CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Yes, you can easily upgrade.  The documentation is here https://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Upgrade+Drupal+Sites+to+4.4+-+Drupal+7
But here's how I do it - takes 5 minutes maybe.  This is the barebones version, not failed for me yet.  I assume you are using cPanel.

1. Backup your database (I use phpmyadmin)
2. Logon as administrator to your CiviCRM installation
3. Upload the 2 x new release tar files to <your site>/sites/all/modules
4. Delete the civicrm folder in that location (the tension rises at this point!)
5. Expand the 2 files, which will recreate the above civicrm folder
6. Switch over to your CiviCRM installation, and run the upgrade script (which is <your site>/civicrm/upgrade?reset=1)

That's it.

I can report that as a total newbie (and idiot) I was able to use these instructions to upgrade 4.4.4 to 4.4.6. HOWEVER it is difficult to know if one can feel safe and sure about a minor update.

Documentation quoted above (Drupal7 sites upgrade to 4.4.x) refers one to the 4.5 upgrade docs, but honestly it is hard to tell if that's a typo or if that is relevant for an incremental update within 4.4.x.

After finding the above comment (thanks Andy Clark!) I was able to perform the upgrade without a hitch.

The sourceforge download is just one file now so I would amend:

1. Backup your database (I use phpmyadmin)
2. Logon as administrator to your CiviCRM installation
3. Upload the new release tarball (sourceforge...tar.gz) to <your site>/sites/all/modules
4. Delete the civicrm folder in that location (the tension rises at this point!)
5. Expand the tarball, which will recreate the above civicrm folder
6. Switch over to your CiviCRM installation, and run the upgrade script (which is <your site>/civicrm/upgrade?reset=1)

These instructions assume comfort with phpmyadmin and cpanel filemanager.

Just thought of something else, following a recent experience where clearing caches fixed a problem:

1. Backup your database (I use phpmyadmin)
2. Logon as administrator to your CiviCRM installation
3. Clear the CiviCRM cache (Administer/System Settings/Cleanup Cache and Update Paths) and any other cache (e.g. Drupal)
4. Upload the new release tarball (sourceforge...tar.gz) to <your site>/sites/all/modules.  If not using American English also upload the localization file (....i10n.targ.gz)
5. Delete the civicrm folder in that location
6. Expand the tarball(s), which will recreate the above civicrm folder
7. Run the upgrade script (which is <your site>/civicrm/upgrade?reset=1)