Upgrading Interspire Email Marketer

Upgrading your Interspire Email Marketer installation ensures you have access to the latest features, security updates, and performance improvements. This guide will walk you through the upgrade process step by step to minimize downtime and ensure a smooth transition.

1. Preparation

  • Backup Your Data: Before initiating the upgrade, create a complete backup of your database and current installation files. This precaution safeguards your data against potential issues during the upgrade process.
  • Verify System Requirements: Ensure your server meets the necessary system requirements for the latest IEM version. Use the check_iem.php script to perform this verification. Upload the script to your server’s base directory and access it via your browser. Address any items marked as “NOT OK” before proceeding.

2. Downloading Files

  • Get the Latest Version: Download the most recent IEM version from your order email.
  • Extract the Archive: Unpack the downloaded archive on your local machine using tools like WinZip or built-in extraction utilities.

3. Uploading Files

  • Create a New Directory: Using an FTP client such as Filezilla, connect to your web server. Create a new directory alongside your existing IEM installation, appending ‘-new’ to the current directory name (e.g., if your installation is in /marketing/, create /marketing-new/).
  • Upload Files: Upload the contents of the extracted archive to the newly created directory. Ensure you upload the CONTENTS of the folder, not the folder itself.

Alternatively if you have SSH access, of course please use it.

4. Restoring Essential Files and Directories

  • Restore Configuration and Data: Copy the following from your existing installation to the new directory, overwriting when necessary:
    • ~/admin/com/storage/
    • ~/admin/includes/config.php
    • ~/admin/temp/
  • Restore Private Labeling: If you have customized branding or private labeling, ensure these assets are transferred to the new installation.

5. Renaming Directories

  • Swap Directory Names: To minimize downtime and prevent user access during the upgrade:
    • Rename your current installation directory (e.g., /marketing/) to indicate it is the old version (e.g., /marketing-old/).
    • Rename the new directory (e.g., /marketing-new/) to the original directory name (e.g., /marketing/).

6. Set File Ownership and Permissions

  • Ensure Correct File Ownership: Before setting file permissions, ensure that all files and directories are owned by the same user that the web server is running as. Without proper ownership, you may not be able to modify permissions. Use the following command to adjust ownership:

    chown -R www-data:www-data /path/to/your/interspire

    Replace www-data with the appropriate user for your server (e.g., apache for CentOS/RHEL). If you are unsure about the correct ownership settings, check with your hosting provider, as different environments may have different configurations.
  • Configure Write Permissions: Once the correct ownership is set, adjust the file and directory permissions as follows:
    • Files: Set ~/admin/includes/config.php to 664
    • Directories: Set ~/admin/temp/ and ~/admin/com/storage/ to 775

If you encounter permission-related issues, verify both ownership and permissions, and consult your hosting provider if necessary.

7. Clear Browser Cache

  • Refresh Cached Data: Clear your browser’s cache to ensure it loads the updated files from the new installation.

8. Complete the Upgrade

  • Access the Upgrade Wizard: Navigate to your IEM installation URL. The Upgrade Wizard should appear automatically. Follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the upgrade.

9. Post-Upgrade Steps

  • Restore Customizations: If you have made custom modifications to IEM files, reapply them now. Consult the changelog.txt in the root folder of the downloaded zip file to identify the changes.
  • Delete Template Cache: To prevent potential issues, delete all files in the ~/admin/com/storage/template-cache/ directory before proceeding with your upgraded installation.
  • Update Licensing Information: If you are upgrading to version 8.5.0, remember to enter the updated licensing information. Refer to your invoice for the license key.

10. Access the Upgraded Installation

  • Login: Your upgraded IEM admin panel is now accessible at your installation’s admin URL. Log in to verify that everything is functioning as expected.

Upgrade FAQ

Error after upgrading: Your license key is invalid – possibly an old license key

Your license key may need to be updated if you are receiving this message, Your license key is invalid – possibly an old license key after your upgrade. To fix this follow these steps:

  1. Go back to your invoice, it will include the license key.
  2. Copy the license key for your domain.
  3. Enter the license key in the Settings page and save the changes.

I have lost or corrupted my config file. How do I fix this so that I can continue to use Interspire Email Marketer?

If you have accidentally deleted or corrupted your config file you will need to either fill in your empty/corrupted config file or create a new one. The config file should contain the following information and be saved as ~/admin/includes/config.php:

define('SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_TYPE', 'mysql');
define('SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_USER', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_PASS', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_HOST', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_NAME', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_UTF8PATCH', '1');
define('SENDSTUDIO_TABLEPREFIX', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_LICENSEKEY', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_APPLICATION_URL', '');
define('SENDSTUDIO_IS_SETUP', 1);
define('SENDSTUDIO_DEFAULTCHARSET', 'UTF-8');

You will need to fill out the following details:

  • SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_TYPE: This will only ‘mysql’ as ‘pgsql’ is no longer supported in new versions of IEM.
  • SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_USER: This is the user name that you use to connect to your Interspire Email Marketer database
  • SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_PASS: This is the password for that database
  • SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_HOST: This is usually local host but if this does not work contact your host
  • SENDSTUDIO_DATABASE_NAME: This is the database that has your Interspire Email Marketer install information in
  • SENDSTUDIO_TABLEPREFIX: This will be the first few characters of your table names. Default is ss
  • SENDSTUDIO_LICENSEKEY: Your license key for Interspire Email Marketer
  • SENDSTUDIO_APPLICATION_URL: The full path to your Interspire Email Marketer install. Do not add a slash to the end. I.e. ‘https://www.domain.com/iem

The rest of these details can be filled out by using the settings page in Interspire Email Marketer. You will need to make sure that your config file has write permissions so that Interspire Email Marketer can save the details when you edit them in the Settings page.

How do I know if I am running the most current version of Interspire Email Marketer?

To check which version of Interspire Email Marketer (IEM) you are running, navigate to Tools > System Information in the admin panel. The Product Version line will display the version of your installation.

I get this or similar error: Langvar ‘ApplicationURL’ doesn’t exist. How can I fix it?

If you encounter an error such as “Langvar ‘ApplicationURL’ does not exist” or any similar error related to Langvar not existing, it is typically due to a missing language file. This issue often occurs when upgrading from one version of Interspire Email Marketer to another without uploading all the necessary files. To resolve this, try re-uploading all the files inside the ~/admin/com/language/default/ folder to ensure all required language files are present.

I installed Interspire Email Marketer to the wrong folder. Can I change where it is installed?

Yes this is possible. Simply move all the files and folders to the desired directory and set the SENDSTUDIO_APPLICATION_URL in the ~/admin/includes/config.php to where your installation is. This line should look something like this:
define('SENDSTUDIO_APPLICATION_URL', 'https://www.yourdomain.com/installfolder');

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