D4.6.8 to D6.10: Set up a development site

If you haven't already, set up a development space on the server that hosts your current site. Three years ago, a statement like that would turn me into a deer in the headlights. Let me help you.

1. Development Domain: Ask your hosting service to set up another site directory on your account using either a domain that you will use for development or something like dev.examplesite.com. It needs to be a separate directory (NOT a drupal site folder).
2. Database: Ask your hosting service to set up another database. Using the same db username and login makes it easy.
3. Export/Import your Data: Either ask your provider to do this or use the database management service they provide to export all structures and data from your current D4.6.8 site into a sql file. I use phpmyadmin. You don't need to know sql to do this however, phpmyadmin must be installed and configured on the hosting service in order for you to use it with your db. One you have the export, import the sql file into the new development database.
4. Download/Upload Drupal: Use whatever tool you have been using to upload files to your site. I use Filezilla and the hosting service control panel. Filezilla doesn't always create the sub-directories in a multi-directory upload so watch out for that. I simply downloaded all the files from my D4.6.8 site to my local drive and then uploaded them to the new domain directory.
5. Configure the Site: Change the site directory name from your old domain name (unless you are still using default, then just leave as default). Then update the settings.php file to the correct database name and URL.
6. Go Look at Your Duplicate Site: Go to your new site and you should see an exact duplicate of your current site.

CAUTION: Because both your old site and your new one are on the same server, you will need to be cautious when upgrading PHP and MySQL. "Drupal requires a web server, PHP 4 (4.3.5 or greater) or PHP 5 (http://www.php.net/) and either MySQL (http://www.mysql.com/) or PostgreSQL (http://www.postgresql.org/). The Apache web server and MySQL database are recommended; other web server and database combinations such as IIS and PostgreSQL have been tested to a lesser extent. When using MySQL, version 4.1.1 or greater is recommended to assure you can safely transfer the database."

D4.6.8, however, does not run in PHP 5.2. The install.txt file says it will run in PHP5 or higher but that was not the case for me. I had to revert back to PHP 4.4.7. The MySQL upgrade to 5.0 worked fine. For technology requirements, check out Requirements.