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This page is only for upgrading from Joomla! versions "1.7 or 2.5" to 3.x OR a 3.x.x version to
3.2.1.
The recommended way to update installations of Joomla! is to use the Joomla Updater component found in the Components menu of your site Administrator(Method A) introduced in J2.5.4.
Updating earlier versions? Use one of the following methods.
You should always review Upgrading Issues and Known upgrading issues and solutions before upgrading.
If an update is available there will be a message indicating this and a button to press. Otherwise for J2.5 go to Extension manager => Update and press Purge cache.
Note: Joomla! will notify you on your administrator home page (control panel) when an update is needed, but it will not do the update for you. You need to press the button to start the update.
Special Instructions for Version 3.1.2 Upgrades |
Recommended Steps and actions: It is recommended that you follow these steps when updating a production site:
This is the easier way, also called One click update
In many cases, your host will make periodic site backups.
Important: Clear your browser cache and check that your site is working correctly. See below Checking Your Site
Important: Clear your browser cache and check that your site is working correctly. See below Checking Your Site
In some cases it may not be possible to use the Extension Manager: Update method to update your site. One reason for this might be that you are using a non-standard distribution (for example, a distribution with a different default language installed). Another reason might be that your don't have a reliable enough internet connection to support automatic installation.
In this case, you can still do an easy installation using the Extension Manager: Install screen. Like the Update screen, this method will do the database updates automatically and will completely update your system without any further steps.
In many cases, your host will make periodic site backups.
Locate the required archive file (for example, .zip, .tag.gz, or tar.bz2 archive) for your version. If you are updating to an x.x.0 release (for example, from 1.7.3 to 2.5.0), this will normally be a file like Joomla_2.5.0-Stable-Update_Package.zip. If you are updating within the same release series (for example, 2.5.0 to 2.5.1), then the file will be named something like Joomla_2.5.0_to_2.5.1-Stable-Patch_Package.zip.
At this point, you have three options:
Install from URL is the easiest to do. With this option, the upgrade archive is loaded directly by the server, so it works well even if your local computer has a slow or unreliable internet connection.
Install from Directory is the safest method if the server itself has a slow internet connection. With this method, you use FTP to load the unpacked update files into a temporary folder on the server. Then you point to that directory on the server for the installation.
Upload Package File is fairly simple, but it requires that you have a good connection between your local computer and the server.
The screen below shows the Extension Manager: Install screen with the three options labeled.
This option is the easiest, if the archive file is available on a website.
The system will work for a period of time, up to two minutes or more for a full version update. Then a message indicating a successful installation will display.
This option requires that you unpack the archive file in a directory on your server. This is the best method if you have a slow internet connection or you are experiencing timeouts during the update process.
/home/myuser/myjoomla/tmp/upgrade250
).
/home/myuser/myjoomla/tmp/upgrade250
).
The system will work for a short time (perhaps a minute or less, depending on your server). Then a message indicating a successful installation will display.
This option requires that you first download the archive file to your local machine.
The system will work for a period of time, up to two minutes or more for a full version update. Then a message indicating a successful installation will display.
Important: Clear your browser cache and check that your site is working correctly. See below Checking Your Site
This method is similar to the old method for updating Joomla versions. Here we want to replace the existing program files with the files from the update archive. The advantage of this method is that it will work on slower shared hosts. The disadvantage is that it requires more work by the system administrator.
Important: This method can also be used to repair a site where the automatic update failed due to a server timeout.
There are two ways you can do this.
Joomla_2.5.0-Stable-Update_Package.zip
. Note that you need to tell the system to replace any existing files. For example, in GoDaddy.com, use the FTP File Manager to upload the update file and then use "Unarchive" to unpack it. Check the box "Overwrite existing files".
At this point, you should be able to log into the back end of your site with the new version installed. However, you are not done. Navigate to Extension Manager: Database. You will initially have Database problems when you check the Database, similar to the screen below.
This is expected. Click on the Fix icon to correct the problems. Now the screen should show that the database is up to date.
Navigate to Extension Manager: Discover and click on the Discover icon in the toolbar. If the updated version has new core extensions, new extensions will be listed, as shown below.
Select all the extensions and click on the Install icon in the toolbar. The system should display a success message similar to the screen below.
At this point, your site is updated. However, there is one more thing to do. The site will think it needs to be updated because a value in the #__extensions table is wrong. To fix this:
"version":"1.7.3"
). Change this to the new version (for example, "version":"3.1.4"
). Be careful to not change anything else in this column.
At this point, your site should be updated correctly.
This is required for method A and B! After an update, it is a good idea to clear your browser cache snd check your site to make sure the update was successful. There are two quick checks you can do from the Extension Manager.
This feature was added in version 2.5.0. It checks that your database is up to date with your Joomla programs.
Navigate to Extension Manager: Database. If your database is up to date, you should see a screen similar to the one below:
If your database is not up to date, you will see a screen listing the problems found, similar to the one below:
In this case, press the Fix button in the upper right corner. Joomla will update your database to correct the issues listed and then it will re-display the screen. If the fix was successful, the display will indicate that the database is up to date.
N.B. If any errors fail to fix then make sure all the database Tables are checked in.
In some cases, when you update to a new Joomla version, new core extensions are added. If there were problems with the database update, these extensions may not have been correctly installed. To check this, navigate to Extension Manager: Discover. Then click on the Discover icon in the toolbar. The screen should show as follows:
If so, you know that any new extensions added during the udpate were correctly installed in the database.
If there are uninstalled extensions, they will show similar to the following screen:
In this case, check the check boxes and click on the Install icon in the toolbar. Joomla will install the extension(s) and then display the screen showing no extensions discovered. At this point, the new extensions have been installed in the database.
If you have any questions before, during, or after the upgrade then please ask them on the Migrating and Upgrading to Joomla! 3.x Forum.
If you have problems or errors during the update process, here are some tips.