Updating WHMCS Manually

You can update your WHMCS installation manually using your hosting control panel's file management system to manage the necessary files.

You can also update WHMCS from within the Admin Area or on the command line.

Preparation

Some updates may require steps in addition to the standard update steps below. We recommend that you check the following documents for requirements before every update:

• Updating
• The applicable Release Notes.

If you have custom template files, you will also need to review and make any necessary changes to your custom templates.

Pre-Update Backups
You must always create a full backup before attempting any kind of update for WHMCS or any other software you use. In your full backup, include both the WHMCS files and the database.

Update Steps

You can choose whether to update using one of two distribution types: Full Release or Patch Set. For more information on each distribution type, see Updating.

Full Release

A full release version includes:

• _full within the .zip folder filename.
• Distro Type: Full Version within the included README.txt file.

If the .zip filename contains _patch, see the section below.

To update for a full release version:

1. Make certain that your system meets our system requirements.
2. Obtain the latest full release download of WHMCS from http://download.whmcs.com/ or, if you use a reseller, from your license provider.
3. Unzip the contents of the downloaded WHMCS .zip file to a folder on your computer.
   Custom Admin Directory?
   If you have renamed your "admin" directory, rename the /whmcs/admin directory in the new files to match.
   Custom Cron Directory?
   If you have customised the location of the /crons/ directory, be sure to upload that to the custom location.
   Custom File Permissions?
   If you have customised the permissions on any of the files (for example, /crons/pipe.php). You must reapply these changes after the update is complete.
4. Upload the new files to your existing installation folder, replacing any existing folders and files.
5. Visit the update page at example.com/whmcs/install/install.php. If you see a message that states that you have not installed WHMCS, you may have overwritten the configuration.php file for your installation. Stop and restore that file from your backup before continuing.
6. Agree to the WHMCS End User License Agreement and follow the prompts to update your database.
7. When the system prompts you, delete the installation folder from your server.

For a Patch Set

A patch set version includes:

• _patch within the .zip folder name.
• "Distro Type: Patch Set" within the included README.txt file.

Version Requirements
Before you begin, you must make certain that you are running the correct version for the patch set (the version immediately before the patch set's version). Patch sets only contain the files that changed since the previous release.

The previous release version that we designed these patch sets for is part of the first and smaller number in release notices providing the patch set download link.

To update using a patch set:

1. Download the patch set from http://download.whmcs.com/.
2. Unzip the patch set files.
   Custom Admin Directory?
   If your patch set includes changes to the admin directory and you have renamed your "admin" directory, rename the /whmcs/admin directory in the new files to match.
3. Upload the files from the /whmcs/ directory to the root directory of your WHMCS installation.
4. Visit the admin area of your WHMCS installation to trigger the version number increment and complete the process.

This method doesn't require an installation or update process.

Confirming a Successful Update

To confirm that an update applied successfully, log in to your WHMCS admin area. Then, check to make sure that the version number on either the admin homepage (in the sidebar of all default templates) or in Configuration () > System Health is the version that you attempted to apply. If it has not incremented, then one or more of the files has not uploaded successfully. Check your file permissions and attempt the steps again from the beginning.