Did you do the CiviCRM double step upgrade dance recently?
Today a security version was released, which means you need to upgrade. No, this really cannot be ignored for responsible custodians of their CiviCRM install.
If this isn’t part of your routine maintenance plan, start now to and work with your in-house CRM expert or consult with a CiviCRM provider to make one.
Upgrades can be surprising if you don’t have a plan in place, especially for organizations that have adopted CiviCRM for it’s highly customization options. If you run a vanilla CiviCRM, this doesn’t apply as much for you.
This is not rocket science, but some forethought on what your system is doing today v the impact of CiviCRM core changes will have are key.
So what’s the double step? Here’s the TLDR:
- First off, this goes without saying: MAKE A STAGING ENVIRONMENT. Test your upgrade and subsequent workflows in a zero-risk environment a couple weeks before.
- If all checks out, backup and upgrade to the target version the security release will be applied to on production. In the most recent example this is, CiviCRM 5.74.
- The wait… and wait… and wait some more. Being proactive is starting to feel good, right?
Here’s the deal:
CiviCRM takes security seriously and is on the ball and will tell you weeks in advance about this impending change. Want to get notifications about these? You can signup at https://civicrm.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe and check “Security Notifications”. In fact, there was 3 weeks of preparation time (May 27). In between May 27 and June 20 is the time to get all your ducks in a row.
Then when the release hits, do the upgrade which will only include security patches.
So why do it twice? Upgrading from 5.74.0 to 5.74.4 look like a small jump, right? And the last number in each version there from a 0 to a 4 are minor bug related fixes, so they don’t involve breaking changes.
But what if you waited around since the last security release, that would be coming from 5.65.0. A lot of great enhancements have occurred since the and potentially, some unwelcome surprises that could disrupt your normal operations.
If you successfully have a plan, you are planning for success