Upgrading LiveWhale

Upgrade steps:

1. Upgrading your dev server
2. Syncing recent content to dev for testing
3. Making changes on dev if needed
4. Performing the upgrade

Things to know before you begin:

• The URL of your dev server
• How to edit PHP files via SFTP on your dev and production servers
• The basic structure of the _ingredients folder and the basics of LiveWhale theming
• Familiarity with the most recent release notes, so you know what the upgrade will affect

Uncertain about any of the above? Get in touch with support!

Note: this process is only available for sites on LiveWhale Cloud Hosting. This hosting is included with the cost of your license– please get in touch if you self-host your site and would like to discuss migrating to the cloud.

1. Upgrading your dev server

We often push the new version to your dev server when the release is announced, but, it’s a good idea to check to make sure you’ve got the very latest changes and bug-fixes on dev.

Two ways to do this are:

Setting up automatic upgrades on dev

You can set up your dev server to automatically pull new bug-fixes every week by following these steps:

1. SFTP into your dev server

2. Edit /livewhale/core/config.php and find the line 'SELF_UPDATE'=>false,

3. Change that line to 'SELF_UPDATE'=>true, and save config.php

4. Now, every weekend your dev server should pull new updates. You can check this by logging in, visiting /livewhale/?lw_debug=1 in your browser and checking the first line LiveWhale Version: 2.0.x (last upgraded MM/DD/YY) to see the last upgraded date.

Manually upgrading dev

Follow these steps to manually pull the latest version to your dev server:

1. SFTP into your dev server and lock out editors

2. Login to your dev site at /livewhale/?login (clicking “Click here if you have upgrade access” to bypass the lockout)

3. Once logged-in, visit /livewhale/?updates_pull and you should see a page that begins something like this:
   

4. Double check that the page says “Development server:” and that you are pulling to the correct URL.

5. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click “Run this update”

6. After clicking, wait a minute for the upgrade to run. After you see “Upgrade is complete” or “Server is up-to-date” click the link provided to logout (or visit /livewhale/?logout).

   Note: Some testers reported seeing a white screen here, indicating a server timeout. We’re working on that, but if you see it, simply wait 15–30 seconds and refresh and the upgrade should continue normally.

7. Log back in to trigger any database upgrades (this may take a few minutes the first time you login after an upgrade)

8. Once you login and confirm the upgrade has completed, you can remove the editor lockout

Next step: Syncing recent content to dev for testing