3 This document describes how to update your Drupal site between 8.x.x minor and
4 patch versions; for example, from 8.1.2 to 8.1.3, or from 8.3.5 to 8.4.0.
6 To upgrade from a previous major version (for example, Drupal 6 or 7), the
7 process involves importing site configuration and content from your old site
8 into a new Drupal 8 site. The tools and process are currently experimental,
9 rather than being fully supported, so be sure to test in a development
10 environment. You will need to use the core Migrate Drupal UI module which
11 provides a user interface for the Migrate and Migrate Drupal modules included
12 in core. See https://www.drupal.org/upgrade/migrate for details, and
13 https://www.drupal.org/node/2167633 for known issues.
15 First steps and definitions:
17 * If you are upgrading to Drupal version x.y.z, then x is known as the major
18 version number, y is known as the minor version number, and z is known as
19 the patch version number. The download file will be named
20 drupal-x.y.z.tar.gz (or drupal-x.y.z.zip). Previous Drupal versions used
21 only x.y (MAJOR.MINOR) to designate their versions.
23 * All directories mentioned in this document are relative to the directory of
24 your Drupal installation.
26 * Make a full backup of all files, directories, and your database(s) before
27 starting, and save it outside your Drupal installation directory.
28 Instructions may be found at
29 https://www.drupal.org/upgrade/backing-up-the-db
31 * It is wise to try an update or upgrade on a test copy of your site before
32 applying it to your live site. Even minor updates can cause your site's
35 * Each new release of Drupal has release notes, which explain the changes made
36 since the previous version and any special instructions needed to update or
37 upgrade to the new version. You can find a link to the release notes for the
38 version you are upgrading or updating to on the Drupal project page
39 (https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal).
43 If you encounter errors during this process,
45 * Note any error messages you see.
47 * Restore your site to its previous state, using the file and database backups
48 you created before you started the update process. Do not attempt to do
49 further updates on a site that had update problems.
51 * Consult one of the support options listed on https://www.drupal.org/support
53 More in-depth information on updating and upgrading can be found at
54 https://www.drupal.org/upgrade
56 MINOR AND PATCH VERSION UPDATES
57 -------------------------------
58 To update from one 8.x.x version of Drupal to any later 8.x.x version, after
59 following the instructions in the INTRODUCTION section at the top of this file:
61 1. Log in as a user with the permission "Administer software updates".
63 2. Go to Administration > Configuration > Development > Maintenance mode.
64 Enable the "Put site into maintenance mode" checkbox and save the
67 3. Remove the 'core' and 'vendor' directories. Also remove all of the files
68 in the top-level directory, except any that you added manually.
70 If you made modifications to files like .htaccess, composer.json, or
71 robots.txt you will need to re-apply them from your backup, after the new
74 Sometimes an update includes changes to default.settings.php (this will be
75 noted in the release notes). If that's the case, follow these steps:
77 - Locate your settings.php file in the /sites/* directory. (Typically
80 - Make a backup copy of your settings.php file, with a different file name.
82 - Make a copy of the new default.settings.php file, and name the copy
83 settings.php (overwriting your previous settings.php file).
85 - Copy the custom and site-specific entries from the backup you made into the
86 new settings.php file. You will definitely need the lines giving the
87 database information, and you will also want to copy in any other
88 customizations you have added.
90 You can find the release notes for your version at
91 https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal. At bottom of the project page under
92 "Downloads" use the link for your version of Drupal to view the release
93 notes. If your version is not listed, use the 'View all releases' link. From
94 this page you can scroll down or use the filter to find your version and its
97 4. Download the latest Drupal 8.x.x release from https://www.drupal.org to a
98 directory outside of your web root. Extract the archive and copy the files
99 into your Drupal directory.
101 On a typical Unix/Linux command line, use the following commands to download
104 wget https://www.drupal.org/files/projects/drupal-x.y.z.tar.gz
105 tar -zxvf drupal-x.y.z.tar.gz
107 This creates a new directory drupal-x.y.z/ containing all Drupal files and
108 directories. Copy the files into your Drupal installation directory:
110 cp -R drupal-x.y.z/* drupal-x.y.z/.htaccess /path/to/your/installation
112 If you do not have command line access to your server, download the archive
113 from https://www.drupal.org using your web browser, extract it, and then use
114 an FTP client to upload the files to your web root.
116 5. Re-apply any modifications to files such as .htaccess, composer.json, or
119 6. Run update.php by visiting http://www.example.com/update.php (replace
120 www.example.com with your domain name). This will update the core database
123 If you are unable to access update.php do the following:
125 - Open settings.php with a text editor.
127 - Find the line that says:
128 $settings['update_free_access'] = FALSE;
131 $settings['update_free_access'] = TRUE;
133 - Once the update is done, $settings['update_free_access'] must be reverted
136 7. Go to Administration > Reports > Status report. Verify that everything is
139 8. Ensure that $settings['update_free_access'] is FALSE in settings.php.
141 9. Go to Administration > Configuration > Development > Maintenance mode.
142 Disable the "Put site into maintenance mode" checkbox and save the