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wp_blogs table lost in backup/restore

hi, running single db set up… had a stupid little problem that ended up causing a much bigger one.

long story short, due to the stupid little problem I decided I needed to restore a backup on my wpmu set up of which i have a couple hundred blogs on… on backup restore it was discovered that wp_blogs table is missing. so now none of the sites are showing up. I dug into my pc and found an older backup and I am having problems opening it on my pc to see if there is a wp_blogs table in it because it is some 154mb besides being frustrated at my stand still I am having a bit of a time coming up with a solution…

Any chance someone can tell me the easiest quikest way to resolve this problem? Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

Tony V

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:02:06
  • Timothy
    • Chief Pigeon

    Hey Tony.

    The DB file is 154MB?

    Thats not to bad….

    If you have removed the table from the DB, or however it got deleted then its gone. The only way to get that table back would be from a backup.

    You could look at rebuilding the table as well?

    I've attached a screenshot of my sandbox DB (PHPMyAdmin) which might help if you go the manual route.

    Take care.

    Tim.

    [attachments are only viewable by logged-in members]

  • TonyV
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    Thanks for the info…. .I got lucky and was able to restore the wp_blogs table, however now I am not able to log into the super admin…. any advice on how I can temporarily change the password in the database to gain access or is there another way I can get in?

    Thanks again for your help.

    Tony V

  • marikamitsos
    • The Crimson Coder

    Hi TonyV,

    Glad you got your blogs back.

    any advice on how I can temporarily change the password in the database to gain access or is there another way I can get in?

    1. Have you tried changing the unique salts defined in wp-config? Those may be a solution to unblock the site. If that doesn’t work,

    2. Maybe you can just “lose/forget” your password and have the system provide you with a new one.

    As a safety measure what I always do is to have me register an extra admin account for the main site which I then opt to super-admin. This way if something goes wrong I can always play around with “him” before trying something really radical.

    Hope I helped. Let us know how you did. :slight_smile:

  • TonyV
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    thanks for the advice marikamitsos,

    unfortunately one of the issues I am having is the forgot password page will not resolve… I have my techs looking into this now. Have not tried the salts yet in the config file, will have a look if all else fails. Good idea about creaiting more than one super admin… I might give that a try when I can get in. I have not heard from any of my bloggers yet though, I am hoping they are not having the same problem I am logging in. maybe another table is missing for passwords? I looked through the tables and can’t find one that has the passwords.

    Thanks for any input.

    Tony V

  • marikamitsos
    • The Crimson Coder

    unfortunately one of the issues I am having is the forgot password page will not resolve…

    See if you can register a new site for yourself. Try it in two different ways.

    1. with your existing super-admin email

    2. with a new email. If you get to register this way, see what happens if you lose your password.

    This way you will find out yourself if your admins have any issues. Have answers ready for them. Don’t wait for them to let you know. By the time they do, may be too late…

  • marikamitsos
    • The Crimson Coder

    I looked through the tables and can’t find one that has the passwords.

    You will find them in the table wp_users. That is the very first table in your database. The passwords though are encrypted.

    If all else fails, do the following:

    Go to your dB through your mysql and find the table wp_users, as we mentioned above. (If you have a different prefix then it will look something like xxx_users). Click Browse. Then:

    1. Find your Username and click Edit.

    2.The user_pass is the long list of numbers and letters (as I said it is encrypted).

    3. DELETE them all and type in your new password in the very normal, human way as you would type it if you were on your login screen (letters, numbers, cases, etc)

    4.Now click the dropdown menu just before it, and select MD5 from the menu.

    5. Click the ‘Go’ button to the bottom right.

    [attachments are only viewable by logged-in members]

    That’s it.

    Try it out on your site. You won’t regret it. :wink:

  • TonyV
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    what a mess. I am in cry mode now… lol

    oh well, guess I need a few more gray hairs.

    ok, not making much progress as you can tell. still trying to log in as super admin, and I am being told:

    ” You attempted to access the “Blog Name Here” dashboard, but you do not currently have privileges on this site. If you believe you should be able to access the “Blog Name Here” dashboard, please contact your network administrator.

    If you reached this screen by accident and meant to visit one of your own sites, here are some shortcuts to help you find your way. “

    Blog Name Here is the name of the blog,,,, I replaced it for this example….

    last lines say … if you reached this screen by accident and meant to visit etc….

    I do have one site showing, I click the link, and the screen I get is “Nice Try”

    I have tried reseting the password for the super admin and it is still not working…. gives me all the same message as above.

    I have tried changing the password in the db and still same problem

    I also have cleared my cookies, temp files and cache… and still same problem.

    is there a place in the db that I can change the privileges for the super admin? if so what do I change it to… ?

    Thanks for any help.

    Tony V

  • marikamitsos
    • The Crimson Coder

    Sorry to hear you still have troubles Tony, :slight_frown:

    Couple of things:

    The point you got so far is (correct me if I am wrong)

    1. Your network is back and you have all your sites back

    2. Other (the rest) site admins can log-in with no problems what so ever

    3. You tried (successfully) to change your super-admin password.

    4. You (with your pre-existing name) and NEW password CAN log in as an admin but NOT as super-admin.

    Maybe you can just “lose/forget” your password and have the system provide you with a new one. OR

    …You will find them in the table wp_users. That is the very first table in your database. The passwords though are encrypted……..

    Which of the two above mentioned methods did you try in order to change your password?

    After you did so, did you check your mailbox? See if there are any e-mails sent by the system.

    Keep us posted. :slight_smile: