Upgrading

Upgrading is moving to a more recent version of SMF by getting a fresh set of all necessary files. It is necessary when moving from an earlier major version to a more recent one (SMF 1.1.x to SMF 2.0.x, for example). If you want a clean start with the same version you have now, take a look at How to upload a fresh set of files.

If you are moving from an older version of SMF (for example 1.1.1) to a newer version in the same series (for example 1.1.2) and you want to avoid uninstalling your mods, you may consider patching. If you want to install a forum from scratch, please see the instructions on installing SMF.

Upgrading an SMF forum can be done in six quick and simple steps:

Download The Upgrade Archive
The latest SMF large upgrade package can be found on the "Download" page of our website.

First, you should download the appropriate package. The Large upgrade is the one required for upgrading. Usually, .zip files are the file type that most forum administrators find the easiest to use. Most operating systems already have tools to extract .zip archives installed.

Back up Your Forum
Before starting the upgrade process, a backup should be taken. This includes, specifically, the database as it contains all the members, posts, and other items in the forum. This protects the forum from accidental damage and any issues from upgrading. Although extensive testing is always carried out, sometimes unforeseen issues develop. Therefore, having a backup is crucial. The upgrading tool can backup all database tables before it runs, but the files are not backed up and the best practice is to have a full backup available.

For more details on backing up your forum, please see the backup page.

Back up Your Files
Using an ftp client access your forum directory and download all the files and directories present in there.

Extract The SMF Archive and Upload The Files to Your Website
The SMF upgrade archive contains all of the files that need to be uploaded to the same location where the current forum is located, and overwrite all of the existing files with new files.

You will need to use either FTP or the tools in in your hosting account's control panel (for more information on the control panel supplied by your hosting service, please see the documentation provided by your hosting service.)

Run the Upgrading Tool
The final step in upgrading SMF, is to run the upgrading tool. Navigate with your browser to the upgrade.php file (it can be found in the directory where SMF is located) and run the upgrade, for example: www.yourdomain.com/forum/upgrade.php.

Upgrade Settings

 * Backup database with the prefix "backup_"
 * Selecting this option will get the upgrade tool to copy all data in the database before upgrading within the original database.


 * Maintenance Mode
 * Selecting this option will place the forum into maintenance mode while upgrading rather than showing errors, this is highly recommended.


 * Output extra debugging information.
 * The upgrade tool can give detailed information while performing an upgrade by selecting this option, it will aid the SMF Support Team in solving any errors if they occur while upgrading.

Finishing the Upgrade Process
Once all parts of the upgrade have completed, check the box to remove the upgrade files from the server. If this does not work, they will need to be deleted via FTP. All upgrade files should be removed from the server once the upgrade process is complete. These files are upgrade.php and the .sql files whose name starts with 'upgrade'. They are a major security risk if they are left on a server unattended. Once SMF has been upgraded, they are no longer needed.

If you were already using SMF 2.0 prior to the upgrade, and had mods installed, you may also want to use Fix_Packages.php to remove any hooks that the mods had installed, in order to avoid issues from partially erased mod installations.