Magento recommends you upgrade your installation using the following guidelines in a development or test environment, separate from your existing production environment:
- Create a parallel development or testing system, identical to your current production system.
You’ll use this parallel system to implement and test the Magento upgrade. - In your current production environment:
- Back up your Magento database.
- Archive the file system.
This includes the media directory and subdirectories; all extensions and customizations; and all custom themes.
- In the development or test environment:
- Create a new, empty database instance.
- Import the production database tables into the development database instance.
- Copy your production media directory, extensions, themes, and other customizations to the development system.
- Copy local.xml to magento-install-dir/app/etc and edit it if necessary to reference the production database instance.
- In a web browser, go to your development system base URL.
- Wait for upgrade scripts to run.
- Verify the development system is now identical to the production system.
If not, fix issues, retest, and upgrade again.
- Test the development system thoroughly, including:
- Verify all extensions, themes, and customizations work.
- Place orders using all webstores and all payment methods.