ZOVANTA SOFTWARE / KNOWLEDGEBASE

Forovanta starter • beta.156e

Import another forum and reconcile missing media

Where: Admin → System → Maintenance → Migration

Before you start

A source-files path is the old board installation root, not an invented destination avatar directory. XenForo commonly has data/internal_data; IPS media follows its configured source storage and database references, often under uploads. Use the paths tried in the report, not a guess based on another platform.

Step by step

  1. Back up both boards and prepare a staging destination. Run the destination database upgrade; install Gallery before importing gallery content.
  2. Select the actual source platform. For MySQL supply its host/port/database/read credentials/table prefix; for Flatboard 5 upload its stockage ZIP.
  3. Set the old board address and installation-root source-files path on the destination server. Test connection & scan and review collisions/missing tables.
  4. Run Dry run to review counts without writes. Start the real run only after reviewing the plan.
  5. Use Continue/Continue automatically until stages finish; pause when investigating errors.
  6. Read the Migration report, unresolved counts and file reconciliation state. Reconnect the original saved connection and use Repair / resume for missing bytes.

Settings and behaviour

A source-files path is the old board installation root, not an invented destination avatar directory. XenForo commonly has data/internal_data; IPS media follows its configured source storage and database references, often under uploads. Use the paths tried in the report, not a guess based on another platform.

A finished content run can still have missing avatars, attachments or downloads. “Dry run” copies/verifies no files. “Files reconciled” requires a finished clean file walk and zero unresolved records. Zero counters after a failed query are not proof. Source IDs deduplicate imported rows; reconnecting a completed run does not start another import.

Flatboard 5 JSON is supported by its reader; older Flatboard/SQLite are reported unsupported. Its stockage ZIP supplies data, while uploads come from the source-files root. A SQL dump is not the JSON format required by the JSON import form. Gallery records may retain remote media links—test their bytes separately.

Check the result

Compare users/categories/topics/posts, access rules and a representative avatar/attachment/download/gallery file. Retain the full report and reconcile missing counts by file type.

Common questions and troubleshooting

Original files no longer exist: database filename rows cannot recreate bytes; locate another real copy or document the loss. Connection released: load saved details and Reconnect this run. Importer says missing tables: check source platform/schema/prefix; do not force another reader.