User:Aeric/Upgrading the Wiki

Note: This process is for upgrading a wiki in place. The process hasn't been fully tested, as it turns out that to Create a New Branch it is necessary to install the wiki, so the paths are configured right internally. We tend to upgrade only when creating a new branch, so this process generally isn't needed. It has been retained in case it turns out to be useful at some future date.)

Do the Update

This upgrade process is based on the one recommended at the MediaWiki site.

1. First, find out if an upgrade is needed. Check Special:Version to see what we have.

2. Create a new directory to put the update into.

3. If needed: Create a new database.
   (If you are doing the upgrade as part of creating a new branch, you have already created a new database, so you can skip this step.)

4. Unzip the latest production version of MediaWiki.
   Get the latest stable production version (the latest version listed in green, or listed with a green checkmark, at
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_version_history.

5. From the old directory:

   • Copy the LocalSettings.php file
   • Copy the extensions/ folder
   • Copy the skins/ folder

6. In the release notes for the new version, see if any changes need to be made to LocalSettings.php.
   Note: It's possible that the upgrade script below does this. Maybe that's why it wasn't part of the procedure mentioned on the MediaWiki upgrade page. (Dunno)

7. Enable read-only mode in LocalSettings.php of the old directory:

   • $wgReadOnly = 'Upgrading to MediaWiki {version}';

8. Run the upgrade script in the new directory.
9. Copy the images/ folder to the new directory.
10. Swap the old directory and the new directory.

Learn more:

• http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Upgrade
• http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki

Test the update

Once the upgrade has been completed:

1. Browse to the wiki and check that the following operations work as expected:

   • Viewing pages
   • Editing pages
   • Uploading a file

2. In Special:Version, check that the version shown is correct and that the extensions are present.