WebIssues Manual
Version 1.1.5
One of the maintenance tasks is updating the WebIssues system to a newer version. New versions fix potential problems and add new features, so it is recommended to periodically update the software. To quickly check if a newer version of the system is available, click Tools and About WebIssues, and then in the Latest Version group, click the button. The Desktop Client by default automatically checks if a new version is available (see the section called “Desktop Client settings”).
Before the update, it is recommended to back up the database and WebIssues system files, and also disable the web server to prevent other users from accessing the system during the update.
Note
If you cannot disable the server or block access to it, you can also temporarily rename the config.inc.php configuration file, which by default is located in the data/sites/default subdirectory. You may even completely remove the file, and then recreate it using the installer, because at the time of installation the existing database will be preserved and automatically updated to the new version.
First, delete all files and subdirectories from the directory where you installed the WebIssues server, remembering to keep the data subdirectory, which stores all files related to the particular installation; for example, configuration files and attachments of issues. If you created your own .htaccess file or web.config file (in case of IIS), then also make a copy of it to be able to restore it later.
Download and unpack the new WebIssues server package — it contains a directory named webissues-x.y (where x.y is the version of the package). Then move all files and subdirectories from that directory to the directory where the WebIssues server was previously installed.
After copying the files, enable the web server and open the main page of the WebIssues system in the browser. If there is a need to update the database, a message will be displayed. You will be asked to enter the login and password of the WebIssues system administrator, and then the database will be updated to the current version. Otherwise, the system is immediately ready to work.
It is also recommended to update the Desktop Client to a newer version on the computers of all people who use it. Generally, however, the Desktop Client can communicate with both older and newer version of the server, provided that the first two digits of the version number is the same. Therefore, client version 1.0 will not work with the 1.1 system, and client version 1.1 will not work with the 1.0 system, but both versions can be installed side by side on a single computer.
Note
Versions marked as beta are the so-called developer versions. They allow for testing new features before the official version is released, but it is not recommended to use them for production purposes. Development versions of the system can only be used with the same version of the Desktop Client. It is possible to update from a production version to a newer development version (for example, from 1.0.5 to 1.1-beta1), and from the production version to the final production version (for example, from 1.1-beta1 to 1.1).
When updating the server from version 1.0 to version 1.1, the first comment of each issue will be automatically converted to its description, but only if it was created by the person who created the issue and no more than 15 minutes after creating it. You may review the issues after the update and change the descriptions if necessary. Note that all comments and descriptions updated from version 1.0 will use the plain text format, but you can change the format when editing them.
In order to update the server from version 0.8.5, you must first install version 1.0 of the server and select the option to import existing data from version 0.8.5. Then you can update the server from version 1.0 to 1.1.