What to Do Before Updating Joomla

Back up the files and database together

Create a complete backup before installing Joomla core or extension updates. A useful backup must include the database and the filesystem from the same point in time, and you must know how you would restore it if Administrator no longer loads.

• Store the backup somewhere other than only inside the live site's web root.
• Check that the archive/database dump completed without errors.
• For a business-critical site, test the restore process on staging.
• Preserve recent business data if restoring an older database could lose orders, registrations, or submissions.

Record the current site and confirm the target environment

Write down the current Joomla, PHP, and database versions and the Joomla version you intend to install. Check the target Joomla release's current technical requirements before changing PHP or the database server.

Also check free disk space and whether the site can make outbound HTTPS requests. Joomla needs to retrieve update information and packages, and an environment problem can look like a Joomla update failure even when the application itself is healthy.

If a PHP change is required for the target Joomla release, verify third-party extension support for that PHP version before changing production. An extension can be compatible with the target Joomla version yet still fail on the newer PHP runtime.

Inventory and update third-party extensions deliberately

Go to System → Manage → Extensions and identify the components, plugins, modules, templates, packages, and libraries the site depends on. For each critical third-party product, check the developer's current documentation for the target Joomla and PHP versions.

Then go to System → Update → Extensions and refresh the update information. Install prerequisite extension releases in the order their developers require. Do not bulk-update a group of unrelated critical extensions immediately before a Joomla major upgrade unless you have already tested that exact combination.

Remove abandoned or unused extensions only after checking what their uninstall process deletes. Some extensions remove stored data when uninstalled.

Review Joomla's Pre-Update Check and major-version requirements

Open System → Update → Joomla. For a major-version upgrade, review Required Settings, Recommended Settings, and the extension compatibility results. Resolve hard blockers and investigate unknown compatibility instead of assuming an extension is safe because it is not marked red.

For Joomla 5.4 to Joomla 6, the current Joomla migration check expects the Joomla 5 Behaviour - Backward Compatibility plugin to be disabled and Behaviour - Backward Compatibility 6 to be enabled. If disabling the older compatibility layer breaks Joomla 5.4, fix the code that depends on it before the Joomla 6 upgrade.

Run a staging rehearsal and plan the production window

Clone or restore the current production site to staging and perform the complete upgrade sequence there. Use the PHP/database versions and extension versions you intend to run in production. Test frontend pages, Administrator, authentication, templates, forms, email, scheduled tasks, integrations, and any revenue- or mission-critical workflow.

Only after staging succeeds should you schedule production. Choose a window when traffic is lower, you can monitor the site, and the person who can restore the backup is available. Avoid beginning immediately before an event, campaign, deadline, or unattended period.

Immediately before the production update, take a fresh backup if the site has changed since the staging copy was made. That gives you the shortest possible data-loss window if a rollback becomes necessary.