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Photon Migration Command: cms:photon-convert

Overview​

The cms:photon-convert command permanently migrates a Classic CMS installation to the Photon platform. This process is irreversible and replaces a number of core files, configurations, database records, and themes. Any Classic frontend templates and stylesheets will be removed and replaced with the Origin theme.

This command is intended for clean production-ready environments and should not be executed without complete backups and testing.

warning
  • One-Way Operation: There is no built-in rollback. You must restore from backup if anything fails or behaves unexpectedly.
  • Loss of Custom Code: Any bespoke or extended functionality built into the Classic CMS core (e.g., custom themes, route overrides, legacy supplements) may be lost or rendered non-functional.
  • File and Database Changes: Files will be modified and deleted; database entries will be truncated and restructured.

What the Command Does​

1. Checks for Confirmation​

  • Prompts the user to confirm before proceeding.
  • Exits early if the site is already using Photon.
  • Exits early if any Galaxies sites are installed.

2. Modifies CMS Configuration​

  • Sets photon_enabled to 1 in config/constants.xml.
  • Disables XForms PHP calculations in config/xfp/constants.xml.

3. Updates Database Constants​

  • Enables slug generation (USE_JADUSLUGS).
  • Sets READABLE_URLS_WORD_SEPARATOR to -.
  • Disables XFP_LOAD_LANGUAGE_PACK_FROM_FILE if previously enabled.
  • Updates the USER_ADAPTER constant to a Photon equivalent.

4. Rewrites Routes and Canonical URLs​

  • Truncates JaduRoutes and replaces with Photon equivalents.
  • Updates canonical URLs in JaduCanonicalURL to new Photon route names.
  • Regenerates slugs via scheduled task.

5. Overwrites .htaccess Configuration​

  • Writes new config/readable_urls.xml.

6. Replaces Language Pack Entries​

  • Truncates JaduLanguagePackEntries and populates with Photon-compatible entries.

7. Overwrites Page Supplements​

  • Truncates JaduPageSupplementLocations and replaces with Photon equivalents.
  • Updates JaduPageSupplements to new Photon locations.
  • Installs any missing standard page supplements to JaduPageSupplements and JaduPageSupplementPublicCode.
  • Removes incompatible entries from JaduPageSupplementPublicCode, JaduPageSupplements, JaduPageSupplementCategories, and JaduPageSupplementWidgets.

8. Removes incompatible widgets​

  • Removes the Top FAQs widget if previously installed.

9. Modifies Bundle Configuration​

  • Overwrites config/bundles.xml to register Photon Symfony bundles.

10. Modifies Web.config​

  • Overwrites public_html/Web.config and public_html/blog/Web.config for WISP.

11. Updates Apache VHost Templates​

  • Adds %THEME_CONFIG% placeholder to vhost.cfg and vhost-ssl.cfg.

12. Registers Themes​

  • Registers Photon-compatible themes (e.g., Origin, Alpha, Spectral).

13. Sets the New Theme​

  • Replaces config/frontend/config.yml to activate the Origin theme.

14. Migrates Theme Settings​

  • Migrates logo, accent color, and other theme settings to Photon configuration.

15. Overwrites Stylesheets​

  • Deletes all existing stylesheets.
  • Adds a default standard.css.
  • Clears styling from homepages and widgets.

16. Filesystem Cleanup​

  • Deletes any files and folders under public_html containing classic frontend templates.
  • Deletes any images in the public_html/site/images folder.
  • Deletes config/galaxy/config.yml and config/galaxy/security.yml to remove any Symfony configuration for Galaxies.

17. Final Cleanup​

  • Clears cache.
  • Regenerates .htaccess.
  • Restarts Apache (if supported on the environment).

Before You Run the Command​

  • Ensure you have:

    • A full file-system backup of your CMS.
    • A SQL dump of the CMS database.
    • An understanding of which components have been customised or extended.
    • A tested backout plan.

  • Evaluate compatibility of:

    • Custom stylesheets and themes.
    • Route overrides and legacy PHP logic.
    • Forms using PHP logic (these are disabled in Photon).
    • Third-party integrations.

How to Run​

php cli.php cms:photon-convert

You will be prompted:

Continue with this action (yes/no)? [No]:

Type yes to proceed.

After Migration​

  • Validate key site functionality:
  • Homepage
  • Navigation
  • Login/account system
  • Documents, Events, Directories, and supplements
  • Reapply or refactor any required customisations using Photon’s extension points.