Is upgrading really that hard?

Is upgrading really that hard?

by Andreas Burger -
Number of replies: 9

I've read in the docs that there is a way to autoupgrade, at least for minor releases. However, what I get when I open the notifications is the following:


I have checked for the disableautoupgrade-Config setting, it is not set.

Do I really have to go through the tedious manual upgrade process that is outlined in the documentation whenever there is a minor stable update?

Where can I find the "upgrade my moodle" button?

Thanks in advance!

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In reply to Andreas Burger

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
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> Where can I find the "upgrade my moodle" button?

Not to be confused with the "upgrade YOUR moodle" button! smile

Seriously, we all understand your wish. There are completely private Moodle instances. The biggest damage that could happen by mis-clicking on such a Moodle could mean say losing the work of a couple of days. What you perhaps don't know is that there are institutions with hundreds of thousands of users, for whom the Moodle platform is mission critical. Try to imagine the damage of a mis-click there!

That said the page https://docs.moodle.org/38/en/Upgrading handles the case where you upgrade a lesser Release, say 3.5, to 3.8. Updates within the same release, like 3.8.1 to 3.8.3, needs less preparation. Still a full backup is paramount. You know, whatever said, Moodle is a virtual "thing", it may vanish, see Nirwana, any time for reasons you may not agree with.

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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Andreas Burger -
So, as I understand your answer: There is no (semi-)automatic way? Because the documentation hints to such a possibility.

As much as I understand that Moodle is its own kind of beast, that user data is sacred and that there can be no unnecessary harm to big installations, this would be a nice feature to implement. And who says that automatisation cannot include automatic backups etc., such there is at least to some extend in Nextcloud for example. And offering a feature does not force people to use it who do not want to take the risk.

That said, thanks for your answer. I'm going to look into my own automation process if there is no official way.
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In reply to Andreas Burger

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Visvanath Ratnaweera -
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Yep, Moodle is a beast. But even beasts have soft spots. If my memory is correct, there was (is) a self-updating mechanism. Others might come to help. I just wouldn't have any operating system level operations on a GUI. But this is about your Moodle.

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In reply to Visvanath Ratnaweera

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Andreas Burger -
I'd be more than fine with a commandline option. smile

Don't get me wrong. I respect the decision not to offer automatic upgrades through the UI and clearly see the upsides of doing so. I just would have enjoyed any option available to the informed user. This is why I asked, because I wasn't really able to find anything in the beast's cave.

So if something exists I'd be more than happy to learn about it. If there is no such thing and if there is anyone with an established (semi)automatic workflow, I'm all ears to your way of managing updates.
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In reply to Andreas Burger

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Howard Miller -
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Without wishing to start a small war... Wordpress has a self-update option and ask any sysadmin what they think about Wordpress security.
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In reply to Andreas Burger

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Rick Jerz -
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Andreas, yes, the upgrade process seems hard, at first. But once you understand what is involved, and you practice a little, it really isn't as bad as it may first appear. I might be wrong, but I sense that you might be a little new to Moodle. So was I around 10 years ago, and the upgrade process appeared monumental to me. But now, upgrading is quite simple.

I am not sure how you installed your Moodle. However, recently, I did make two videos that took a rather "novice" approach at the process, assuming that the person had a VPS with the cPanel utility. These videos may not mirror exactly what you have, nor your skill level, but the general process is the same for many types of Moodle installations. For my own Moodle, I use FTP and SSH that make upgrading easier than using cPanel, but some folks don't know SSH and FTP and only have cPanel.

What I find is that the complexity of upgrading highly depends upon how many additional plugins you have installed. In my case, I have only eight.

Two suggestions:
1) If your Moodle is already in production, make sure you backup everything before upgrading.
2) Consider installing a sandbox on your PC or Mac. This will allow you to practice without disturbing your production Moodle.

Here is where I have put my videos.
See https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=401983#p1621924.


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In reply to Andreas Burger

Re: Is upgrading really that hard?

by Ken Task -
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Sent you a PM here on Moodle.

'SoS', Ken

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