How do we automate the upgrade process?

[joebeazelman]

We're planning on upgrading a 7.0.3 AbleCommerce site to the latest version of AC Gold. We've already redesigned the site using AC Gold, but the current live site is Running 7.0.3. When we go live, we'll have to perform several upgrade installs on the live site to get it to the latest version. We'd like to minimize the downtime for the site as the upgrade process can take a while, we'll only need to perform database upgrades.

I wanted to know if we could just execute the SQL scripts directly instead of having to perform an entire install process. If so, what's the best way to go about it?

[Katie]

You can upgrade directly from 7.0.3 to 7.0.7. Then point your Gold install to the 7.0.7 database, and it will upgrade to the latest version.

[joebeazelman]

Thanks, but this is what we're doing now and it's not satisfactory. This is a two step process and I want to avoid the lengthy install process. Right now I have to create a 7.0.7 site and run the upgrade, then delete the folder and run the Gold install. You have to do it this way to prevent the license from having problems. Why can't I just execute the SQL scripts in the upgrade folder and be done with it?

[Katie]

You said that the site was redesigned using Gold, which means you must have the latest Gold installed, right? Installing AC7 to a temporary location should take less than 5 minutes, and it has it's own set of upgrade files. Once that is done, you can point the Gold install to the 7.0.7 database and let it do it's thing. This should not take too long, but depends on how much data is being upgraded. I do not know of a way to go directly from 7.0.3 to latest version of Gold - if that is what you are wanting to do.