Best way to fully update XAMPP?

[dgewirtz]

Is there a sort of best-practices set of steps for upgrading an operational XAMPP installation?

Obviously, I could copy out the main folder, but what about MySQL databases, and all the individual files? Any sort of step-by-step would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Izzy]

Upgrade from which old XAMPP version to which new XAMPP version?
Which Windows OS?

[dgewirtz]

Sorry, fair question. 1.6.3a on XP SP3 to the current release.

[Izzy]

...1.6.3a on XP SP3 to the current release.

Unfortunately there is no upgrade available from way back then to right now.

So a fresh installation is required, but first consider your PHP scripts, if you use them, as in 1.7.2 the version of PHP included is 5.3 and some of the older scripts may not work in this version until the script's code is updated - Joomla for example has issues yet and I am sure that other such scripts may chuck a wobbly in the new version.

Check your installed scripts with the script author's web site for compatibility with PHP 5.3.

XAMPP 1.7.1 is the last version that has PHP 5.2 and seems to work with most older scripts.

The following is not a 1. 2. 3. style step by step but it should make things clear and easy to follow or at least I hope it will.


When uninstalling the old version and before making a Copy of xampp (see below) make sure that all XAMPP components are stopped and any that are installed as an NT service are also uninstalled by removing the tick in the Svc box in the XAMPP Control Panel (XCP) or by running the individual _uninstallservice.bat files in their respective folders in the xampp folder tree.

Then close the XCP and you should now be ready to make your Copy of xampp folder and proceed to install your new version - the above uninstalling procedure is paramount and if not carried out correctly may result in your new installation failing and please do read the XAMPP for Windows Home Page and the linked FAQ for some useful tips and help.


You obviously are aware of making a Copy of xampp folder by dragging and holding the Ctrl key so you can easily transfer your own files and folders without much trouble and the advantage of this is that you can do that copy over of your own files and folders one at a time so you can easily see if there are any issues with individual scripts - do not copy any of the XAMPP system files like .conf or .ini files over but rather edit the new version's configuration files with any custom edits you made in your old XAMPP version.

This Copy of xampp folder will also contain your databases which may also be transferred to the new version, with one proviso that older databases will need to be upgraded with an upgrade script, included in XAMPP, to make them compatible with the latest MySQL version:
C:\xampp\mysql\bin\mysql_upgrade.exe

Your databases are stored in folders in the C:\xampp\mysql\data folder and carry the name you gave your databases - they will go in the corresponding folder in your new version installation but do not copy over any of the system databases only your own.

Then run the above exe to bring the databases up to date after first starting your new MySQL in the XCP.

Using this method you always have your old 1.6.3a version intact if things go pear shaped.

Before you start please do post back with any questions you may have about anything that is not quite clear.

TIP
If you rename the Copy of xampp to say xampp163, after you have your new version up and running successfully and you then run the setup_xampp.bat file in the xampp163 folder, you can have the best of both worlds, your 1.6.3a version and your new version you installed in the xampp folder (using this method I have 5 previous versions of XAMPP installed which I can start manually for troubleshooting on these forums) - but you can only run one instance at a time though, so you would stop say your new version using it's XCP then open your xampp163 folder and run it's XCP and start Apache and MySQL manually.

Good luck.

[dgewirtz]

Wow, Izzy, that's awesome. Exactly what I wanted to know.

Do later versions do more automated updates, or is this the general procedure for each update to XAMPP?

Thanks so much!

-- David

[Izzy]

Do later versions do more automated updates, or is this the general procedure for each update to XAMPP?

Usually there is an upgrade file if the version is the next version, for example 1.6.3a to 1.6.4 etc.

But if there is a huge gap in versions or there is a major component upgrade which entails configuration file changes then you would have to install the new version with no update possible.

If you go to the SourceForge XAMPP for Windows Archive you will see all the versions and the upgrade files which will give you some idea what goes on and the enormous upgrade task when you fall behind the versions.

I hope you manage to upgrade without much hassle.

Good luck.

[dosser]

Usually there is an upgrade file if the version is the next version, for example 1.6.3a to 1.6.4 etc.

Do I need to update each step i.e 1.6 -> 1.6.1 -> 1.6.2 ... ?

Or ist it possible to do only one upgrade i.e 1.6 -> 1.7 ??

TNX for advice

DOSSI

[GEE_]

Hello Izzy,

I just installed the newest version of Xampp. Originally I had 1.6.7 installed. I made a backup of all the original install especially the MySQL database. One of the databases was the newest version of Joomla, That seemed to convert fine when using mysql_upgrade.exe, Joomla runs fine. I have other databases and I brought them over one at a time, ran the update, some updated some did not. Next was formtools, I ran the upgrade, fatal error in the command window. It goes pretty fast so I had to pause it to catch the error. phpMYAdmin shows eight tables, list them and it list zero tables. The next one was b2evolution, the same error. PhpMyAdmin showed 43 tables but when you expand the listing I only see 5 tables. I can reinstall b2evolution again since I have not done anything with the local or web install yet. Next was formmakerpro, ran the upgrade, fatal error, phpMyAdmin shows 17 tables, 17 tables listed and the program runs. That's odd. I don't want to bore you with every data base, lastly was a shopping cart. Upgrade showed the error, phpMyAdmin 36 tables, 36 tables listed. If I run it, it states that it can't connect to the database. I did a SQL dump from the main website, placed it in the data folder and it ran fine locally. So what this boils down to. What is the reason for the Fatal Error when you run the upgrade on certain databases? And why does some of the tables show and others don't?
Xampp has been a fantastic package from day one. Thank You guys... It makes my life as a web developer run so much easier when I have to work on the sites locally.

Cheers,
Gary