Before You Begin
When updating your Drupal 8 site, there are several options to choose from. If you're not yet familiar with these methods, it's recommended to start with this introductory documentation. It provides a helpful summary of all the available update options to make the process easier and more enjoyable.
Before You Begin
Updating a Drupal site means applying a minor version change, such as from "8.4.4" to "8.4.5". This guide covers how to update your Drupal 8 site.
Upgrading a Drupal site means changing the major version, such as from Drupal 6 to 8 or from Drupal 7 to 8.
Updating Drupal 8 Core
The table below lists various options for updating Drupal core. If you're unsure which method best suits your needs, refer to the "Recommendation" column.
Before You Begin
If you haven't already, it's recommended to read this overview, which outlines all available methods for updating Drupal 8.
PS: This update procedure is also covered in the Drupal User Guide.
This documentation is outdated. Help make it current.
Before You Begin
It is recommended to use Composer for managing Drupal dependencies; see Updating Drupal Core with Composer for more. Drush 9 and later no longer support updating Drupal core—this is now Composer's role. However, you can still use Drush 8 (version 8.1.14 or later) to update Drupal 8 if you're familiar with that workflow.
This documentation is incomplete. Add more information.
Since the recommended method for installing and updating a Drupal 8 site is via Composer, this page also describes how to update modules using Composer. And because you're using the command line, we also use Drush for some tasks.
Before troubleshooting database update issues, always back up your database and codebase.
If there are problems preventing safe execution of database updates, update.php will display an error.
Read the error message carefully to determine the issue.
Invalid Modules or Themes
Sometimes, update.php may report invalid modules or themes. This happens when a module or theme is listed in core.extension.yml but is missing or incompatible with the site.
Updating a Drupal site is complex, time-consuming, and costly. While it may seem straightforward, secure and reliable updates that instill confidence in site owners and ensure site availability are a significant challenge.
The Automatic Updates service for Drupal aims to simplify this process and ensure updates are applied safely and correctly.
Note: Automatic Updates is a strategic initiative for the Drupal project. It is still under active development, and there are several important considerations: