Online Upgrade

What it does

KingCMS X1 can check for new versions in the admin panel and upgrade to a new version with one click. Code and database are backed up automatically before upgrading, and failures roll back automatically, so your site never gets stuck halfway.

Go to Check for Updates

Open the left menu "System Settings → Check for Updates" (/admin/about). The page shows the current version, the last check time, and the system upgrade area.

All administrators can open the Check for Updates page, but the system upgrade area and upgrade actions are shown and available only to super administrators.

The old /admin/settings/system/upgrade address automatically redirects to /admin/about.

Check for updates

1. Click "Check for Updates Now".
2. The page shows the last check time. When a new version is found, the new version number, release time, and update notes are shown; when there is no new version, "You are already on the latest version" is shown.
3. The system scheduled task checks automatically once a day. Automatic checks only read version information and never upgrade automatically.

If you see "Upgrade public key not configured; online upgrade unavailable", a server administrator must configure the upgrade public key first. Online upgrade is not possible until it is configured.

One-click upgrade

Before starting, read the warnings on the page:

• If some directories or files are reported as not writable, the online upgrade will fail. Adjust the write permissions of the code directory and the data directory as prompted, then check again.
• The site will be temporarily unavailable to visitors during the upgrade. We recommend doing this during off-peak hours.

Steps:

1. Confirm that the page shows a new version, and read the update notes.
2. Click "One-click Upgrade" and confirm in the confirmation dialog.
3. The page shows "Upgrade Progress" and refreshes automatically every 3 seconds. The progress shows the target version, the current step, and the "Execution Log".
4. The upgrade process runs in this order: verify the upgrade public key, download the upgrade package, verify sha256, verify the signature, environment check, extract, check write permissions, back up code and database, check theme files, enter maintenance mode, overwrite files, run database migrations, clear cache, exit maintenance mode, upgrade complete.
5. When the status becomes "Upgrade Complete", the front end becomes available again. Refresh the admin page to confirm the version number has changed.

What to do if the upgrade fails

• The system automatically rolls back the code and database and exits maintenance mode. The progress shows "Upgrade Failed" and "Code and database have been rolled back automatically".
• If the automatic rollback fails, the site stays in maintenance mode, and the execution log lists the directories and files for manual recovery. After recovering as recorded, click "Lift Maintenance" on the page.
• If the upgrade process has ended but the page still shows "The site is still in maintenance mode", first confirm that the upgrade has stopped, then click "Lift Maintenance" and confirm.

Country data

The "Country Data" area shows the current data version and is updated separately from the system upgrade:

1. In the "System Upgrade" area, find "Country Data".
2. Click "Update Country Data" and confirm. The system downloads the latest country data file from the upgrade server and verifies its hash.
3. On success, it shows "Country data has been updated to <version>"; on failure, it shows the reason.

You can update country data separately even when you do not need to upgrade KingCMS itself.

Theme files

• The upgrade checks whether the current theme files have been modified. Modified theme files are not overwritten by the new version; the original files are backed up to the data directory, and the execution log states the retained paths and backup locations.
• If the current version has no theme manifest, the system cannot tell whether files have been modified, so it backs up all theme files first and then overwrites them with the new version.

Therefore, if you have published theme changes with "Online Template Editor", recheck the front-end result after upgrading; the backup paths of retained files are written in the execution log.

Upgrade settings

Open "System settings → Settings → Security & System → Upgrade Settings" (/admin/settings/system/update):

After changing the upgrade server, return to the "Check for Updates" page and click "Check for Updates Now" to verify that it works.

Current version: X1.0.0-beta.3. Before upgrading, we recommend reading about backup; after upgrading, if you need to adjust the site, see Initial Setup.