Which folders need to be backed up for migration in Joomla?

Question

I'm helping someone update & migrate their old website, built on the Joomla framework.
Currently it is running on Joomla 1.5.8 which is an ancient version. I've convinced them to upgrade Joomla to at least 2.5

I have already made a backup of the database.

Most links I have seen talk of backing up the entire public_html folder (The website runs on a shared host). But in my fresh Joomla installation there are several folders that are in the public_html folder.

So which of the folders in the public_html folder are from the content of the website, and which are of the old Joomla framework?

I'm afraid that I might overwrite files of the new Joomla framework with the old framework, if copy all the files and folders into the new installation.

Answer 1

Backup

First, make a backup of the entire site, best using Akeeba Backup.

Migrate

There are some tools out there to (partly) automat the migration process. You might want to have a closer look at two of them:

1. jUpgrade
2. SPUpgrade

Answer 2

You can find the core Joomla 1.5 file structure at: https://github.com/PhilETaylor/Joomla1.5.999

When migrating to a new version of Joomla, I usually create the /new sub-folder and create the new website in here. Once the new website is ready to go live, it is quite simple to move everything in the root folder except /new into /old and then move everything in /new to the root folder (use cPanel or similar so the move happens quickly on the server rather than via your local machine).

When moving Joomla websites between folders, you will need to update the logs and tmp path in Global Configuration (or edit the configuration.php file). If the $live_site parameter is set, you will also need to update this in the configuration.php file. Also check the .htaccess file (if used) for any absolute paths.