How to upgrade PrestaShop

Is it time for you to upgrade PrestaShop and you have no idea how to do it? In this article, How to upgrade PrestaShop, we will see what are the necessary steps to follow and what to avoid.

To begin with, let’s look at why it is important to keep the shop up-to-date and why this is not something to be left to chance.

Let’s get started!

Why is it necessary to upgrade PrestaShop?

Before we move on to the operation section and see how to upgrade PrestaShop, let’s do a little background reseravh.

Why should you keep the site updated?

CMSs such as PrestaShop are constantly evolving. Developers constantly add new features and improve platforms so as to optimize performance and fix security issues or bugs.

The release of a new version of PrestaShop is always accompanied by a note. Here you can find the one for the current version, 1.7.8.7 released in July 2022.

In this specific case it was a version released to fix a vulnerability that exposed the site to risks.

We get it: updates are important.

But what impact can they have on the site? What happens when we update?

Upgrade PrestaShop or do a migration?

Switching from one version of PrestaShop to another may require a simple upgrade or a full-fledged migration.

As we will see in this article,How to upgrade PrestaShop, there is also a module that allows us to simplify the process. It works a bit like the WordPress update with the one-click function.

However, even using the automatic update module does not completely shield you from errors. So proceed with caution and always remember to do a backup.

What happens when you upgrade PrestaShop?

We talk about upgrading PrestaShop when we are moving from one version to the next, staying within the same major version. For example, upgrading from 1.7.1 to 1.7.2.

In this case, the modules and themes we have installed on our PrestaShop site generally continue to be compatible.

In some cases the upgrade may involve changes at the database level, but even when this occurs there is no loss of data in the process. Always make sure to stay in the same major version of the CMS.

Be careful, however, this does not mean that the update in this case always goes smoothly. Here is an example from a discussion on the PrestaShop Italy Facebook group:

When do we talk about migration?

If you need to move from one major version to another, for example from 1.6.X to 1.7.X, an actual migration is often required.

Migrating a PrestaShop site means for all intents and purposes moving online store content from one PrestaShop installation to another.

In fact, switching from one major version to another can result in:

• themes no longer compatible: you have to replace the theme with a different one;
• modules that are no longer compatible: you will need to find replacement extensions, making sure they are compatible with the new version of PrestaShop. After that you will have to reconfigure the modules and make sure they work.

For migration you will need to:

1. set up a new shop: install PrestaShop choosing the latest version;
2. export the data from the previous installation and re-import them into the new one;
3. Solve compatibility problems by replacing themes or modules if necessary.

PrestaShop upgrade: what to know before you get started

Before you start upgrading PrestaShop you need to make sure you have an up-to-date backup of your online store.

Having a backup is crucial: if something goes wrong during the upgrade, you can restore the site and go back to the previous situation.

If you have a PrestaShop hosting plan, you can always rely on the automatic backups we offer with all plans.

Before an upgrade, in any case, you should do a manual backup of the files and database.

With our hosting plans it is as simple as that:

• you can download a copy of the files from file manager;
• you can use an FTP client such as FileZilla or Cyberduck;
• you can access the server using the SSH connection.

Is your current hosting service making your life difficult or not offering SSH access? Perhaps it’s time to switch to SupportHost!

How to upgrade PrestaShop: possible methods

Upgrading PrestaShop is a delicate task.

In some cases, in order to be able to upgrade smoothly, you have to do a full-fledged migration, creating a new installation and then transferring the data.

Before proceeding, remember:

• don’t start unless you have a recent backup available;
• upgrades from one major to another (and not only those) often require migration;
• if you’re not sure how to proceed, you might want to hire a professional to do the update.

That said, we are ready to see what methods to follow.

In this section we will look at the two main methods:

• manual updating;
• the 1-click upgrade method.

Update PrestaShop manually

There are several methods to complete the PrestaShop upgrade, in this section we will look at the manual one.

The process is divided into this step:

• Download the latest version of PrestaShop;
• Extract the files from the compressed archive;
• Activate the maintenance mode on the site;
• disable the cache;
• Copy the files to the server;
• updating the database;
• remove the “install” folder;
• update forms
• final operations.

1: Download PrestaShop

To begin with, we need to connect to the download section of PrestaShop and download the latest version of the CMS.

To proceed we will be prompted to create an account. If you want to speed up the process go directly to the versions section and choose the version you want to download.

As I am writing this guide, the most recent version is 1.7.8.7, released on July 25, 2022.

2: Extract files from the archive

After downloading PrestaShop, we need to extract the files from the zipper archive. In fact, before uploading the files to the server, we need to delete some folders.

We extract the files from the archive, in our case “prestashop_1.7.8.7.zip“.

Inside we find another file: prestashop.zip, we also extract this archive.

In the zipper file we will find folders that contain the default files, we need to delete them to avoid that uploading them to the server will overwrite the existing ones. In this way we can avoid deleting the files we have already uploaded to our shop.

The folders to be deleted are:

• img
• override.

At this point we also need to rename the “admin” folder. The name of the folder must match the name of our installation.

It is the name that is chosen when you install PrestaShop: you can find it by checking the folder name from the file manager.

3: Activate the maintenance mode

When updating PrestaShop, it is recommended to turn on the maintenance mode. In this way, during the overwriting of files and the changes we will make, site visitors will have no problems.

To activate it, go to Store Parameters > General and open the “Maintenance” tab.

From here you can set the Enable Shop option to “No” to activate the maintenance mode.

Clicking on Add My IP will allow you to continue accessing the site with your IP address, during maintenance.

Be sure to click Save to make the changes.

4: Disable the cache

Before proceeding with the upgrade it is a good idea to disable the cache as well. To do this, go to Advanced Parameters > Performance and set the Cache option to “No,” as you see here.

To finish, click Save.

5: Copy files to the server

The next step in upgrading PrestaShop is to upload the files to the server.

Before proceeding with file overwriting, it is recommended to delete the “vendor” folder from the files already on the server. This is to avoid overwriting conflicts, as explained here in the official PrestaShop documentation.

You can do this by connecting to the server via an FTP client or directly from the cPanel file manager.

6: Update the database

After uploading the updated PrestaShop version files, we need to update the database.

Within the path install/upgrade/ is a file “upgrade.php.” This is a script that allows us to complete the upgrade procedure.

To start the script we simply log on to the address:

https://yourdomain.com/install/upgrade/upgrade.php

All you need to do is go and replace “yourdomain.com” with the address of your PrestaShop site.

Starting the script will show you a log file. If there are no errors the database update was successful.

If not, you will have to check what the error code is and fix it. For example, error code 28, which you see below, appears when you are trying to upgrade to the same version which is already installed.

7: Delete the “install” folder

After completing the database update there was still one more step to be done in order to access the PrestaShop back office again. We must first delete the “install” folder.

Until we have removed it, we will see a message like this when we try to log into the back office:

8: Update the forms

When we upgrade PrestaShop from one version to another, we need to check if there are any modules that require upgrading.

We have to access the back office of our PrestaShop site and go to Modules > Manage Modules, opening the “Updates” tab we will be able to see if there are any modules to update.

9: Final Operations

When the PrestaShop update is complete, after checking that there are no errors and everything is working, we can turn off the maintenance mode and reactivate the cache.

1-click Upgrade: how “assisted” PrestaShop upgrade works

As we said before, there is also another way to upgrade PrestaShop to the latest released version.

Since the updating process requires several steps, it is possible to simplify the whole procedure with an automatic system: using a module.

The module is called 1-click upgrade or Autoupgrade and it allows us to automate the upgrade process.

Before proceeding you should know that the module currently only works to upgrade PrestaShop from 1.6 to 1.7. You can find full details about the module and the currently available version at GitHub.

Through the Module Catalog we can install the “1-Click Upgrade” module, as seen here:

Note that if the version of PrestaShop you are using is 1.6, the list of modules will look like this:

After installing it, we can access the module Configuration page. From here we will be able to see a checklist of checks that are performed before updating the CMS.

For example in our example above, the system warns us that we need to turn on maintenance mode before we can proceed and be able to update PrestaShop.

To proceed, we have to solve all the items in the checklist, otherwise the automatic system will not allow us to start the update.

Scrolling down to the “Start Update” section, we will find a button that allows us to check if there are any new versions available.

If you don’t see any updates, click on More Options (For Experts) and then select from the “major release” / “minor release” channel, depending on the version you are looking for. Then click on save.

At this point you can click Update PrestaShop Now to start the automatic update, as shown here:

We can then follow the update process from the Activity log box at the bottom of the same page.

When finished we can reload the page and we will be redirected to the login page. By logging in again we will find ourselves in the PrestaShop back office and can make sure there are no errors.

If there are problems, we can restore with the rollback function, as we will see in the next paragraph.

Resolve problems with PrestaShop update

Upgrading PrestaShop is a delicate operation, and if an error occurs you could risk having your shop not working. You also risk overwriting important data if you don’t have a backup.

This is why we talked at the beginning about the importance of having a backup copy of the files and database.

In case something goes wrong during the update you might not even be able to access the back office, as in this case in, when a user ran into the infamous error 500.

If you used the 1-click Upgrade module, you can roll back to the previous version thanks to the rollback function included in the module, as we will see in the next section.

If, however, you used the manual method and can no longer access the site you can:

• Consult the error log and try to fix it;
• restore the backup you made before you started, remember to restore files and databases.

After that, if you cannot avoid the update, you will have to repeat the process.

Sometimes finding the error is not easy. You can try searching the PrestaShop support forum or ask for help in the dedicated Facebook groups.

In some cases you may want to outsource the upgrade to the PrestaShop support team that offers the service (for a fee).

Return to a previous version with the 1-click module upgrade

If there were problems during the upgrade, the 1 click upgrade module also allows us to revert to a previous version by restoring a backup of the files and database.

We can access the list of modules and click on Configure to open the module settings 1-click upgrade.

We can scroll down to the “Rollback” section and select from the drop-down menu the backup we want to restore. We then click on the Rollback button to start the restore.

Conclusion

Completing the PrestaShop upgrade without errors is not easy. That’s why if you’re not sure how to proceed, we suggest you outsource the process to a professional.

In any case, in this article, How to upgrade PrestaShop, we have seen what steps you can follow to manually upgrade and how to use the 1-click upgrade module to upgrade PrestaShop automatically.

Now the choice is yours to update your shop! If you have any doubts or need clarification let us know in the comments below and we’ll get in touch.