Upgrading from an existing version

Overview

Starting with version 1.6, there are three ways to update your Joomla Website to versions 1.6,
1.7 or 2.5.

 Extension Manager: Update

 Extension Manager: Install

 Manually Copy Program Files

Each of these is discussed below.

Upgrade from version earlier than 1.6.x to Joomla 1.7?

This page does not contain the instructions for migrating a Website from Joomla versions earlier
than 1.6. See the Upgrading and Migrating Joomla page.

Upgrade from version 1.6.x to Joomla 1.7?

Important note as of 28 January 2012: On some shared host environments (GoDaddy.com

and perhaps others), the normal Joomla update from 1.7 to 2.5 can intermittently fail with the
error "Internal Server Error". In some cases, this can happen in the middle of the file transfer
process and cause errors on the site. On GoDaddy.com, this appears to happen when the
server is under a heavy load and the update takes longer than 2 minutes to complete. Based on
recent testing, sites on these slower shared hosts can safely be updated using a free third-party
extension called Admin Tools. If you are updating a site on a shared host, please consider using
Admin Tools or else use the Manually Copy Program Files method outlined below. If you have
experienced an error during the update, there is a process for repairing the site.

Steps and actions: It is recommended that you follow these steps when updating a production
site:

1. Back up your site before upgrading to a new version. That way, if something goes wrong
during the upgrade process, you can easily restore your site to the earlier version.
2. Review the release notes for the new version to be familiar with what was changed.

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 3. Update using one of the recommended methods outlined in this document. These
methods install the new program files, delete unneeded old program files, and update
the database as needed for the new Joomla version.

4. Check that the update was successful, using the steps outlined in #Checking Your Site.

Method A - Extension Manager: Update Method

This is the easier way, also called One click update

Step 1: Make sure you have a current backup of your site

In many cases, your host will make periodic site backups.

Step 2: Find and install updates

1. In the back end of your Joomla site, navigate to Extensions → Extension Manager and
open the Update tab.
2. Click on the Purge Cache icon to clear out the cache.

3. Click on the Find Updates icon in the toolbar. If there is an available update, the screen
will list it, similar to the screen shown below.

Note that available upgrades for extensions used in the site will also show in the list.

4. Select the update (using the checkbox) and click on the Update icon in the toolbar.

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 5. IMPORTANT: This process will take a few minutes. Wait until the process completes
and the success message shows, similar to the screen shown below.

6. Congratulations! At this point, your site is updated.

Important: You need now to check that your site is working correctly. See below Checking Your
Site

Method B - Extension Manager: Install Method

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.
Step 1: Make sure you have a current backup of your site

In many cases, your host will make periodic site backups.

Step 2: Locate the update file

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
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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:

1. Install from URL

2. Install from Directory

3. Upload Package File

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.

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Install from URL

This option is the easiest, if the archive file is available on a website.

1. In the Extension Manager: Install screen, enter the URL for the archive file in the Install
URL field.
2. Press the Install button.

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.
Install from Directory

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.

1. Unpack the archive file in a temporary directory on your local machine.

2. Upload all the files in this directory (for example, using FTP) to a temporary directory that
is visible to the web server. For example, you can create a sub-directory under the tmp
directory in your Joomla root. For this example, let's say the directory on the server
is /home/myuser/myjoomla/tmp/upgrade250).

3. In the Extension Manager: Install screen, enter the full path of the temporary directory
(on the server) from step 2 (for example, /home/myuser/myjoomla/tmp/upgrade250).

4. Press the Install button.

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.
Upload Package File

This option requires that you first download the archive file to your local machine.

1. Download the file to your local computer.

2. In the Extension Manager: Install screen, click the Browse button next to the Package
File field and browse to the archive file.

3. Press the Install button.

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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.

1. Congratulations! At this point, your site is updated.

Important: You need now to check that your site is working correctly. See below Checking Your
Site.

Method C - Manually Copy New Program Files

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.
Copy the New Program Files to Your Site

There are two ways you can do this.

1. Copy the archive file to the root directory of your site and unpack the archive. The
update archive will be named something like 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".
2. If you don't have the ability to unpack the archive on the server, create a temporary
directory on your local machine and unpack the archive file there. Then FTP these files
to the root directory of your site, overwriting the existing files.

Update the Database

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.

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Database Screen Before Fix

This is expected. Click on the Fix icon to correct the problems. Now the screen should show that
the database is up to date.
Install New Extensions

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.

Discover Screen Before Install

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.

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Discover Screen After Install

Update the #__extensions Table

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:

 Using phpMyAdmin or a similar tool, edit the row of the #__extensions table where the id
column is '700'. (Note that the table prefix will be different in your site. For example, if your
table prefix is "jos_", then the table will be called "jos_extensions".
 In the manifest_cache column, you will see the old version in the text (for
example, "version":"1.7.3"). Change this to the new version (for example, "version":"2.5.0").
Be careful to not change anything else in this column.

 To check that this was successful, navigate to Extension Manager: Update and click
Check for Updates. You should not see the current Joomla version in the list.

At this point, your site should be updated correctly.

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Checking Your Site

This is required for method A and B! After an update, it is a good idea to check your site to
make sure the update was successful. There are two quick checks you can do from the
Extension Manager.

Extension Manager: Check Database

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:

Database Screen With No Problems

If your database is not up to date, you will see a screen listing the problems found, similar to the
one below:

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Database Screen With 3 Database Problems

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.
Extension Manager: Discover

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:

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Discover Screen With No Extensions To Install

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:

Discover Screen With Two Extensions To Install

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.
Troubleshooting Update Problems

If you have any questions before, during, or after the upgrade then please ask them on
the Joomla! 1.6 Migrating and Upgrading Forum.

If you have problems or errors during the update process, here are some tips.

 If any database error messages show after the update, be sure to check the Extension
Manager: Database tab followed by the Extension Manager: Discover tab. In some cases, if
a database error occurs it will prevent all the database updates from running. In this case,

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 you can run them from the Database tab and then use the Discover→Install method to
check and install any new extensions.
 If you encounter any errors or problems during or after the update, be sure to check the
FAQ for the version you updated to. For example, for version 2.5.0, this will be an article
entitledhttp://docs.joomla.org/Category:Version_2.5.0_FAQ.

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