How to Upgrade Your ownCloud Server

There are three ways to upgrade your ownCloud server:

  • Using your Linux package manager with our official ownCloud repositories. This is the recommended method.
  • With the Updater App (Server Edition only). Recommended for shared hosters, and for users who want an easy way to track different release channels. (It is not available and not supported on the Enterprise edition.)
  • Manually upgrading with the ownCloud .tar archive from owncloud.org/install/.
  • Enterprise Subscription customers will use their Enterprise software repositories to maintain their ownCloud servers, rather than the Open Build Service. Please see Installing & Upgrading ownCloud Enterprise Subscription for more information.

When an update is available for your ownCloud server, you will see a notification at the top of your ownCloud Web interface. When you click the notification it brings you here, to this page.

It is best to keep your ownCloud server upgraded regularly, and to install all point releases and major releases without skipping any of them, as skipping releases increases the risk of errors. Major releases are 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, and 9.0. Point releases are intermediate releases for each major release. For example, 8.0.9 and 8.1.3 are point releases. Skipping major releases is not supported.

Upgrading is disruptive. Your ownCloud server will be put into maintenance mode, so your users will be locked out until the upgrade is completed. Large installations may take several hours to complete the upgrade.

Note

Downgrading is not supported and risks corrupting your data! If you want to revert to an older ownCloud version, make a new, fresh installation and then restore your data from backup. Before doing this, file a support ticket (if you have paid support) or ask for help in the ownCloud forums to see if your issue can be resolved without downgrading.

Update Notifier and Updater App Are Not the Same

ownCloud has two update tools: the ownCloud core update notifier, and the Updater app. Figure 1 shows what you see when the Updater app is enabled: both the core notifier and the Updater app control panel are visible on your admin page.

Both update mechanisms displayed on Admin page.

Figure 1: The top yellow banner is the update notifier, and the Updates section is the Updater app.

The core update notifier has only one function, and that is to display a notification when a new ownCloud release is available. Then you decide which upgrade method to use. When you maintain your ownCloud server via your Linux package manager you should ensure that the Updater app is disabled.

Prerequisites

You should always maintain regular backups and make a fresh backup before every upgrade.

Then review third-party apps, if you have any, for compatibility with the new ownCloud release. Any apps that are not developed by ownCloud show a 3rd party designation. Install unsupported apps at your own risk. Then, before the upgrade, all 3rd party apps must be disabled. After the upgrade is complete you may re-enable them.

All documentation licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.