Keeping MediaWiki under version control makes it much easier to keep track of any customisations. Once you reached the target version you can gradually copy over all the custom changes from the old wiki (extensions, modifications, images, skins etc.) remembering to enable them in LocalSettings.php. Get a release archive of the next major version, read the Release Notes and repeat the steps. You should be able to access the wiki now. If there is no output at all that means there is likely a problem somewhere in the LocalSettings.php configuration. There should be some output: $ php update.php
MEDIAWIKI UPDATE UPDATE
Run update script in the maintenance directory. There does not seem to be a way to generate a fresh default LocalSettings.php during an upgrade, which would prevent some of the problems.
Also make a back-up of the database.Ĭreate a copy of LocalSettings.php from the original installation and comment out all custom extensions and skins as they will no longer be present.Ĭopy LocalSettings.php from the previous instance to the directory created while extracting a release archive. Move the old instance to some backup directory and start afresh. Installationĭon't extract a MediaWiki release archive into the existing wiki installation directory.
These are just main points, so read the official Upgrading page too. The most annoying was no feedback from the update.php script or blank page when trying the new installation.īelow I include notes from my experience with updating MediaWiki in case that's of any help to anyone facing a big upgrade.
MEDIAWIKI UPDATE HOW TO
I came across problems at least twice and could not find relevant information on how to deal with them. This approach helped me when I was upgrading from 1.27.3 to 1.31.8 first time in years.
MEDIAWIKI UPDATE INSTALL
In other words, instead of calling "composer install" or "php composer.phar install", as that page states, you should call "composer install -prefer-source" or "php composer.phar install -prefer-source".