May 26 2006

Files Changed by Drupal Upgrades

Filed under: Content Management Systems » Drupal,

Tools:

Upgrading Drupal

Drupal recommends taking the following steps to upgrade to the latest version of Drupal:

Backup your database and Drupal directory - especially your configuration file in 'sites/default/settings.php'.
Log on as the user with user ID 1.
If you are upgrading to a new major release (ie. 5.x to 6.x), you may want to disable contributed modules (leave only core modules on) and put your site "offline" while upgrading.
Remove all the old Drupal files then unpack the new Drupal files into the directory that you run Drupal from.
Modify the new configuration file to make sure it has the latest and correct information.
Run update.php by visiting http://www.example.com/update.php.

This process upgrades all the core Drupal files, including ones that may not have changed in minor updates. For this reason, we are going to list version-specific files that have changed for those wishing to simply update the necessary files. This is how we update our Drupal installations. In other words, we simply replace the files that were updated, and run update.php. This achieves the same result as removing all the old files and replacing them by all the new ones, as long as you carefully observe which versions of Drupal you are upgrading. While we've done our best to maintain their accuracy, we do not guarantee the correctness of these lists, and will not be held responsible for any problems you encounter as a result of their use. If unsure, please follow the official upgrade instructions included in your distribution's download. Remember to check your changelog file (in root directory) to see which version of Drupal your site is currently running.

Detailed Drupal Upgrade Instructions

If you'd like to reference the official Drupal handbook on upgrading Drupal, either from a previous Drupal version to a new major release, or for upgrading within the same Drupal release, we recommend you check out Drupal's Upgrade Introduction.

Combining upgrade lists for previous versions

In the event that you missed an install upgrade, and say, for example, you need to upgrade from Drupal 6.5 to the most recent version, simply load all the lists from Drupal 6.5 to the most recent version and combine them.

Sign up for official Drupal security announcements

To keep abreast of Drupal security updates, it's best - especially if you're a site admin - if you sign up for their security mailing list.

Select Your Drupal Version

Drupal 6.x

Drupal 5.x

Drupal 4.x

Request Older Revisions

Because it takes more time than we have to post revisions for all previous Drupal versions, we are currently only posting a list of files changed by the latest update, plus specific revisions requested by users. If you need the update list for a version that is currently unlisted, please comment below.

Tools:

Thanks

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2010-03-19 06:11.

This is what I had searched for for over 2 months on the Internet. Thank you for posting this.

Been looking for this!!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Thu, 2009-12-03 17:52.

Thankssss! been needing this!

Thank you for this. Drupal

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-10-21 14:10.

Thank you for this. Drupal often have some changes in it and these steps will help us upgrade easily.

Regards,
Earvin James

Fantastic!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Thu, 2009-10-01 12:55.

Thanks so much for the upgrades to everyone, even the comment sections.

upgrades

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-09-30 03:56.

Thanks for the list of Drupal's upgrades. We need an automatic tool to be upgraded.

good

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-09-30 03:28.

yes upgrading or etc. we need to backup first.

Great!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2009-09-27 23:12.

Drupal has a ton of great upgrades that I did not know about, thanks for making me aware of them.

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Thanks

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-09-14 18:39.

Thanks for all the tips on things to look out for when upgrading Drupal. And the specific Drupal version upgrade lists proved very useful.

Thanks for the upgrade lists

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-08-07 09:38.

Thanks for posting these lists ... Upgrades always scare me

Thanks for the detailed

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-07-21 05:03.

Thanks for the detailed steps. Thanks so much for the time you took to write up these lists. Great work...

Combining older file upgrade lists?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-07-20 19:15.

Any chance you can create an app that will dynamically generate lists from older versions? Combining individual upgrade lists from 3 or more lists back is almost as time consuming as simply replacing all the files.

SEO Web Design

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-07-13 00:43.

Thanks so much for the time you guys have taken to put together these lists. They are invaluable on my sites where I'm regularly making updates.

No problem

Submitted by cwd on Thu, 2009-07-16 14:27.

Our pleasure, glad you find them useful We use them ourselves so we figure we might as well share. Apologies for not releasing the last upgrade list (to 6.13) in a timely fashion.

Drupal vs Wordpress

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-07-03 09:21.

I have used Wordpress for some time and now also want to get used to Drupal. Is there a big difference between them? And how do you backup files? I am looking for good backup software and don't really know that I should begin with.

Thanks for the upgrade lists

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-07-01 03:11.

Thanks so much for the time you guys have taken to put together these lists. They are invaluable on my sites where I'm regularly making updates.

Is Drupal easier to use than Wordpress?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-06-24 12:43.

Have you a got a good Web Content Management System for your blog site? The one I use only works on Wordpress blog sites.

Nice updates

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-06-17 01:06.

Brilliant updates and incredible information is provided by you at the same time. I like the way you have presented various things together in a beautiful manner.

I have gradually become the great fan yours and I wish you good luck for your success.

I started using Drupal

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-06-12 23:44.

I started using Drupal almost one year ago and I go with older version. I learned a lot and then before making it open to world, I upgraded it to 6x version. I think it is always good to go with latest versions.

Better way to combine lists?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-05-29 12:27.

Thanks so much for the time you guys have taken to put together these lists. They are invaluable on my sites where I'm regularly making updates. However, some of my Drupal sites are lagging behind, and on those I would need to combine 5 or more upgrade lists to get the complete file upgrade list, which is more work than simply replacing all the files.

Is there any chance you'll be offering a dynamic way to generate the lists in the future?

Auto upgrading Drupal?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-05-11 16:27.

Nice, your lists definitely saved me some time, considering that I'm upgrading several dozen Drupal installations! Now if only they could finally automate the Drupal upgrade process, like Wordpress is capable of doing.

Drupal Upgrade

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2009-05-09 23:08.

Thanks for the detailed steps. I am updating now.

Upgrading Drupal

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-04-28 07:29.

Oh great, I have been looking for these upgrades and finally got them here. You have done good to help me.

Thanks

5.0?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2007-01-28 11:49.

do you expect that an upgrade to 5.0 will be amenable to your differential file approach, and if so can you say when you will post the list? many thanks. I have used your lists for two upgrades in the 4.7 chain and they were flawless.

Upgrading to Drupal 5.0

Submitted by alex on Mon, 2007-01-29 08:30.

According to Drupal.org:

Because the directory structure in Drupal changed, it is recommended not to extract Drupal 5.0 on top of your existing installation. Start with a fresh copy instead, and copy over your custom modules, themes and configuration file.

It appears that the file diff approach will not work upgrading from 4.7 to 5.0. I'll give it a try anyways and post back.

Meanwhile, for more details on the upgrade process I suggest you visit Drupal's upgrade page.

Cheers,
Alex

Available for other versions of Drupal?

Submitted by Geoff (not verified) on Fri, 2006-06-02 20:19.

Hi Alex,

Thanks for this! I've been looking for a list such as this for a while now. Any chance you can post the file changes from other 4.7 versions (beta and RC)?

Geoff

4.7.4 Versions Up

Submitted by alex on Thu, 2006-10-19 12:59.

I've added the 4.7.4 lists and updated the form box to reflect these. If your version is not listed reply here with the list you want and I'll post it.

On the Way!

Submitted by alex on Sat, 2006-06-03 10:24.

Hey Geoff,

Glad this was of use to you. I'm bogged down with work right now but will post the file changes from other Drupal versions (probably in a color-coded table) shortly.

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Files Changed by Drupal Upgrades

Upgrading Drupal

Detailed Drupal Upgrade Instructions

Combining upgrade lists for previous versions

Sign up for official Drupal security announcements

Select Your Drupal Version

Drupal 6.x

Drupal 5.x

Drupal 4.x

Request Older Revisions