Upgrade 3.7 -> 5.0

I want to upgrade a 3.7 website to 5.0

I remember that it was mentioned by Telerik (I think it was in the 5.0 webinar by Gabe Sumner) that it is possible to directly upgrade from 3.7 to 5.0 without doing the 4.x detour.

Now in the upgrade instructions of 5.0 I read that 4.3 / 4.4 is a prerequisite for upgrading.

Please comment.

Best regards, Mikael

Mikael, the prerequisite refers to upgrading from Sitefinity 4 to 5, that is, upgrading after you are running on the new Sitefinity platform.

Sitefinity 3 is the old platform, and has its own migration path that goes directly to the new version.

Once you are actually using the new Sitefintiy platform (version 4+) the upgrade path is supported only from the previous two versions.

I hope that this makes sense. the bottom line is if you are running Sitefinity 3.7 SP4 you can migrate directly to the latest version of Sitefinity.

The key here is that MIGRATE and UPGRADE are different things.

Hello Mikael,

You can check the following blog post which is related to the migration process of 3.7 to a newer version of Sitefinity:

www.sitefinity.com/.../migrating_sitefinity_3_to_4_deep_dive_preparation.aspx

The following article from our documentation may be also helpful to you:

www.sitefinity.com/.../migrating-your-sitefinity-3-7-project

Regards,
Victor Velev
the Telerik team

Hi Victor,
We are having Sitefinity 4.2 enterprise edition and currently developing project in it. If we want to upgrade to Sitefinity 5.0, can we upgrade it directly to 5.0 without first going to 4.4? Also can you please share whether upgradation is having any extra cost than the exising license of 4.2 enterprise edition? I'll also like to know whether ASP.NET membership provider is available in 5.0 too? Expecting your reply asap.
Thanks,
Swati Bhatia

So, if I have my sites in 3.7 sp4, I can migrate them directly into version 5. Is this correct? If so, could you, please email a link to whatever (project manager # 5?) has to be downloaded for this migration? Also, the below posting says: "The key here is that MIGRATE and UPGRADE are different things" I am not sure what it's all about and how they are different. To me it's the same. Those two are the parts of one process and they are meaningless without each other. Once you upgraded (downloaded the latest project manager and added to it the static content), you should use the migration tool (in that latest version) to migrate the dynamic content. It's my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Again,   I have 4 sites that are currently in version 3.7 sp4. I'd like them to be in version 5, whatever the move would be called, migration, upgrade, or anything else. I just need the sites to be in version 5. Can anybody explain in a plain language if it is possible to do without any intermediary steps (e.g. at first it needs to be migrated into 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, or whatever). Then, if the direct migration is possible (to version 5), where can I find the manuals for migration into this specific version (5)???  thank you.

Hi,

@Swati: In order to upgrade your project from 4.2 to 5.0, you will have to go through 4.3 or 4.4 (upgrading to 5.0 is supported from both versions). You can perform the upgrade process on your local environment, but in order to get the newer versions of the project you will have to have a valid subscription. You can have your ASP.NET membership provider moved to Sitefinity 5.0 as well, just like in previous versions of the project.

@Inna: Upgrading and migrating a project are two different things. When you upgrade a project you upgrade it from one version to another such as 3.7 SP3 to 3.7 SP4 or 4.4 to 4.5 or 4.4 to 5.0; Migration however is different; it still upgrades your project but due to changes in the logic / architecture of the both CMS versions ( 3.x and 4/5x ) the contents is migrated from one platform to the newer one.

If you have your site running under 3.7 SP4, you migrate it directly to 5.0; what you need to do is to follow our instructions and download the Project Manager for the 5.0 version. It will be available in your account downloads folder.

The migration guide can be found here:

www.sitefinity.com/.../migration-guide.aspx

The following blog post is still valid:

www.sitefinity.com/.../migrating_sitefinity_3_to_4_deep_dive_preparation.aspx

All the best,
Victor Velev
the Telerik team

Victor, I still don't get it. I am reading the manuals  www.sitefinity.com/.../installation_and_administration_guide.pdf it says:
You can upgrade to Sitefinity 5.0 only if your project is currently using Sitefinity 4.4 or Sitefinity 4.3.

What should I do with my 3.7 sp4 site?

Upgrading raises the version of a site to a higer level of the same platform. e.g. 3.6->3.7

Sitefinity 3 is a different platform to Sitefinity 4/5 - different structure, api, etc, and so the upgrade process doesn't apply - you MIGRATE it.

Migrating is essentially an import & convert process, from the old platform to the new, and so your target can be the latest version that provides the migration tools - i.e. currently V5.0

Note: You need to read the caveats in the migration guide, regarding what is NOT handled by the migration tools.

Hello,

@Inna: Mike has explained the difference between migrating / upgrading as well. What you are reading is actually the upgrade guide, not the migration guide. The migration guide can be found in our documentation; other useful readings are posted in the thread as well.

Regards,
Victor Velev
the Telerik team

The information here seems more confusing than helpful.
Can someone answer concretely without extraneous information?

Can I migrated my 3.7 site to 5.0 directly?  Yes or no?

Hi Karen, I apologize that some of this is unclear, let me see if I can definitively answer this.

First of all, YES you can go from Sitefinity 3.7 SP4 straight to the current Sitefinity 5 SP1.

To clarify, when Sitefinity 4.0 was built and release, it was a complete rebuild of the product from the ground up; a new architecture, database structure, everything is brand new.

Because of this, you cannot "upgrade" from Sitefinity 3.7 to 4+ becuase they are not compatible. You can only "migrate" your content from 3.7, "importing" it into a new Siteifnity site.

However, going forward, all Sitefinity versions (4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, etc) are NOT rebuilds, they are upgrades to this new platform with new features and improvements, running the same architecture. These CAN be upgraded, because they ARE the same application, just a newer version.

And included in every version of the new Sitefinity is a Migration module that will "import" your old content (from 3.7 SP4 only) and copy it into a new website, whatever version happens to be the latest.

I hope this helps clear things up!

Dear SelAromDotNet, this is the first time somebody has explained all the upgrade/update/migration thing in the way that a human can understand. That is a good news, thank you.

However, the bad news, as I realized after reading your posting, is this:  we paid a huge amount of money to a company that developed a version 3.7 sp4 - compatible website for us. Now, if we decide to use anything newer than that version (e.g. Sitefinity 4-5.1), we can flash the old site down the toilet, together with the money we paid for its development. Because, all we can use out of it is the content (which we've developed on our own anyway).

I am not sure whether I should congratulate my agency on choosing Sitefinity because Telerik is so innovative that they invented  "a new architecture, database structure, everything is brand new" for the price of old,  or.... should I express a condolence to my agency for after just spending loads of money for the development 3.7sp4 compatible site, now they need to pay more and more and more... so the web development company will re-write the site making it, let's say 5.1 compatible...  or, in the hope that Telerik keeps supporting version 3.7sp4 for another 3 years (that's when we planned to invest money, that we currently don't have into a new website), so we'll be ok for that time, although not being able to enjoy the progress on the web that version 5 has been adopted for...

Please tell me that I'm being too dramatic and there is a way to make our expensive web site designed to work in version 3.7sp4 to work in version 5 without spending the money that we didn't plan to spend and simply do not have.

No Inna, it's not so bleak...I thought the same at first.

There's a Migration Tool that will make your site "98%" useable, and a check list of things to look after which don't migrate well.

And from what I heard at the conference, support will hold your hand through the migration process.

Inna thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback, and I'm very sorry to learn about your experience. can you send me an email to josh . morales @telerik.com and I will do my best to help you find a resolution to your situation.

I will do it right away. On the other note, could you, please stir me in the right direction on how to make a home page for our intranet site pwd protected using Sitefinity 3.7sp4?

Thank you!