Upgrading from 5.3.11 to 7.4

[Cangri787]

I havent upgraded in awhile so I want to see what would be the best way to do this upgrade without any major errors. Any help will be appreciate it, Thanks!

[brian!]

On 12/5/2017 at 22:14, Cangri787 said:

I haven't upgraded in awhile so I want to see what would be the best way to do this upgrade without any major errors.

there's no guarantee of major errors whatever you do - it is WHMCS after all!

1. make a backup of both your files and database.
2. ensure that you have completed step 1 (even if you end up with multiple copies of both).
3. check to see if you are using any of the following in your current version:- third-party addons, action hooks, payment gateways, customised templates, custom widgets etc
4. if you are sure that the answer to step 3 is NO, then proceed to step 12.
5. if the answer is YES, then STOP!
6. check with the addon developer(s) whether there are updated versions of their addon - if yes, fine; if no, then can you live without them? does your installation need it to run effectively ?? if yes, best advice is to not upgrade until there are updated versions or valid alternatives.
7. similarly for action hooks, there's no guarantee that a hook written for v5 will work in v7 - so check with their authors first.
8. customised templates might cause issues depending upon the extent of the customisations - e.g if you've been using {php} tags in them, they will eventually have to be converted to hooks... though short-term I guess you could continue to use them (though I wouldn't advise it).
9. the default orderform templates have changed between v5 and v7 - https://docs.whmcs.com/Standard_Order_Form_Templates - "Boxes" and "Modern" are included with the latest release but haven't been updated for years; the others "Ajax Cart", "Cart", "Comparison", "Slider", "Verticalsteps" and "Web20cart" are no longer included with WHMCS since v6 and obviously are not being updated - they might work (in a limited way) with WHMCS v7, but there are no guarantees and it would be advisable to use "Standard Cart" and/or the new replacement "Premium/Pure/Supreme Comparison" and "Cloud/Universal Slider" orderform templates.
10. in v5, you could use a number of client themes - default/five or original... both have now been removed from v7 and it is only shipped with "Six"... if you are using a custom theme for v5, again check with its developers to see if there is an updated version for v7... even the invoicepdf.tpl template has changed, so a v5 version might not necessarily work in v7.
11. most admin area widgets from v5 should work in v7, though some might need updating... some commercial widgets, e.g Enom Pro, seemingly don't work in the latest version.
12. check that your server meets the v7 system requirements - if it doesn't, do not attempt to upgrade until it does!
13. if you get your license direct from WHMCS (and not via a reseller), get a free developers license - that will allow you to make a  dev installation to test the upgrade process... e.g you could copy your v5.3.11 files to it, copy the database and use the db copy instead (adjusting the configuration.php file)... if you can't get a dev license, go to step 17.
14. if you are using a dev and it is working fine as v5.3.11, then you can download the full latest version from download.whmcs.com and begin the upgrading process on the dev installation.
15. test the upgraded v7 dev installation thoroughly - enable display errors, go through the activity logs and see if any errors are being generated... remember to test the addons, hooks etc too.
16. once you're happy that the dev is working correctly, then you can begin updating the live production installation.
17. go back over steps 1 & 3 again... time spent doing this is not wasted and can save you a lot of time/stress if the upgrade process doesn't complete successfully.
18. make yourself a drink, take a breath and ensure you know the upgrade process... then start upgrading the live site.
19. if it live site upgrades successfully, test it thoroughly again - both in the admin and client areas.
20. if there is an error in the process - do not panic!
21. whatever the error, you'll be unfortunate if nobody else has come across it before - so the relevant answer should be in the documentation, these forums or by contacting support... hopefully, you'll have come across the same error during the dev upgrade and so will be prepared for it.
22. worst case scenario - you've got a backup of your files and db and can restore them to return to using v5.

before beginning the upgrade process, it might be worth you spending some time playing with the Softaculous WHMCS Demo, in both the admin and client areas... so that you at least know what you are letting yourself in for.

also, check out the Crons documentation as that has changed significantly since v5 too.