Exponential 6 and Exponential Platform Nexus #

Exponential Platform Nexus (se7enxweb/exponential-platform-nexus) is a complete site distribution: Exponential Layouts with its visual editor, the Netgen media site, Tags, the Site API and an admin, on one Exponential Platform generation per release line. Its legacy-capable lines also run the Exponential 6 kernel through the legacy bridge.

Migration hub · Checklist · The product's own book: Nexus, chapter 12: Migrating into Nexus and chapter 11: Upgrading between lines

Contents #

• 1. The release lines
• 2. Which line to aim for
• 3. From Exponential 6 to Nexus
• 4. Page building: Exponential Layouts on Nexus and in the legacy kernel
• 5. From Nexus to Exponential 6
• 6. Verify, roll back
• 7. Risks
• 8. Checklist

1. The release lines #

"Nexus 2.5", "Nexus 4.x" and "Nexus 5.x" are the platform generations inside Nexus, not its version numbers. Read from the release tags' composer.json on 2026-10-18:

Related products: CJW Exponential Platform Nexus (se7enxweb/cjw-exponential-platform-nexus, 1.0.0.12, the 2.5 generation with Exponential 6 and vendor files included), its starter (1.0.0.3), and the Nexus Starter (se7enxweb/exponential-platform-nexus-starter, 1.0.0.0, Platform v5, no legacy kernel in its composer.json).

2. Which line to aim for #

The product's rule is same generation first. An Exponential 6 database is a legacy database, so:

Lines 1.0.0.x to 1.2.0.x keep the legacy admin and your legacy extensions working while you port. 1.3.0.x is a Symfony-only application: the product's book lists what disappears (the legacy bundles, ezpublish_legacy/, the legacy cron, the legacy_admin and ngadminui siteaccesses).

3. From Exponential 6 to Nexus #

The product's chapter 12.4 ("From eZ Publish 4.x and Exponential 6") is the procedure; in short:

1. Inventory, freeze, back up (checklist).
2. Bring the database to the newest Exponential 6 schema (chapter 11), and check it with ezsqldiff.php, the reference schema first and your database second.
3. Add the tables the 2.5 kernel expects that a legacy-only database lacks: compare with data/mysql/schema.sql of the installed se7enxweb/ezpublish-kernel 7.5 and create the missing ones (chapter 16.6.1).
4. Create the Nexus 1.0.0.x project from a release tag (for example git clone -b 1.0.0.x ... and git checkout 1.0.0.11, then composer install). Do not run the installer against your database: it builds a repository from scratch. The demo data package can stay installed; it is only read by the installer.
5. Put your legacy extensions and siteaccess settings where the project keeps them (src/AppBundle/ezpublish_legacy/, linked into ezpublish_legacy/ by the project's scripts), copy the storage to ezpublish_legacy/var/<site>/storage, and point app/config/parameters.yml at the database.
6. Replace the demo host map in the siteaccess configuration with your own host names.
7. Create the Exponential Layouts tables (the Layouts migrations on MySQL, or the schema file the Layouts package ships) and set the site bundle's location parameters (ngsite.default.locations.site_info.id, ngsite.default.locations.tree_root.id and the others the product's chapter 12.9 lists) to locations in your tree. A wrong id gives a 404 or an empty block, not an error at deploy time.
8. Keep the legacy siteaccesses running (legacy_mode: true) while the public siteaccess moves to Twig templates and Exponential Layouts one content type at a time.
9. XmlText stays XmlText on 1.0.0.x (se7enxweb/ezplatform-xmltext-fieldtype v1.8.11 is part of the project). Convert to RichText with ezxmltext:convert-to-richtext (in that package) only when you need it in the Symfony admin, at the latest before moving to 1.1.0.x.
10. Passwords: the 2.5 kernel accepts the legacy hash types; from 3.0 on only types 6 and 7 work. Ask users with older types to reset before you move to 1.1.0.x.
11. Build caches, assets and the search index, verify, and rehearse on a fresh copy for the cut-over.

Your own content types render with your own templates: map them in the view configuration instead of renaming them to the demo ng_* types.

4. Page building: Exponential Layouts on Nexus and in the legacy kernel #

Exponential Layouts (se7enxweb/explayouts) is the port of the upstream layouts packages to the Exponential 6 kernel: the same data shape on explayouts_* tables, the editor as a legacy module (chapter 16.6.7). They are two implementations; there is no command that copies one into the other.

Layouts refer to content by id or remote id. Keep remote ids identical when content moves between installations, or the blocks point at nothing (the product's chapter 12.11).

5. From Nexus to Exponential 6 #

Moving from a Nexus line back to Exponential 6 alone is "path B" of chapter 16.6:

• From 1.0.0.x to 1.2.0.x: the legacy kernel is already there. Install Exponential 6, move the legacy settings, extensions and storage over, apply the Exponential 6 update files, and serve it with Velocity or PHP-FPM. The Platform Legacy page has the same steps (section 5).
• From 1.3.0.x: the database has the v5 ibexa_* table names and no legacy-only tables. Follow chapter 16.6.4 (the renames, or the translator extension) and 16.6.9 ("5.0" row), recreate the legacy-only tables, and convert or render RichText (16.6.3).
• Layouts: rebuild the Nexus layouts in the legacy kernel, or copy the rows and run the two conversion commands of section 4. The media design exists for the legacy kernel as se7enxweb/sevenx_themes_media.
• Twig templates become TPL by hand; a converter gets the syntax, not the semantics (16.6.7).

6. Verify, roll back #

Verify as the product's book says: counts before and after, the front page and one page per content type, a layout-managed page, the Layouts editor, an image variation, search, forms, sign-in of an editor and of a user with an old password hash. Roll back by keeping the source untouched until the cut-over has settled; all work is done on copies.

7. Risks #

8. Checklist #

• To do: Line chosen by generation (1.0.0.x from Exponential 6); explicit version.
• To do: Database on the newest Exponential 6 schema; 2.5 tables added; ezsqldiff.php clean.
• To do: Project from a release tag; installer not run on the data; demo host map replaced.
• To do: Legacy extensions, settings and storage in place; legacy siteaccesses on legacy_mode.
• To do: Layouts tables present; site bundle location parameters point at your tree.
• To do: Page structures rebuilt as layouts and rules; remote ids kept.
• To do: XmlText strategy decided; password resets planned before 3.0.
• To do: Verified on a fresh copy during the freeze; rollback agreed.

This page is part of the Exponential documentation and is free documentation under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 or any later version (the license of this documentation).