Upgrading Moodle to 3.9 from 3.5 or higher

Even after reading the upgrading moodle doc from Moodle website it's still not that clear.

Recently updated a couple of Moodle websites. Here's what you need to do. Please read this as well as the instructions from Moodle website. 

Plugins that you have installed yourself

  1. Make a list of them.
  2. Download the latest version for Moodle 3.9
  3. Make sure you know what type they are (e.g. block, module) know which directory they go into e.g. /blocks or /mod. 
  4. If there are unused plugins it is better to remove them via administration before the upgrade.

Backup to do

  1. The database - export out.
  2. The entire website.
  3. The moodledata.

(I will skip the part where you should load up the old Moodle site to a test server and do a test upgrade.)

Upgrading Steps

  1. Put the existing Moodle site into maintenance mode.
  2. Copy the existing config.php file. And place it somewhere safe.
  3. Download the new Moodle installation.
  4. Make sure you have backed up the database, Moodle website and the moodledata directory. Before performing the next step.
  5. Remove the old Moodle website from the server - delete all the files. DO NOT delete the database or moodledata.
  6. Upload the new Moodle installation to the server.
  7. Copy the old config.php to the server
  8. Copy the latest plugins that you prepared above to the correct directories on the server.
  9. In your web browser load up your Moodle website and follow the upgrade instructions.

Good luck!