[Koha] REPOST: Need step by step to upgrade Koha from 3.x to latest 3.8

[Chris Cormack]

On 22 June 2012 11:11, jp_powell <nice2odie at gmail.com> wrote:
> I am running on Debian Squeeze.   I have made a complete system backup (just
> in case things don't go the way it should), and dumped the library database
> into a SQL file.
>
> I posted once before for instructions on how to upgrade Koha on Debian and I
> received 1 response but the person cautioned that it was untested.  I was
> waiting for that person to confirm the process.
>
> After reading that response a few times, I really had a hard time trying to
> follow the process.  So, I am reposting the request for step-by-step please.
> I plan to work on this server this coming weekend so a response would be
> helpful.
>
> If someone would rather work with me via instant messaging, please send
> email directly to my email address nice2odie at gmail dot com.  I live in
> USA, in the Central Daylight time.
>
> Request;  I need to be able to upgrade a PRODUCTION KOHA system to the
> latest version.  There should be a process in place to make this easy.
>
Exactly what version are you running, and how did you install it?

The answer to both these questions has a huge bearing on how you upgrade.

If you installed via the packages, then apt-get upgrade is all you
need to do. If you installed via the tarball and are running a version
of Koha released in the last few years (3.2.x or later).

Then in the INSTALL file are the instructions on how to upgrade. Of
course you should always do your upgrade of any software on your
staging server first, and then production. Koha is no exception to
that rule.

I would have a staging server running the exact version you have on
production, then upgrade that. If it all goes well, do it on
production.

>From the INSTALL file in the tarball or in git

"UPGRADE
=======
If you are running in another language other than english, please
switch to english before doing the upgrade, the templating system has
changed and the templates will need to be regenerated.
Once you have upgraded, please regenerate your templates in your
chosen languages.

If you are upgrading from a previous installation of Koha 3.x, you can
use the following:

 ./koha_perl_deps.pl -u -m # to identify new Perl dependencies

Install any missing modules
IMPORTANT: Koha 3.4.0 and greater uses Template::Toolkit, this must be installed
before the webinstaller can run

On debian/ubuntu
 sudo apt-get install libtemplate-perl

Other Linux/Unix platforms
Use the packaged version or install from CPAN
  cpan Template

 perl Makefile.PL --prev-install-log /path/to/koha-install-log
 make
 make test
 sudo make upgrade

Koha 3.4.x or later  no longer stores items in biblio records.
If you are upgrading from an older version ou will need to do the
following two steps, they can take a long time (several hours) to
complete for large databases

 misc/maintenance/remove_items_from_biblioitems.pl --run
 misc/migration_tools/rebuild_zebra.pl -b -r
"

Hope this helps

Chris