How To Update Drupal Version

Updates are essential to accommodate the advancements in technology. To avoid issues and losing website contents after updating, you need to take note of the following precautions before you proceed with the instructions below on how to update Drupal version: 

• Secure a backup of Drupal website files 
• Secure a backup of Drupal database SQL file 
• Check the system requirements of the new version by reading its release notes and make sure that it is compatible with the current features of your hosting account 
• Put your Drupal in Maintenance mode

 

Updating might sometimes be confused with upgrading a website’s version. Follow this link to see the difference between updating and upgrading CMS version. 

There are two ways to update your Drupal version:  

• Drupal Admin Page
• Softaculous in cPanel

NOTE: The website name and directory name in the images below are only examples.

 

Via Drupal Admin Page

This process is convenient if you are not logged in to cPanel. Follow the steps below on how to update Drupal’s version inside the admin page.  

Step 1. Log in to your Drupal dashboard via the link yourdomain.com/user/login (replace yourdomain.com with the domain of your website) or via Softaculous Apps Installer in cPanel. If you can’t remember the logins, you can follow this link on how to reset your Drupal logins.  

Step 2. Click the Manage drop-down.  

Step 3. Click the Configuration button.

Step 4. An available updates link will show if the Drupal version needs updating. Click the available updates link.

Step 5. Click the List button after you have read the new version’s release notes. 

Step 6. Know what to expect after updating by accessing the Release Notes.  

Step 7. Click Download to download the installation folder of the recommended Drupal version.  

Step 8. Upload the zip file via FTP or upload it via File Manager.  

Step 9. Right-click on the uploaded file in your File Manager through cPanel and click Extract.  

Step 10. Extract it to the website’s directory. Enter the file path of the website files inside the box.  

Step 11. Click Extract File(s) button to start the extraction.  

Step 12. The extracted folder should have the same folder name as the zip file. Double click on the extracted file to see its contents.  

Step 13. Highlight all files and folders except modules, profiles, sites, and themes. If you have made modifications to your dot files before the update (.htaccess, robots.txt, composer.json), exclude them as well. These are the folders and files that we don’t want to overwrite because they consist your original website contents.  

Step 14. Right-click on one of the files highlighted and click the Move option. 

The new version should now be indicated in the Drupal Admin page under Configuration > List page. 

Step 15. Disable the maintenance mode to make your website live again.

 

Via Softaculous in cPanel

This is only applicable if your Drupal site is installed via Softaculous.  

Step 1. Log in to cPanel.  

Step 2. Click the Softaculous Apps Installer icon found under Software menu. 

Step 3. Make sure PHP is chosen at the top, then click the Installations button. 

Step 4. If an update is available, an update icon beside the current version number will show just like in the screenshot below. Click the update icon to set up the upgrade. 

Step 5. Tick the box next to Create Backup if you want a backup to be generated by cPanel. As shown below the box, this generates a full backup as the default. A full backup consists of both the website files and the database used by the website. 

Step 6. Click the Upgrade button to start the update. 

Step 7. Wait for the upgrade to complete.  

Step 8. Click the first link to complete the upgrade process.  

Step 9. Read all the requirements. Once everything on the list is satisfied, click the Continue button.  

Step 10. All add on updates needed will show under Review updates. The Drupal update ends in this section if there are no pending updates. Click on the links Front page and Administration pages respectively to check both pages if they’ve been updated fine.  

Step 11. Click the Apply pending updates button if pending updates are showing under the Review updates tab. If there are pending updates listed, it will be running under Run updates menu.  

Step 12. Test the Front page and Administration page links under Review Log tab. 

Step 13. Disable the maintenance mode to make your website live again.

 

Do not hesitate to contact our Singapore or Australia Support Team if you have further questions.