Moodle Upgrade - Command Line

Recently i found that when attempting to upgrade a large Moodle site using the conventional browser based method, the server had a nasty habit of timing out on me. It is also notoriously difficult to see what is going on during an upgrade, when all you get is the spinning wheel in a browser.

Personally i found upgrading using the command line, much easier and much more informative than using the WFE.

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Resolution

I found that the best way to perform an upgrade was using simple PHP commands.

1. Load an Administrative Command Prompt.
2. type the command shown below.



PHP.exe c:\inetpub\wwwroot\MOODLESITE\admin\cli\upgrade.php




3. Next you will be asked if you want to proceed with the upgrade.



== Upgrading Moodle database from version 2.5.2 (Build: 20130909) (2013051402) t
o 2.6.1+ (Build: 20140213) (2013111801.08) ==

Your Moodle files have been changed, and you are about to automatically
upgrade your server to this version:

2.6.1+ (BUILD: 20140213) (2013111801.08)

Once you do this you can not go back again. Please note that this process
can take a long time.

Are you sure you want to upgrade this server to this version?
type y (means yes) or n (means no)
:y



4. Type "Y" for yes and hit Enter.

Now wait for it to complete, this can take a while.