I haven't accessed one of my Xoops sites in a while and I needed to get some data from it. When I tried to access the site I got the following error:

Fatal error: Class 'XoopsLogger' not found in /home/...

I am pretty sure this is due to a version mismatch between Xoops a recent server PHP upgrade.

From what I have read I need to upgrade my Xoops version.

I have two issues:

1. I am not 100% certain of the version number on this site (90% thinking it is 2.3.3). How can I ascertain that info without site access?

2. I cannot locate any upgrade files for 2.3.x to 2.5.4.

Thanks!

Version for xoops...

It is stored in the system constant XOOPS_VERSION so if you can edit the templates you can have it print out that variable and it will show your version.

This is set in the file include/version.php if you have access to the source code.

2.3.3 was the first version to work with php5. If you have an older version it is likely it will break if your server upgraded to php 5.3.

Okay. Got the version from the include/version.php file. Confirmed the version is, indeed, 2.3.3.

Now, is there an upgrade file or do I just install the files for 2.5.4?

Thanks!

The easiest way is to just follow the direction for a "full upgrade"

Well the release_notes.txt file references a full install and upgrade from 2.4.

I am assuming I should follow the steps in the section:
"Upgrading from versions older than 2.5.0:"

There are files referenced in these steps that don't exist in 2.3.3 e.g. /include/license.php.

Should I just follow those steps and ignore the references to files that do not exist?

Thanks again for all your help.

Backup your database and installation, and follow the described steps (some modules may become incompatible, no idea what u are using and on what environment).

Make a list of installed stuff:
Un/Modified XOOPS 2.3.3
ISO/UTF-8 language and database tables (this is important) (can't remember if 2.3 supports UTF-8 by default or not, at this time was away from xoops), if tables are different charset then utf8_general_ci, then u should wait with the upgrade (no idea, if current upgrade script support conversion of tables and content inside without problems)
Installed modules:
PHP Version:
MySQL Version:
Apache Version:
OS: (Hope is not Windows/BSD)

So, basically, it looks like there is nothing I can do at this point.

Hmmm...

Backup the site (files in public_html/) and sql database, then follow the instructions (for upgrading) https://xoops.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6270. XOOPS 2.5.5 still supports both ISO and UTF-8, unfortunately if your xoops site is in different then English language in future u will have problems if the database tables are with different coalitions then utf8_general_ci.

All language files released since 2.5.5 Beta are UTF-8 encoded. This includes and English.

Cool.

My site is in English.

Thanks for all the help!

My guess is that your host has made changes that have confused your site.
It sounds like your filepath or database settings have changed due to some upgrade your host has done so now they are not correct and it is "crashing" your site.
If this is the case then you should be able to adjust the file paths and/or database settings in your mainfiles.php to reflect the new settings.

Otherwise...

Your best bet is to do the following...

Backup both your database and files.

Install xampp or similar program on a local computer.

Install a copy of your backed up database to you local computer.

Copy the files into the proper area on your local computer.

You will then need to edit your mainfiles.php to reflect the correct pathnames and any difference for the database.

This allows you to have a local copy to mess around with and get working before trying to get your live copy working.

You may be able to use an old xampp (or similar) version to access your site and get it running. Depending on what you are trying to accomplish. If all you are trying to do is access information on the site this may be your most simple solution assuming no one has messed with files on the site.

Assuming you need to continue then you are going to want to do some work before you attempt your upgrade.

Get into the database and in your "modules" table there is an entry called "isactive". You want to change this field to 0 for every one of your modules EXCEPT system. This will disable all of your modules so they don't automatically run when you are completed with your upgrade.

You should then upgrade to either 2.4.5 before you try 2.5.4 or go straight to 2.5.4. Some modules will break under 2.5.4 that work fine with 2.4.5 so that is your choice. The latest version of xoops should be the most secure.

You are performing this upgrade on your local computer to verify it will work before attempting on your live site. You can do all the work on your local computer then copy the database and files back to the live site once working. Or at a minimum work out your upgrade plan locally before attempting on your live site.

At this point you are ready to perform the version upgrade of xoops. Just follow the directions for whatever version you are upgrading to.

Test your site after this upgrade and see if it works. You will need to go to your module admin and "update" your system module.

Assuming everything works at this point you can then go to each module and "update" them from the module admin. This will ensure the database is insync with the modules with the upgraded install.

Once all the modules are updated you can enable them one by one to ensure they work with the version of xoops you are running. This will prevent you from getting the "white screen of death" and not knowing what caused it.

If you are getting the "white screen of death" prior to enabling the modules this means there is something wrong with your base install and you will need to fix that before attempting to enable any of your modules. Remember that the system module has to be enabled at all times in order for the system to work so do not disable this in the database.

Assuming your upgrade went ok and you have the white screen prior to enabling the modules you will want to make sure all the cache directories have been cleared, the sessions table has no records in it and the writable files are writable. If your upgrade went OK this should have already been done for you.

Another location to check for issues with the base install prior to enabling the modules would be your theme. You may want to use another theme temporarily if you still have issues. Use one you know works with the version of Xoops you install. (The included default ones are good enough)

Assuming all of this works but you get the white screen with one or more of your modules you are well on your way. When you find incompatibilities with the modules you will want to look for an update to those modules for your system. A lot of times those newer modules will work and allow you to migrate your data as well. Otherwise you will have to find newer modules that are compatible and import the data to those modules. Hopefully the new module has a script to do this for you otherwise it will require some manual moving of the data.

Hopefully this is a big help for you...

With older modules sometimes there are simple fixes but the easiest one is to upgrade to a newer version.

You will want to backup your database and files between steps once you have things working as you want. This will prevent you from having to start back from scratch if one of your steps doesn't end well.