CS-Cart has officially announced that it stops supporting PHP versions lower than 5.6 starting from CS-Cart/Multi-Vendor 4.9.1. For CS-Cart owners it means that the CS-Cart upgrade process will not start if the PHP on the server is lower than required.
The easiest solution is to upgrade the PHP version to 5.6 on the server. But unfortunately, not all clients can do this, since the servers impose some restrictions. Therefore, the store owners need to migrate from such servers.
Simtech Development offers free migration to its Cloud hosting. However, some store owners may choose another hosting provider. This post shows the actions required from the store owner during CS-Cart/ Multi-Vendor upgrade with migration to another server.
PHP versions supported by CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor
CS-Cart added the latest PHP version support in the following order:
- PHP 7.0 starting from CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor 4.3.6 and above,
- PHP 7.1 starting from CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor 4.6.1 and above,
- PHP 7.2 starting from CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor 4.7.2 and above.
However, the latest PHP version 7.3 is still not supported by CS-Cart even though PHP 7.4 is due to be released soon.
Your actions before CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor upgrade
You, as a client, should be fully involved in the upgrade process in case of migration to another server. She/he will have to:
- Check the configuration of the new server and its compliance to the CS-Cart official requirements,
- Configure DNS (e.g. add a new rule for a 3rd level domain),
- Install an SSL certificate on the new server,
- Provide us with access to the new server.
Your testing after initial CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor upgrade
Once our specialist has finished a CS-Cart version upgrade on the copy of the store, the admin must double-check all the functionality. To reduce the errors, we will install a copy of the upgraded website into the /newstore folder on the client’s new server. Our specialists will do testing of the default store functionality. However, a wrong server configuration may lead to the website malfunctioning. That is why we cannot provide a warranty that there will be no issues.
Your actions during CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor actualization
After the website is tested, the time of actualization comes. Actualization means that the orders, users and other entities created in the working store while we were working with the upgraded version will be copied from the old store to the new one. The URLs of the main website and the copy will be interchanged, so the store in the /newstore directory will get the domain of the main website and the main website will be moved to the /old store folder.
The actualization is the most critical part of the whole upgrade process. It involves closing the storefront for 6-8 hours, that is why the traffic on the website should be minimum at the selected time. The store owner and all the technical specialists including the hosting support service should be ready to react immediately in case of an emergency. From a technical point of view, the best time for actualization is the beginning of the business day of the technical team. The actualization shouldn’t be done on Friday or before any holidays because the technicians may be unavailable if anything goes wrong the next day after the actualization. However, if it is impossible for the client, the actualization can be done as a Hot Rush service at any agreed time and day of the week.
Your actions after CS-Cart / Multi-Vendor actualization
When the actualization is over, the store administrator should switch the domain server DNS to the new hosting. The domain migration to the new hosting DNS may take up to 24 hours.
The administrator must also check the emails. The email boxes are usually provided by the hoster and created together with the website registration. Therefore they will stop working if the administrator forgets to set up the emails during migration to the new hosting.
Read more:
Outdated websites: When do you need a website redesign or website relaunch?
Closing
The CS-Cart upgrade and server migration processes have many pitfalls. Experience and high expertise of the developers allow the store owner to reduce the risks of losses.