How to Upgrade Joomla 1.6 to 2.5

January 11, 2012 | Joomla Tutorials | Written by Steve Burge

You're still on Joomla 1.6? Yikes. Joomla 1.6 is over a year old now and isn't supported any more because there have been several new versions since then.

OK, I'm not going to give you too much of a hard time. You might have been busy, maybe you're taking over someone's website or you might be stuck on Joomla 1.6 for one of a hundred other reasons.

Let's focus on getting you upgraded to Joomla 2.5 which is the latest and most secure version.

Step 1: Backup!

Before you go any further, please make sure you've used a tool such as Akeeba Backup to make a copy of your site. Here are instructions on how make a backup.

Step 2: Upgrade to Joomla 1.6.5

The site that we're using for this example is Joomla 1.6.3. You can see that by logging in to your site's Administrator area.

First, we need to upgrade to Joomla 1.6.5. That is the last version before some fairly substantial changes.

To get the Joomla 1.6.5 patch, click here to visit Joomlacode.org.

Download any of the three Joomla_1.6.4_to_1.6.5 files.

Open up the downloaded folder and you'll see the three folders in the image below. Upload those folders over the top of your site's existing folders.

In your site's Administrator area you are hopefully now upgraded to Joomla 1.6.5.

Step 3: Upgrade to Joomla 1.7

Our next step is to move to Joomla 1.7. Let's repeat the download process only this time we're gong to click here to visit Joomlacode.org again.

Make sure to download the Joomla_1.6.5_to_1.7.0_Package.zip file.

Extract the Joomla_1.6.5_to_1.7.0_Package.zip files. It will look like the image below:

Now extract the Joomla_1.7.0-Stable-Update_Package files. When you're done, it will look like the image below:. Upload those folders over the top of your site's existing folders.

In your site's Administrator area you are hopefully now upgraded to Joomla 1.7.0.

Step 4: Update to Joomla 2.5

This part is much easier than the others. Go to Extensions > Extension Manager > Update.

Click Find Updates and Joomla will show you that an update to Joomla 2.5 is available. Check the box next to the update and click Update.

Step 5: Wooohooo!

Congratulations. You are now running the latest and most stable version of Joomla.

Step 6: Update Extensions and Templates

Finally, make sure to find updates for all of your extensions and templates. If you haven't updated your Joomla site in a year, then it's almost certain that your extensions and templates will also be out of date.

Hopefully, many of these will have been updated during Step 5, but it's worth taking the time to double-check by visiting the developer's site for each extension and template.

Comments

#1 ysh_fdez 2012-02-04 19:11

Thanks for the article! I was in 1.6.3 and it has helped me to get to 2.5.1. I had to do more manual steps: 1.7.0 to 1.7.5, and 1.7.5 to 2.5.0. With the 2.5.0 the manager update has worked to get to 2.5.1.

Very tedious to many updates in a few months but I'm updated.

#2 Nick 2012-02-07 05:29

You're very welcome! We're glad we could be of help! :)

Kind regards,
Nick

#3 Tuy Phong 2012-02-21 01:37

Thank you so much! But my template not support Joomla 2.5 :(

#4 Ivana 2012-03-10 06:57

Thank you so much! It worked without a problem!

#5 game_stailer94 2012-03-11 15:52

didn´t work for me -.-

I have Joomla 1.6.6 und updatet to 1.7 without any problem but I can´t update to 2.5 with the manager (can´t copy file error) and if I update Manualy to 1.7.5 an then to 1.5 I get A 500 Error from my Server...

#6 game_stailer94 2012-03-11 16:16

I mean from 1.7.5 to 2.5

#7 Loges 2012-03-14 12:35

I'm a bit confused. In your instructions you write 'Open up the downloaded folder and you'll see the three folders in the image below. Upload those folders over the top of your site's existing folders.' The image below however is a one of all the folders, not just three.
Then you say 'Upload those folder and files over the top of your existing site's files.' Is it all the files or just the three that appear in the small window below this text?

I imagine if I copy over my template file for instance, all my templates will disappear and so shall all those in my Images folder if I copy the images folder over.

So what I'm asking is, 'Do I just copy over the three files as shown in the second picture?

Thanks.

#8 Nick 2012-03-21 18:50

"Now extract the Joomla_1.7.0-St able-Update_Pac kage files. When you're done, it will look like the image below" – there is no pic showing – what are the folders to upload over our existing ones?

#9 Missing Image!! 2012-04-07 02:40

As Nick said above, there is an image missing from your steps. After extracting Joomla_1.7.0-St able-Update_Pac kage files, what is everything supposed to look like?

#10 Sportboy 2012-04-25 17:18

He entered a wrong path to the image.

The correct path is:

ostraining.com/.../...

#11 Daniel 2012-04-26 08:51

New to Joomla, and this tutorial helped me a lot to get to the last version from 1.6.3 to 2.5.4

#12 Auditore 2012-05-25 18:07

I have the same problem as game_stailer94, after copy all the files you said, i got a 500 Error when trying to enter ADmin panel.

If you change the permission for all files to apache, cant login, and got the next error: Username and password do not match or you do not have an account yet.

Now what?

#13 Bob 2012-07-09 20:26

Thank you so much!

#14 Ilya 2012-07-13 02:57

excellent guide Steve! My upgrade was very smooth. Only one of my extensions was not working after upgrade but it was easily fixed by updating it to the latest version. Thanks a lot!

#15 Tom17 2012-08-14 14:33

Thanks!
Worked like a breeze.
Went from 1.6.3 to 2.5.6.

Very well done!

Next step: updating plugins etc.

#16 mdetko 2012-08-20 13:16

And there will be no problem with MySQL DB?
now I am using 5.0.
Should I transfer data to 5.5?

#17 Migwilfy 2012-09-30 13:34

Wow thanks you a thousand, it works like a charm, you the best :)

#18 Art 2012-10-16 10:24

Hi,
today I upgraded from 1.6.0 to 2.5.7 and it worked much easier:

firts of course do the backup-step, never miss that! Then I just went like described in Step 4! You have to do this twice. First, Joomla will upgrade to 1.7. Don't worry as the admin-panel will end up with a white page after you clicked 'update'. just reload the admin-area. You are now on 1.7. Repeat step 4 and you will end up on 2.5.x. This time you will see the success-alert.

It worked just fine. Of course you will have to make sure, that your template is compatible with the 2.5 Joomla version.

#19 Johan 2013-02-07 21:40

can you also use the upgrade tot 1.7 if you have Joomla 1.6.6?

#20 steve 2013-02-07 21:41

Hi Johan. Could you explain that question more?

#21 Johan 2013-02-07 21:44

Helle Steve,

this manual describes the upgrade from 1.6.3 tot 1.6.5,
and from 1.6.5 to 1.7

i am using joomla 1.6.6 so i am wondering if i have to downgrade my joomla website to 1.6.5 to use the upgrade to joomla 1.7 or if i can use the same upgrade for my joomla site 1.6.6 to 1.7

#22 Johan 2013-02-07 21:47

sorry Steve,
I mean : Hello ;) not helle

#23 steve 2013-02-07 21:47

No, you should be fine. Just remember to take a backup.

#24 Johan 2013-02-07 21:55

tnx mate ;)

#25 Jason Taylor 2013-02-27 22:07

Hello,

I'm running 1.7.3 (inherited this state) and I followed the instructions above to no avail - an entry to update to 2.5 never appears. I'm exploring manual routes but any help is appreciated.

Jason

#26 Marcos Pereira 2013-04-10 22:33

Don't forget to check the DATABASE tab in the Extension Manager. I coudn't see updates available until I fixed all Database Errors. Very easy, it's just a click there and you will see update available.

#27 viren 2013-05-07 12:37

hi,

Thanks for the post it is really helpful !!!

If anyone cant get auto update for 2.5 pls go to the link docs.joomla.org/.../ do it manually it will work.

Regards,
Viren

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