I had a small discourse forum for a few years and it works well. I set up autobackups, but didn’t update discourse version for a long time.
Server died, but I have backup. Backup is from the old discourse version, about a 2 years ago. When I’m trying to install the newest version and restore from backup, it doesn’t work. When I’m trying to install old version, it isn’t possible: setup script automatically pulls new commits and latest docker image, I even found these lines in launcher script and deleted, but some internal code in docker image also checks and updates git to latest version.
What should I do? How can I run old discourse version or restore old backup on a new version?
If you want help, you’ll need to be more specific. It should work. There’s a good chance that the issue will also not work if you were able to install the same version of Discourse that you had then.
What was the error you got when you tried to restore?
There is no critical errors in ./launcher logs app output, but forum doesn’t work. Almost all buttons doesn’t work, there is no topics, and html is looking strange (buggy start page repeats itself and can be scrolled to the bottom without limit).
I’m not professional tech guy, and I hope you can tell me which logs I can add to my report where can I find them.
Rails production logs doesn’t contain critical errors, product_errors.log is empty.
Unicorn error logs unknown OID 17246: failed to recognize type of 'embeddings'. It will be treated as String.
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 2 EOFError subscribe failed, reconnecting in 1 second. Call stack /var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client/ruby_connection.rb:103:in `rescue in read'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client/ruby_connection.rb:94:in `read'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client.rb:535:in `next_event'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis/subscribe.rb:66:in `subscription'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis/subscribe.rb:17:in `subscribe'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis.rb:175:in `_subscription'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis/commands/pubsub.rb:17:in `subscribe'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus/backends/redis.rb:293:in `global_subscribe'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus.rb:769:in `global_subscribe_thread'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus.rb:740:in `block in new_subscriber_thread'
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Error fetching job: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Error fetching job: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Error fetching job: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Error fetching job: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Error fetching job: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Job exception: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 sidekiq-exception
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Job exception: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 sidekiq-exception
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Job exception: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 sidekiq-exception
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Job exception: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 sidekiq-exception
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Job exception: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 sidekiq-exception
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 heartbeat: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 3 Job exception: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) sidekiq-exception
Failed to report error: Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) 2 Connection refused - connect(2) for 127.0.0.1:6379 (redis://localhost:6379) subscribe failed, reconnecting in 1 second. Call stack /usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:1219:in `__connect_nonblock'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:1219:in `connect_nonblock'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:60:in `connect_internal'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:141:in `connect'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:647:in `block in tcp'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:231:in `each'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:231:in `foreach'
/usr/local/lib/ruby/3.3.0/socket.rb:637:in `tcp'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client/ruby_connection.rb:120:in `connect'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client/connection_mixin.rb:11:in `reconnect'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client.rb:769:in `block in connect'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client/middlewares.rb:12:in `connect'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client.rb:768:in `connect'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client.rb:759:in `raw_connection'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client.rb:719:in `ensure_connected'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-client-0.25.2/lib/redis_client.rb:314:in `call_v'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis/client.rb:90:in `call_v'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/rack-mini-profiler-4.0.1/lib/mini_profiler/profiling_methods.rb:90:in `block in profile_method'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis.rb:152:in `block in send_command'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis.rb:151:in `synchronize'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis.rb:151:in `send_command'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/redis-5.4.0/lib/redis/commands/strings.rb:191:in `get'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus/backends/redis.rb:366:in `process_global_backlog'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus/backends/redis.rb:279:in `block in global_subscribe'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus/backends/redis.rb:291:in `global_subscribe'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus.rb:769:in `global_subscribe_thread'
/var/www/discourse/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/message_bus-4.4.1/lib/message_bus.rb:740:in `block in new_subscriber_thread'
unknown OID 17246: failed to recognize type of 'embeddings'. It will be treated as String.
Sidekiq logs are empty.
No problems in Nginx logs.
I see redis connection problem in Unicord logs, but Redis logs itself have no errors:
9706:C 28 Aug 2025 15:11:25.025 * Fork CoW for RDB: current 1 MB, peak 1 MB, average 0 MB
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:11:25.106 * Background saving terminated with success
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:16:26.096 * 100 changes in 300 seconds. Saving...
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:16:26.097 * Background saving started by pid 10037
10037:C 28 Aug 2025 15:16:26.109 * DB saved on disk
10037:C 28 Aug 2025 15:16:26.109 * Fork CoW for RDB: current 1 MB, peak 1 MB, average 0 MB
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:16:26.198 * Background saving terminated with success
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:21:27.004 * 100 changes in 300 seconds. Saving...
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:21:27.004 * Background saving started by pid 10365
10365:C 28 Aug 2025 15:21:27.019 * DB saved on disk
10365:C 28 Aug 2025 15:21:27.019 * Fork CoW for RDB: current 1 MB, peak 1 MB, average 0 MB
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:21:27.105 * Background saving terminated with success
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:26:28.030 * 100 changes in 300 seconds. Saving...
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:26:28.031 * Background saving started by pid 10703
10703:C 28 Aug 2025 15:26:28.050 * DB saved on disk
10703:C 28 Aug 2025 15:26:28.051 * Fork CoW for RDB: current 1 MB, peak 1 MB, average 0 MB
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:26:28.132 * Background saving terminated with success
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:31:29.094 * 100 changes in 300 seconds. Saving...
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:31:29.095 * Background saving started by pid 11028
11028:C 28 Aug 2025 15:31:29.109 * DB saved on disk
11028:C 28 Aug 2025 15:31:29.110 * Fork CoW for RDB: current 1 MB, peak 1 MB, average 0 MB
881:M 28 Aug 2025 15:31:29.196 * Background saving terminated with success
Thanks, it helped and forum is working (not properly, but I can access topics with contect).
However, forum without safe mode is unusable, and I don’t exactly remember which plugins I installed. List of plugins should be in app.yml, but server is dead and I have only backup, which doesn’t contain app.yml, as I know. What should I do to restore forum and remove broken plugins?
Thanks, it really works only without themes, but where can I find themes? In backup I see only two items: dump.sql.gz and uploads folder, that contains only user media and files.