I previously used a hosting platform that allowed different domains to use different PHP versions. Most of my domains used PHP 7. However, one domain that hosted an old survey was using PHP 5.6.

I migrated to a new hosting platform that only allows a single version of PHP, and PHP 7 is required for most of my work. Now, I cannot even log in to the old survey.

I get the following error message:

"This script needs the PHP Multibyte String Functions library installed: See FAQ and PHP documentation"

Well, according to what I can see from my phpinfo() output, the mbstring library is compiled into my PHP 7.0.32 version (see attached screen grabs).

Can anyone see anything wrong with the PHP configuration? If limesurvey 1.91+ (Build 11379) does not run under PHP 7, what is the oldest version that will be supported? Will that version of LimeSurvey have a different database structure (I have a standalone PHP utility that scrapes the LimeSurvey database for specific information, and that utility is running under MySqli and PHP 7).

Thank you for any assistance.



Jack

LimeSurvey 1.91+ (Build 11379) is from 2011, 7 years ago …

PHP7 didn't exist … in 2011, then NO !

Why you want to use such old tool … a lot of security issue

Else : for the older version : LimeSurvey 2.6lts still have some issue, you must use github.com/SondagesPro/LimeSurvey-SondagesPro or gitlab.com/Sondages.Pro/limesurvey26lts_improved (same code)
But again : WHY need to use such older version …

I don't want to necessarily use such an old version, but I have seven years of data in the current database, and if I convert to a newer version of Limesurvey, not only must I be able to migrate the existing data, but I must also understand how the underlying database structure has changed, so that I can update my custom PHP module that scrapes the data.

If I use the tools available in Limesurvey 1.91+ to export my survey data, can that be used to import my survey questions and answers into a newer version of LimeSurvey?

Yes, you can use the LSA export to migrate the survey structure and all data to the new LimeSurvey version.

- www.limesurvey.org/manual/Exporting_a_su...y_archive_.28.lsa.29

Not that the templates are not compatible so you will need to develop new ones in 3.x.

tpartner wrote: Yes, you can use the LSA export to migrate the survey structure and all data to the new LimeSurvey version.

- www.limesurvey.org/manual/Exporting_a_su...y_archive_.28.lsa.29

…

I don't think LSA exist in 1.91, i think it's between 2.05 and 2.06 (maybe).

@JEfromCanada : if it's «only» for testing and see difference : why not setup quicly your own apache instance on your computer ?

Else : all DB update are here : github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/blob/ma.../updatedb_helper.php , look at your DB version (in DB, because i don't remind where it was in 1.91) and see operation step by step.

DenisChenu wrote: I don't think LSA exist in 1.91, i think it's between 2.05 and 2.06 (maybe).

In that case, I would suggest updating to 2.06 (which should be safe) and then export .lsa.

DenisChenu wrote: github.com/SondagesPro/LimeSurvey-SondagesPro or gitlab.com/Sondages.Pro/limesurvey26lts_improved (same code)

Why two different repositories? Isn't that more work and adding more confusion (e.g. where to submit issues or pull requests)? You are now the only 2.6 (former LTS) repository


@JEfromCanada:
Why not use a PHP 5.6 hosting for now and start migrating to LS3/4 over the next months.
PHP 5.6. will vanish. But currently you still have the choice to use PHP 5.6.
Everybody is moving to PHP 7, cause it has many advantages. Hostingcompanies get for more performance out of the existing hardware and they get rid of many old web-application installations

You will need to migrate, but if you can justify running 1.9X in terms of security till now, you can go on for some time with PHP 5.6.
Starting to modify tools etc. for anything less than LS3/LS4 looks not vital for your project.

jelo wrote:

DenisChenu wrote: github.com/SondagesPro/LimeSurvey-SondagesPro or gitlab.com/Sondages.Pro/limesurvey26lts_improved (same code)

Why two different repositories? Isn't that more work and adding more confusion (e.g. where to submit issues or pull requests)? You are now the only 2.6 (former LTS) repository

Because :

1. I prefer to have a git.sondages.pro only repo, but no time to make it
2. Since github is not a free (like a speech) tool : i prefer usage of gitlab
3. Since gitlab admin sys are really … silly and move to google azure :! some user can't access to gitlab (Iranian, Chinese etc …)

But more : why not ? If you have already an account on gitlab : you can use gitlab, if you have already an account on github : you can use github. Git is done like this : mirrroring a repo is an easy task.

I surely setup a clean git.sondages.pro website, but i need to hire a better server (price is all for me), and when i have one : it become the origin repo : issue must be only posted on this website. But github and gitlab still open …

@jelo

As I stated in my original post, I cannot use PHP 5.6 because I have other domains in the same hosting account that are specifically designed for PHP 7.0.

@DenisChenu and @tpartner

Sounds like I will need to get into those repositories and brush up on my prayer skills LOL

I need to convert to a version that is PHP 7.0+ compatible ASAP, since the survey is currently unusable.

What Jelo says was keeping a hosting that offers PHP 5.6 for the older installation for now and then gradually move to the new hosting which offers PHP 7 only.

If you have important surveys to run, you don't just move. You keep the old system running, install on the new system in parallel, then test, test, test, test. Finally you test a little more. When the tests are all successful, then, and only then, you move your production environment to a new hoster.

This is not only true for Limesurvey, but for any web application that is important to you. Otherwise you risk that your services are down for a while, until you can fix the problems. Especially when you did not update your application for so long. You wouldn't expect your software from Windows 95 to run without trouble on Windows 10 either.

Since your LS 1.91+ version there have been several major versions and many, many improvements and changes to Limesurvey. I am not surprised that 1.91 does not run on a modern hosting environment, as it is quite a few years old now. Your version was released at the beginning of 2012.

As a quick solution, to get your survey up and running, I would find a hosting that still offers PHP 5.6 and run the survey there until it is finished and then move to the newer versions.

holch wrote: …
If you have important surveys to run, you don't just move. You keep the old system running…

Since LimeSurvey 1.91 have a lot of public security issue : you really must use this on a dedicated server without anything else.

And don't have precious information in the database …

It's REALLY a MAJOR RISK to use a 1.91 (or 1.92, or 2.05) today …