How to upgrade your store using Store Import
We no longer maintain the Knowledge Base since version 4.3.x. All the latest user and developer documentation for 4.3.x and newer versions is now available at docs.cs-cart.com.
These instructions relate only to CS-Cart 4.0.x versions.
The effective way to upgrade your store from versions 2.2.x or 3.0.x to CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.0.x is to use the Store Import add-on.
The following picture shows the variants of the store import:
Restrictions
- The functionality of importing several CS-Cart Professional stores to one CS-Cart 4.0.2 installation as different storefronts is not included in the Store Import add-on.
- CS-Cart Community store cannot be imported directly to CS-Cart 4.0.2.
Server Requirements
PHP version 5.3.x
What is Store Import
With this add-on, the database migration from your old CS-Cart installation becomes much easier. This is reached through dividing the importing process into two logical parts: the data import and the data actualization. This is how it works:
- By means of the data import information from the old CS-Cart installation is imported to a new store.
Important: If you make import from CS-Cart 3.0.x, all data will be imported to the new CS-Cart 4.0.2 installation. But if you make import from CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5, all data will be imported, except the layout and settings data.
- Then comes the period of customising look and feel of the new store. That includes modifying the CSS styles, layouts, blocks, settings, etc. Meanwhile your old store continues to work as usual, taking new orders.
- Finally, the new information from the old store is added to the database of the new installation of CS-Cart by data actualization, when you are ready with the changes of its appearance.
Usage
Installation of CS-Cart 4.0.2
Important: Before you start the import always make sure you have enough space on your server hard drive.
First of all, download CS-Cart 4.0.2 and install it to a separate destination on the same server as your existing CS-Cart 2.2.4, 2.2.5 or 3.0.x installation. The new CS-Cart store should be installed in a separate subdirectory of the current CS-Cart installation parent directory.
You can find the detailed installation instructions in the installation guide.
Please consult with your system administrator or contact our support service, if you are not sure about this step.
Note: In case that you used several languages in your CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x installation, it is recommended to choose the same languages for the newly installed CS-Cart 4.0.2. You can change the languages in the Administration -> Languages -> Manage Languages section of the administration panel.
Installation of the Store Import add-on
Log-in to the administration panel of the newly installed CS-Cart 4.0.2 and go to Administration -> Add-ons -> Manage Add-ons. Find the Store Import add-on and press the Install button.
Data migration from different versions of CS-Cart
Data imported to CS-Cart 4.0.2 from your old store depends on the version of that store.
From CS-Cart 3.0.x:
In this case all data will be moved to the new CS-Cart 4.0.2 installation. So, you will have your layout and settings data imported, and customizing the store before the actualization will be much easier.
From CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5:
In this case all data will be imported, except the layout and some settings data. The core settings data will be replaced with the default (the Settings section of the administration panel). However, the add-ons settings data will be imported from your CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 installation. All the layout data (information about blocks and tabs) will be removed. The exception are some blocks under the Products location (Design -> Layouts ->Products). If these blocks are of the Products type with the Manually filling, they will be successfully imported to the new installation. By default, 3 product tabs will be imported from the old CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 installation: Description, Features and Files (you can find them in the Product tabs section). Also, in CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 there were product tabs, created automatically at the installation of certain add-ons. Such tabs data will be imported to the new installation by the Store import add-on too.
Data import
Go to Add-ons -> Store Import. On the opened page enter the server path to the existing CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x store. It is the path where your existing store is installed on the server. For example, on UNIX-based systems it should look something similar to ‘/var/www/examplestore’, and something like ‘C:/examplestore’ on Windows.
Click the Validate button.
If the entered path was correct, you will be sent to the next step titled Validate and import. Here you will see two tables with the information about the imported store and the store where you want to import data.
Press the Import data button to start the importing process.
The launching of the import process will be indicated in real time. When the process is finished, the data from the old installation will be imported to the current store.
CS-Cart 4.0.2 customization
Please be attentive to the instructions given to you in the Store Import.
Now you will proceed to the Configure your store step. At this step you are free to leave the Store Import page and configure your store appearance. It can take you some time to modify the CSS styles, layouts, locations, etc. Meanwhile your old CS-Cart store continues to work as usual, taking orders and serving customers.
Note for users of CS-Cart Ultimate: First of all, go to the Administration->Stores section and set the correct Storefront URL for the Company.
When you are ready, go to Add-ons -> Store Import again and press the Proceed to actualizing data button.
Data Actualization
Note: All the information will be rewritten at this step, except the settings and layouts!
At the Actualize data step you will see the information about the latest store import. If you click the Actualize data button, the data import from the old store will be launched. This import will exclude settings and layouts in order to import the updated information of the active 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x store, but keep the information about renewed layouts and settings in the new installation of CS-Cart. If you want to exclude some other data from this data import, refer to the Developers tips section further in this article.
If you do not want to actualize your data and wish to finish the store import, you are free to skip this step (the Complete store import button).
Go live
After the successful data import you proceed to the Finish store import step, and now you can use your new store live. Moreover, you can always return to the Configure your store and Actualize data steps by clicking the corresponding links.
If you want to launch the import process again, click the Start new store import button.
License requirements
You can use the Store Import add-on in case that you own a license with an active upgrade subscription. It must be valid at the CS-Cart 4.0.1 release date (June 26, 2013). This license must be specified in your old CS-Cart installation.
Do not forget that it is illegal to use both CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x and CS-Cart 4.0.2 live having one license. So, during the customization, the CS-Cart 4.0.2 store should be closed from the public access (the Close storefront option in the administration panel). The old store should be closed from the public access right after you go live with your CS-Cart 4.0.2 version.
Developers tips
The Store Import logs are stored in the /var/store import/ directory regardless the fact that the development mode enabled or not. This directory is created automatically during the store import.
The DEVELOPMENT constant usage
Use the DEVELOPMENT constant to:
- Display the PHP & MySQL errors during the importing process;
- See the text log of the importing process live instead of the default progress bar.
To use this constant, find the config.local.php file in the root directory of your CS-Cart 4.0.2 installation and add the following code to the end of the file:
define(‘DEVELOPMENT’, true);Excluding data from the Actualization process
The table_replacement.php file located in the app/addons/store_import/schemas/store_import directory of your CS-Cart 4.0.2 installation contains the list of all tables in the CS-Cart database. The tables with the “//” symbols before their names will be rewritten at the Actualize data step.
If you want to exclude any table(s) from the actualization, remove the “//” symbols before the table name.
For example, you applied changes to the Website -> Content section of the administration panel at the Customize your store step of the Store Import. During the data actualization you do not want to lose this data. You should open the table_replacement.php file and remove the “//” symbols in the following lines of the code and save the file:
//'page_descriptions',
//'pages',Now, these tables will not be rewritten during the data actualization.
Troubleshooting
The Store Import process hangs up or stops and cannot be completed in CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor version 4.0.2. This problem occurs when I click Import data at the Validate and Import step, the data import process begins to launch, and the progress bar is displayed on the screen.
Please try to carry out the following steps:
- Place the General.php file to the app/addons/store_import/Tygh/StoreImport directory of your CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.0.2. installation.
- Place the Mysqli.php file to the app/Tygh/Backend/Database directory of your CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.0.2. installation.
- Perform the Store Import process on your site from the beginning again.
The effective way to upgrade your store from versions 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x to CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.1.x is to use the Store Import add-on.
If you want to upgrade your store from CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.0.x, use Upgrade Center instead.
The following picture shows the variants of the store import:
Restrictions
- The functionality of importing several CS-Cart Professional stores to one CS-Cart 4.1.x installation as different storefronts is not included in the Store Import add-on.
- CS-Cart Community store cannot be imported directly to CS-Cart 4.1.x.
Server Requirements
PHP version 5.3.x
What is Store Import
With this add-on, the database migration from your old CS-Cart installation becomes much easier. This is reached through dividing the importing process into two logical parts: the data import and the data actualization. This is how it works:
- By means of the data import information from the old CS-Cart installation is imported to a new store.
Important: If you make import from CS-Cart 3.0.x, all data will be imported to the new CS-Cart 4.1.x installation. But if you make import from CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5, all data will be imported, except the layout and settings data.
- Then comes the period of customising look and feel of the new store. That includes modifying the CSS styles, layouts, blocks, settings, etc. Meanwhile your old store continues to work as usual, taking new orders.
- Finally, the new information from the old store is added to the database of the new installation of CS-Cart by data actualization, when you are ready with the changes of its appearance.
Usage
Installation of CS-Cart 4.1.x
Important: Before you start the import always make sure you have enough space on your server hard drive.
First of all, download CS-Cart 4.1.x and install it to a separate destination on the same server as your existing CS-Cart 2.2.x or 3.0.x installation. The new CS-Cart store should be installed in a separate subdirectory of the current CS-Cart installation parent directory.
You can find the detailed installation instructions in the installation guide.
Please consult with your system administrator or contact our support service if you are not sure about this step.
Note: In case that you used several languages in your CS-Cart 2.2.x or 3.0.x installation, it is recommended to choose the same languages for the newly installed CS-Cart 4.1.x. You can change the languages in the Administration -> Languages -> Manage Languages section of the administration panel.
Installation of the Store Import add-on
Log-in to the administration panel of the newly installed CS-Cart 4.1.x and go to Administration -> Add-ons -> Manage Add-ons. Find the Store Import add-on and click the Install button.
Data migration from different versions of CS-Cart
Data imported to CS-Cart 4.1.x from your old store depends on the version of that store.
From CS-Cart 3.0.x:
In this case all data will be moved to the new CS-Cart 4.1.x installation. So, you will have your layout and settings data imported, and customizing the store before the actualization will be much easier.
From CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5:
In this case all data will be imported, except the layout and some settings data. The core settings data will be replaced with the default (the Settings section of the administration panel). However, the add-ons settings data will be imported from your CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 installation. All the layout data (information about blocks and tabs) will be removed. The exception are some blocks under the Products location (Design -> Layouts -> Products). If these blocks are of the Products type with the Manually filling, they will be successfully imported to the new installation. By default, 3 product tabs will be imported from the old CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 installation: Description, Features and Files (you can find them in the Product tabs section). Also, in CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 there were product tabs created automatically at the installation of certain add-ons. Such tabs data will be imported to the new installation by the Store import add-on too.
Data import
Go to Add-ons -> Store Import. On the opened page enter the server path to the existing CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x store. It is the path where your existing store is installed on the server. For example, on UNIX-based systems it should look something similar to ‘/var/www/examplestore’, and something like ‘C:/examplestore’ on Windows.
Click the Validate button.
If the entered path was correct, you will be sent to the next step titled Validate and import. Here you will see two tables with the information about the imported store and the store where you want to import data.
Press the Import data button to start the importing process.
The launching of the import process will be indicated in real time. When the process is finished, the data from the old installation will be imported to the current store.
CS-Cart 4.1.x customization
Please be attentive to the instructions given to you in the Store Import.
Now you will proceed to the Configure your store step. At this step you are free to leave the Store Import page and configure your store appearance. It can take you some time to modify the CSS styles, layouts, locations, etc. Meanwhile your old CS-Cart store continues to work as usual, taking orders and serving customers.
Note for users of CS-Cart Ultimate: First of all, go to the Administration -> Stores section and set the correct Storefront URL for the Company.
When you are ready, go to Add-ons -> Store Import again and press the Proceed to actualizing data button.
Data Actualization
Note: All the information will be rewritten at this step, except the settings and layouts!
At the Actualize data step you will see the information about the latest store import. If you click the Actualize data button, the data import from the old store will be launched. This import will exclude settings and layouts in order to import the updated information of the active 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x store, but keep the information about renewed layouts and settings in the new installation of CS-Cart. If you want to exclude some other data from this data import, refer to the Developers tips section further in this article.
If you do not want to actualize your data and wish to finish the store import, you are free to skip this step (the Complete Store import button).
Go live
After the successful data import you proceed to the Finish Store import step, and now you can use your new store live. Moreover, you can always return to the Configure your store and Actualize data steps by clicking the corresponding links.
If you want to launch the import process again, click the Start new store import button.
License requirements
You can use the Store Import add-on in case that you own a license with an active upgrade subscription. If you license does not have an active upgrade subscription, you can either prolong upgrades for the current license, or buy a new license.
Do not forget that it is illegal to use both CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x and CS-Cart 4.1.x live having one license. So, during the customization, the CS-Cart 4.1.x store should be closed from the public access (the Close storefront option in the administration panel). The old store should be closed from the public access right after you go live with your CS-Cart 4.1.x version.
Developers tips
The Store Import logs are stored in the /var/store import/ directory regardless the fact that the development mode enabled or not. This directory is created automatically during the store import.
The DEVELOPMENT constant usage
Use the DEVELOPMENT constant to:
- Display the PHP & MySQL errors during the importing process;
- See the text log of the importing process live instead of the default progress bar.
To use this constant, find the config.local.php file in the root directory of your CS-Cart 4.1.x installation and add the following code to the end of the file:
define(‘DEVELOPMENT’, true);Excluding data from the Actualization process
The table_replacement.php file located in the app/addons/store_import/schemas/store_import directory of your CS-Cart 4.1.x installation contains the list of all tables in the CS-Cart database. The tables with the “//” symbols before their names will be rewritten at the Actualize data step.
If you want to exclude any table(s) from the actualization, remove the “//” symbols before the table name.
For example, you applied changes to the Website -> Content section of the administration panel at the Customize your store step of the Store Import. During the data actualization you do not want to lose this data. You should open the table_replacement.php file and remove the “//” symbols in the following lines of the code and save the file:
//'page_descriptions',
//'pages',Now, these tables will not be rewritten during the data actualization.
The effective way to upgrade your store from versions 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x to CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.2.x is to use the Store Import add-on.
If you want to upgrade your store from CS-Cart or Multi-Vendor 4.0.x and later versions, use Upgrade Center instead.
The following picture shows the variants of the store import:
Restrictions
- The functionality of importing several CS-Cart Professional stores to one CS-Cart 4.2.x installation as different storefronts is not included in the Store Import add-on.
- CS-Cart Community store cannot be imported directly to CS-Cart 4.2.x.
Server Requirements
PHP version 5.3.x
What is Store Import
With this add-on, the database migration from your old CS-Cart installation becomes much easier. This is reached through dividing the importing process into two logical parts: the data import and the data actualization. This is how it works:
- By means of the data import information from the old CS-Cart installation is imported to a new store.
Important: If you make import from CS-Cart 3.0.x, all data will be imported to the new CS-Cart 4.2.x installation. But if you make import from CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5, all data will be imported, except the layout and settings data.
- Then comes the period of customising look and feel of the new store. That includes modifying the CSS styles, layouts, blocks, settings, etc. Meanwhile your old store continues to work as usual, taking new orders.
- Finally, the new information from the old store is added to the database of the new installation of CS-Cart by data actualization, when you are ready with the changes of its appearance.
Usage
Installation of CS-Cart 4.2.x
Important: Before you start the import always make sure you have enough space on your server hard drive.
First of all, download CS-Cart 4.2.x and install it to a separate destination on the same server as your existing CS-Cart 2.2.x or 3.0.x installation. The new CS-Cart store should be installed in a separate subdirectory of the current CS-Cart installation parent directory.
You can find the detailed installation instructions in the installation guide.
Please consult with your system administrator or contact our support service if you are not sure about this step.
Note: In case that you used several languages in your CS-Cart 2.2.x or 3.0.x installation, it is recommended to choose the same languages for the newly installed CS-Cart 4.2.x. You can change the languages in the Administration -> Languages -> Manage Languages section of the administration panel.
Installation of the Store Import add-on
Log-in to the administration panel of the newly installed CS-Cart 4.2.x and go to Administration -> Add-ons -> Manage Add-ons. Find the Store Import add-on and click the Install button.
Data migration from different versions of CS-Cart
Data imported to CS-Cart 4.2.x from your old store depends on the version of that store.
From CS-Cart 3.0.x:
In this case all data will be moved to the new CS-Cart 4.2.x installation. So, you will have your layout and settings data imported, and customizing the store before the actualization will be much easier.
From CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5:
In this case all data will be imported, except the layout and some settings data. The core settings data will be replaced with the default (the Settings section of the administration panel). However, the add-ons settings data will be imported from your CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 installation. All the layout data (information about blocks and tabs) will be removed. The exception are some blocks under the Products location (Design -> Layouts -> Products). If these blocks are of the Products type with the Manually filling, they will be successfully imported to the new installation. By default, 3 product tabs will be imported from the old CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 installation: Description, Features and Files (you can find them in the Product tabs section). Also, in CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 there were product tabs created automatically at the installation of certain add-ons. Such tabs data will be imported to the new installation by the Store import add-on too.
Data import
Go to Add-ons -> Store Import. On the opened page enter the server path to the existing CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x store. It is the path where your existing store is installed on the server. For example, on UNIX-based systems it should look something similar to ‘/var/www/examplestore’, and something like ‘C:/examplestore’ on Windows.
Click the Validate button.
If the entered path was correct, you will be sent to the next step titled Validate and import. Here you will see two tables with the information about the imported store and the store where you want to import data.
Press the Import data button to start the importing process.
The launching of the import process will be indicated in real time. When the process is finished, the data from the old installation will be imported to the current store.
CS-Cart 4.2.x customization
Please be attentive to the instructions given to you in the Store Import.
Now you will proceed to the Configure your store step. At this step you are free to leave the Store Import page and configure your store appearance. It can take you some time to modify the CSS styles, layouts, locations, etc. Meanwhile your old CS-Cart store continues to work as usual, taking orders and serving customers.
Note for users of CS-Cart Ultimate: First of all, go to the Administration -> Stores section and set the correct Storefront URL for the Company.
When you are ready, go to Add-ons -> Store Import again and press the Proceed to actualizing data button.
Data Actualization
Note: All the information will be rewritten at this step, except the settings and layouts!
At the Actualize data step you will see the information about the latest store import. If you click the Actualize data button, the data import from the old store will be launched. This import will exclude settings and layouts in order to import the updated information of the active 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x store, but keep the information about renewed layouts and settings in the new installation of CS-Cart. If you want to exclude some other data from this data import, refer to the Developers tips section further in this article.
If you do not want to actualize your data and wish to finish the store import, you are free to skip this step (the Complete Store import button).
Go live
After the successful data import you proceed to the Finish Store import step, and now you can use your new store live. Moreover, you can always return to the Configure your store and Actualize data steps by clicking the corresponding links.
If you want to launch the import process again, click the Start new store import button.
License requirements
You can use the Store Import add-on in case that you own a license with an active upgrade subscription. If you license does not have an active upgrade subscription, you can either prolong upgrades for the current license, or buy a new license.
Do not forget that it is illegal to use both CS-Cart 2.2.4/2.2.5 or 3.0.x and CS-Cart 4.2.x live having one license. So, during the customization, the CS-Cart 4.2.x store should be closed from the public access (the Close storefront option in the administration panel). The old store should be closed from the public access right after you go live with your CS-Cart 4.2.x version.
Developers tips
The Store Import logs are stored in the /var/store import/ directory regardless the fact that the development mode enabled or not. This directory is created automatically during the store import.
The DEVELOPMENT constant usage
Use the DEVELOPMENT constant to:
- Display the PHP & MySQL errors during the importing process;
- See the text log of the importing process live instead of the default progress bar.
To use this constant, find the config.local.php file in the root directory of your CS-Cart 4.2.x installation and add the following code to the end of the file:
define(‘DEVELOPMENT’, true);Excluding data from the Actualization process
The table_replacement.php file located in the app/addons/store_import/schemas/store_import directory of your CS-Cart 4.2.x installation contains the list of all tables in the CS-Cart database. The tables with the “//” symbols before their names will be rewritten at the Actualize data step.
If you want to exclude any table(s) from the actualization, remove the “//” symbols before the table name.
For example, you applied changes to the Website -> Content section of the administration panel at the Customize your store step of the Store Import. During the data actualization you do not want to lose this data. You should open the table_replacement.php file and remove the “//” symbols in the following lines of the code and save the file:
//'page_descriptions',
//'pages',Now, these tables will not be rewritten during the data actualization.