The vast majority of Ghost upgrades are automated from a single command. Typically, we release a minor version of Ghost each week.
Commands
Ghost-CLI has a single command for upgrades:
# Update to the latest version
ghost updateArguments
# Update to a specific version (1.0.0 or higher)
ghost update [version]
# Update to version 2.15.0
ghost update 2.15.0
Options
The ghost update command always runs ghost doctor first to check that your site will update correctly.
Run ghost update --help for more detailed information.
# If an upgrade goes wrong, use the rollback flag
ghost update --rollback
# Install and re-download the latest version of Ghost
ghost update --force
# Updates to the latest within v1
ghost update --v1
# Don't restart after upgrading
ghost update --no-restart
# Disable the automatic rollback on failure
ghost update --no-auto-rollback
# Upgrade Ghost from a specific zip (useful for testing or custom builds)
ghost update --zip path/to/file.zip
# Disable memory availability checks in ghost doctor
ghost update --no-check-mem
Major upgrades
Every 12-18 months we release a major version which breaks backwards compatibility and requires a more involved upgrade process, including backups and theme compatibility.
Use upgrade documentation as a guide to the necessary steps for a smooth upgrade experience.
Debugging
If running ghost update gives an error, try using ghost run to debug the error.