== link:index.html[Index] -> link:basics.html[Getting started]
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Last checked: 2010/04/26 Cherokee 0.99.46b
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Upgrading Cherokee
------------------

If there is a prepackaged version of Cherokee for you platform of
choice, we strongly encourage you to use it. Although upgrading
Cherokee is not complicated, the prepackaged versions should make your
upgrades much easier.

Refer to the link:basics_installation_unix.html#APT[APT] section of the
Unix installation instructions if you are using Debian or Ubuntu for
some additional information.

The current mechanism of choice to configure Cherokee did not exist
prior to release 0.6. A lot has happened since then, and Cherokee has
been constantly improving in terms of stability, efficiency and
features.

If you happen to be running an old version of Cherokee and would like
to keep your current configuration settings, you can upgrade your
cherokee.conf file.

Cherokee currently supports configuration versioning, so
from now on, whenever a change is made to the configuration file
format, Cherokee-Admin will be able to automatically convert yours to
the new release. You simply have to load Cherokee-Admin and it will be
converted once you proceed to saving it.

There is also a command line utility that you can use to do the exact
same thing. It is provided under
`$prefix/share/cherokee/admin/upgrade_config.py.`

In case you need to do this manually, the usage is as follows:

----
  /usr/share/cherokee/admin/upgrade_config.py /etc/cherokee/cherokee.conf
----

Every effort is made to bulletproof the upgrade script. If an upgrade
does not work for you, please send a bug report.  However, Cherokee is
a very active project and has been steadily advancing and
incorporating technical improvements. You should really be using
link:other_bundle_cherokee-admin.html[cherokee-admin] to configure
your system if you want to take full advantage of the new
features. Even if the upgrade process is successful, you should use
the new configuration file as a start point and go through the normal
configuration process using
link:other_bundle_cherokee-admin.html[cherokee-admin].

Also, as long as you are not using an ancient configuration file,
every new cherokee-admin release will be able to upgrade the
configuration automatically from previous versions whenever a format
change has been required.
