila' - the upgrade took and all my data (minus a couple of modules here and there that were not compatible) is there.
Hopefully these steps will work for anyone that runs into the same problem i did. I appreciate everyone's input. It forced me to think of how to attack it from a different angle.
- leolam
- Joomla! Master
- Posts: 19396
- Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2005 10:17 am
- Location: Netherlands/ UK/ S'pore/Jakarta/ North America
- Contact:
Re: New installation of Joomla will not pick up old database
It is as simple as that indeed. You cannot mix databases and files from 2 different branches i.e. J25 and J30. This is why we call this a (mini)migration. We will publish articles again like guides and tutorials when Joomla 4.0 is released and you need a (mini) migration from J3x to J4x. Read those the next time I suggest before action so you learn about the possible pitfalls in advance!
Leo
Leo

Joomla's #1 Professional Support Provider:
-> Joomla Professional Support: https://gws-desk.com -
-> Joomla Specialized Hosting Solutions: https://gws-host.com -
Member Joomla Bug Squad & Joomla CMS Release Team
-> Joomla Professional Support: https://gws-desk.com -
-> Joomla Specialized Hosting Solutions: https://gws-host.com -
Member Joomla Bug Squad & Joomla CMS Release Team