Easier Update

liberaltech

It would be very cool to see an update button on the dashboard of the ACP. Having to update the forum using the command line can be very difficult for some.

Has this been suggested already?

julian

Hey there. Thanks for the suggestion. We've wanted something like that, but because of the myriad of ways to install and configure NodeBB, there is no foolproof way to do it. There is also the risk of enabling behavior that could get people in trouble, e.g. their forum not working anymore .

In that sense, while it sucks that you have to use the command line to upgrade NodeBB, it raises the bar enough so that you ought to be able to help yourself if you get stuck.

We also would love a way to back up NodeBB with one click, but alas... same issue

scottalanmiller

@julian said in Easier Update:

We also would love a way to back up NodeBB with one click, but alas... same issue

If you could tackle the backup bit, the update bit would be pretty easy

scottalanmiller

@liberaltech said in Easier Update:

It would be very cool to see an update button on the dashboard of the ACP. Having to update the forum using the command line can be very difficult for some.

Has this been suggested already?

https://mangolassi.it/topic/2092/nodebb-upgrade-guide

The way that we do it works really well for us.

liberaltech

@julian what about being able to export the data as a json file so that we can just import it into a fresh new version of NodeBB?

scottalanmiller

@liberaltech said in Easier Update:

@julian what about being able to export the data as a json file so that we can just import it into a fresh new version of NodeBB?

That's not a bad idea. A single file that holds everything would be awfully nice. Then that could be automated to send backups somewhere, too. Like to Amazon or Backblaze.

liberaltech

@scottalanmiller I do this with my Ghost blog updates. I prep and test the new version and when it's up and running I export the data from the old blog and import it into the new version. Once I see that no errors occur I deploy it into the production repo. It's a pretty smooth transition.

evoixmr

How do you all upgrade? here's mine.
$ cd nodebb
$ git checkout v1.x.x && git pull
$ systemctl stop nodebb
$ ./nodebb upgrade
$ systemctl start nodebb

I'm running two website, so I have to do this twice.

phit

assuming you are already on the v1.x.x branch

git fetch
git stash
git pull
./nodebb upgrade
git stash apply

then fix the merge conflicts if there are any

julian

@scottalanmiller said in Easier Update:

@liberaltech said in Easier Update:

@julian what about being able to export the data as a json file so that we can just import it into a fresh new version of NodeBB?

That's not a bad idea. A single file that holds everything would be awfully nice. Then that could be automated to send backups somewhere, too. Like to Amazon or Backblaze.

That'd be a pretty big file, no?

scottalanmiller

@julian said in Easier Update:

@scottalanmiller said in Easier Update:

@liberaltech said in Easier Update:

@julian what about being able to export the data as a json file so that we can just import it into a fresh new version of NodeBB?

That's not a bad idea. A single file that holds everything would be awfully nice. Then that could be automated to send backups somewhere, too. Like to Amazon or Backblaze.

That'd be a pretty big file, no?

Yeah, I would expect so. Our database is about 1GB, but if you output to JSON and GZIP, it would not be so bad. The bigger that "one file" is, the more important a good backup mechanism is

Even the biggest sites talking about 50GB databases, if your site is that big, you are prepared to accommodate a backup that big.

liberaltech

@julian what if this file could be broken up categorically? Export what you need? I would only require user info to be exported. I can manually set up pluggins since sometimes some break and therefore wouldn't want to upgrade my forum until those plugins are resolved.

Would user data alone create such a large file?