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Core Update Guide-to-Self

Submitted by dentonlt on 20. September 2009 - 22:45
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Once a month or so, a Drupal security patch comes out. Updating to the newest version can be quite a time muncher the first time, but it gets quicker with practice.

I perform the update from within Linux. I use FTP, SSH, my local BASH command prompt, and a browser. It's also convenient to use multiple desktops, but that is a geeky preference that has nothing to do with this task. In short, it takes about 20 minutes.

The best reference is certainly the UPDATE.TXT file included with the upgrades. Do read it in case of any special changes for the particular update.

My rough Guide-to-Self follows, but (as always) follow at your own risk! Be smart and begin with a proper backup.

  1. Download module and core update files to a local directory.
  2. put the site into maintenance mode.
  3. backup the site databases (I use the backup module). Download the files to somewhere safe.
  4. FTP the updates (still tar-ed) to the server.
  5. SSH into the server.
  6. untar the new core files to a new directory (this is the new/updated installation).
  7. copy the old modules directory to the new installation directory.
  8. copy the old sites directories to the new installation directory.
  9. untar the new module files to the new modules directory (updates modules).
  10. swap (mv) the new directory and the old installation directory names.
  11. use a browser to visit /update.php (updates databases).
  12. take the site out of maintenance mode.

As long as all goes well, that is the complete process. I then move the old installation files to an archive just in case.