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 active config directory (located at files/config_[hash]/active unless otherwise specified in the settings.php file).
  3. Login to your site as a user with the "Administrator" role.
  4. Put your site into maintenance mode (optional, but strongly recommended)
  5. Navigate to the Updates page. This can be accessed in a few different ways:
    • Go from the list of Available updates at /admin/reports/updates/list following the "Install system updates" link at the top.
    • Navigate directly to the page using the URL (admin/config/system/updates) or the Admin menu (Configuration > System > System updates)
    • Follow the link in the Status report under Backdrop CMS update status.
  6.  Check the Release notes for anything to be aware of. There will be a link in the table under "Recommended Version".
    • 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.  These will not be changed by the updater (to avoid overwriting any changes you have made) and may need manually updating; there will be instructions in the release notes.
  7. Select "Backdrop" to update core, click "Download Selected Updates" and the updater will download the new version
  8. If you haven't already put the site into maintenance mode you can check the box to put it in now.
  9. Click 'Continue' and the update will be applied. There will be a link to "Run site updates"; follow that link. You can also access that page by going to core/update.php (e.g. https://example.com/core/update.php)
  10. After checking that you are happy with all your backups, click Continue
  11. If any errors have appeared, these will need to be addressed and you may need to run the update again. Help is available in the Forum or the chat channel.
  12. If no errors are shown then everything has been updated successfully.
  13. If you turned on the maintenance mode option, turn it back off, to make your site publicly accessible again.