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4.2. Updating to HelpSpot 5 - Windows

Updating to HelpSpot 5 on Windows

Note: Updating to HelpSpot 5 requires the latest version 4 be installed first (4.9.5).

Updating to HelpSpot 5 on windows involves these basic steps. Note: this update will upgrade your windows server to PHP version 7.4. If you run custom PHP scripts on your HelpSpot server it is advisable to check on compatibility.

1. Backup your HelpSpot files and database
2. Download and run the HelpSpot 5 installer / upgrader
3. Restore any customization that were not in the custom_code, custom_pages or custom_templates folders
4. Restoring any Secondary Portals

 

 

Backing up HelpSpot files and database

The HelpSpot updater will backup the site files, however you may want to create your own backup by copying the HelpSpot site files, typically found at C:\Program Files (x86)\helpspot\helpspot.

Backing up a SqlServer database is best done in Sql Server Management Studio, available as a task on the HelpSpot database.

Backing up a MySQL database can be done using the mysqldump.exe command, available as part of the MySQL installation. If you use the bundled MySQL with HelpSpot, the mysqldump.exe command will likely be available at C:\Program Files (x86)\helpspot\mysql\bin\mysqldump.exe.

An example mysqldump.exe command to use is as follows, best run in cmd.exe instead of PowerShell:

mysqldump.exe -u root -p --max_allowed_packet=1073741824 --default-character-set=utf8mb4 --single-transaction helpspot_db > .\helpspot_db.sql

 

 

Restoring Customizations

The HelpSpot installer/updater will restore customizations found in the custom_code, custom_pages, and custom_templates directories.

However, if you have customizations in other locations, you will need to restore those yourself. You can take them from your own backups, or from the "previousVersionBackup" directory created by the installer. That is most likely at C:\Program Files (x86)\helpspot\backup/previousVersionBackup.

 

 

Restoring Secondary Portals

Secondary portals can be restored to their original location from the previousVersionBack directory (most likely found at C:\Program Files (x86)\helpspot\backup/previousVersionBackup). Once they are back in their location, a helper command can be used to move them to a new location if needed for HelpSpot 5.

For example, if a secondary portal used to be located at C:\Program Files (x86)\helpspot\helpspot\my-portal, then it can be copied back to that location after updating to HelpSpot 5.

Once Secondary Portals are back in place, you can run the following command, which will move and reconfigure the portal as needed. This can be fun in cmd.exe or PowerShell:

cd C:\Program Files (x86)\helpspot\helpspot
..\php\php.exe -c ..\php\php.ini hs portal:migrate --dry-run
..\php\php.exe -c ..\php\php.ini hs portal:migrate

The --dry-run flag can be used to preview what portals will be moved/updated. If it reports that a portal will not be moved, it means that HelpSpot cannot determine where it should be placed and can be moved/updated manually. You can move the directory to a location of your choosing, and then update file paths in the HelpSpot admin area when editing that Secondary Portal.