One of the nice features in Joomla is that you can update the CMS from either the backend or from the filesystem. We typically update our clients’ websites from the backend, but, when we encounter the minor of issues, we update it using the filesystem. Here’s how:
- We ssh to the server as root and we cd (change directory) to a temporary directory.
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We download the latest Joomla install using wget.
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We extract the install in the temporary directory and then we remove the installation folder (and the templates folder if the site uses a built-in Joomla template).
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We zip everything back and we move it to the root directory of the Joomla site.
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We extract everything there and then we use a recursive chown to change the ownership and the group of each of the files to the right one.
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We login to the Joomla backend and then we go to Extensions -> Manage -> Database and then we click on the Fix button on the top left.
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That’s it! Typically, the above process takes a few minutes, and we only do it if the current Joomla website is a few revisions behind.
Lately, however, we are having a minor hiccup with the above process (especially when updating from Joomla 3.6.5 to Joomla 3.7.x), as we are seeing the following warning when we go the Article Manager page (or any backend page having to do with the articles):
“Error loading component: com_fields, Component not found.”
The above warning is caused by the fact that the new article system in Joomla has been modified to use the custom fields (which has been introduced in 3.7.x), but the custom fields were not properly installed onto the website. The solution to this problem is to use the “Discover” functionality in the Joomla backend. Here’s how to do this:
Login to the Joomla backend and then go “Extensions” -> “Discover”, and then click on the “Discover” button on the top left. Once you do that, you should see the following Fields extensions that should have been installed on your Joomla website (but were not):
- Content – Fields (Site Plugin)
- Fields (Administrator Component)
- Fields – Calendar (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Checkboxes (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Colour (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Editor (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Imagelist (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Integer (Site Plugin)
- Fields – List (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Media (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Radio (Site Plugin)
- Fields – SQL (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Text (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Textarea (Site Plugin)
- Fields – URL (Site Plugin)
- Fields – User (Site Plugin)
- Fields – Usergrouplist (Site Plugin)
- System – Fields (Site Plugin)
Select them all by clicking on the top checkbox (the one next to “Name”). Once you have them all selected, click on “Install” button on the top left. When the install finishes (it should take a few seconds), you should see the following message Discover install successful. You can then verify that the problem is fixed by going to the Article Manager (you shouldn’t see the warning any more).
We hope that you found our little post useful and we hope it helped you solve your problem. If it didn’t, then please verify that your server doesn’t have any type of aggressive caching. If you still need help, then you can always contact us. We are eager for new clients, our current clients love us, and our fees are always right.