Documentation Level: 
Intermediate
Documentation Status: 
No known problems

Minor and patch updates are straight-forward, and usually may be done independently of any module updates. It's usually a good idea to update Backdrop CMS core independently, before attempting any module updates.

  1. Make a backup of your database.
  2. Make a backup of the config directory (it's located within the 'files' directory and begins with 'config_` unless otherwise specified in the settings.php file).
  3. Download the latest release of Backdrop CMS core and extract it.
  4. Login to your site as a user with the "Administrator" role.
  5. Put your site into maintenance mode (optional, but strongly recommended)
  6. Rename the core directory in the root directory of your current codebase "core-old" or similar, and move it outside your Backdrop docroot.
  7. Put the new core directory from the latest release of Backdrop CMS inside your docroot.
    • Note: If any of the files outside the core directory have been changed and need to also be updated, they will be explicitly mentioned in the release notes.
  8. Run update.php by navigating to http://example.com/core/update.php
  9. If you turned on the maintenance mode option, turn it back off, to make your site publicly accessible again.
  10. If all is well, delete the "core-old" directory.