Most of the time, upgrading Kanboard to a newer version is seamless. The process could be summarized to simply copy your data folder to the new Kanboard folder. Kanboard will run database migrations automatically for you.

Important things to do before updating

• Always make a backup of your data before upgrading
• Check that your backup is working!
• Always read the ChangeLog and check for breaking changes
• Stop the worker if you use it
• Put the web server in maintenance mode to avoid people to use the software while upgrading
• Flush all user sessions (truncate the sessions table in the database)

From the archive (stable version)

1. Decompress the new archive
2. Copy the data folder into the newly uncompressed directory
3. Copy your custom config.php if you have one
4. If you have installed some plugins, use the latest version
5. Make sure the directory data is writeable by your web server user
6. Modify .htaccess if needed (f.e. forcing SSL)
7. Test
8. Remove your old Kanboard directory

From the repository (development version)

1. git pull
2. Login and check if everything is ok

• This method will install the current development version, use at your own risk.
• Do not update the software blindly without checking the ChangeLog.

Running SQL migrations manually

By default, SQL migrations are executed automatically. The schema version is checked at each request. In this way, when you upgrade Kanboard to another version, the database schema is updated for you. This method is not perfect.

• When you run the migrations, make sure only one process is accessing to the database
• Put your Kanboard instance in “maintenance mode” to avoid people using the software while you are altering the database schema

To run database migrations manually, set the parameter DB_RUN_MIGRATIONS at false in your config file.

When you will have to upgrade Kanboard, run this command:

./cli db:migrate