Updating Community Template

Follow these steps to safely update to a newer version.

Before Updating

Back up the following files and store them somewhere safe outside your installation directory:

• .env - Your configuration and credentials
• static/ folder - Custom images and assets
• download-files/ folder - Downloadable content
• uploads/ folder - User-uploaded content (if applicable)

Update Process

Note

Forever is used in this example. If you use a different process manager (PM2, etc.), substitute the equivalent commands.
To get your process ID in Forever, run forever list and look for the number inside [ ] before the UID.

1. Prepare for the update

   Major vs Minor Updates

   For major version updates (e.g., 1.x → 2.x), fully stop the application before continuing:
   forever stop PROCESSID
   For minor updates, a restart at the end is sufficient.

2. Delete the following files and folders from your installation directory:

   • package.json
   • build/ folder - Must be completely deleted, not just replaced. Leftover files in build/ can cause subtle errors.

   Do NOT delete your .env, static/, download-files/, or uploads/ folders.

3. Download the latest release from Community Template Releases

   • Read the release notes before proceeding - some releases include specific instructions
   • Download the appropriate version for your license

4. Copy the new files into your installation directory

   • Extract the downloaded zip
   • Copy all files except .env, static/, download-files/, and uploads/

5. Update dependencies (if the release notes say to)

   • Delete package-lock.json and node_modules/
   • Run npm install

6. Check for .env changes in the release notes

   • Add any new required environment variables to your .env
   • Keep all existing values

7. Restart Community Template

   Restart Method

   • Major update (stopped in step 1): forever start .
   • Minor update: forever restart PROCESSID

   Check the logs for any startup errors.