Update Drupal 6.14 to 6.16 on FreeBSD 7.2 server and Virtual Host

Notes and steps we took to update our Drupal System. This is on our FreeBSD 7.2 server on a Virtual Host. Trying to fix an email problem, and updating..

Summary of update steps

Upgrading your Drupal site involves a number of steps. These are described in more detail 1n the the Drupal handbook:

1. Backup your existing site and database.

2. Place the site in "off-line" mode (Administer >> Site configuration >> Site maintenance).

3. Switch your site's theme to a default theme (Administer >> Themes >> Garland or Bluemarine)

4. Disable all contributed or customized modules. You'll need to do this a couple times to get all the checks..
(Administer >> Site building >> Modules)

5. Move orig site to a new(temp) folder.
prompt% mv drupal/ oldsite

6. Download, upload and unzip drupal-6.16.tar
prompt% tar -xvf drupal-6.16.tar

7. New site is now drupal-6.16

8. Browse to that site. ie: http://www.your_site.com/drupal-6.16

- got some errors.. so fix those..

prompt% cd ./sites/default/
prompt% cp default.settings.php settings.php
prompt% su root
prompt# chown www settings.php
prompt# chgrp www settings.php

prompt# mkdir files
prompt# chown -R www files
prompt# chgrp -R www files

hit try again.

Re-enter the database info.

** Run the update.php script, which will update your database.

-- Good time to get any module updates before you re-enable them.
9. Re-enable your contributed modules and run update.php
(Administer >> Site building >> Modules)

8. Re-enable your theme and if necessary run update.php

To make your update run as smoothly as possible, there are various preparations that experienced Drupal users do to guarantee the least frustrating upgrade and minimal interruption to their sites and users. These best practices are detailed in the full tutorial along with these basic steps.