Drupal 9 stopped getting updates on November 1, 2023. Drupal 7 will stop getting updates by January 2025, but that's the last extension. Drupal 10 came out in December 2022, and the latest version, 10.1.6, was released on November 1, 2023. What does this mean? 

There’s a lot going right now in the drupal space and many websites are migrating to updated versions of Drupal. In fact, as of now, over 12,000 websites have already switched to Drupal 10, as per the Upgrade Status module download stats. This simply means that now is the best time for you to opt for a Drupal migration company and make the move. Let's have a look at the various ways to migrate in Drupal, with a special focus on custom migrations using the SqlBase source plugin.

Looking for your input for DrupalCon Portland 2024 initiative highlights

I have the pleasure to organize the DrupalCon initiative keynotes now twice a year. The genius idea of this I believe came from Angie Byron, and ever since we include them, they are among the top rated sessions at each DrupalCon. The goals of this keynote are manyfold. First, we want to show the people who lead important work in core, humanising the software.

Gábor Hojtsy Mon, 02/12/2024 - 11:50

Upgraded my blog from Drupal 7 to Drupal 10 in less than 24 hours with the open source Acquia Migrate Accelerate

After 16 years, I was back in Brussels for another FOSDEM last weekend. Back then, as the lead maintainer, I presented about the brand new Drupal 6 version. Now I revisited the pieces that made the Drupal 8 Multilingual Initiative super successful (dedicated post about that coming soon). That reminded me how much I used this website and other custom websites to support initiatives I worked on, and how I neglected to take care of the site in recent years. I wanted to move a bit forward, and kind of got carried away in the best way possible.

Gábor Hojtsy Fri, 02/09/2024 - 15:57

Uncover the journey of Nicolas Loye, CTO at Smile and a Drupal luminary, as he shares insights on community building, leadership, and staying at the forefront of technology. Discover the blend of technical expertise and community stewardship that defines his impactful role in the Drupal ecosystem.

The Drupal Community Working Group is pleased to announce that nominations for the 2024 Aaron Winborn Award are now open. 

This annual award recognizes an individual who demonstrates personal integrity, kindness, and above-and-beyond commitment to the Drupal community. It includes a scholarship and travel stipend for the winner to attend DrupalCon North America and recognition in a plenary session at the event.

Nominations are open to all Drupal community members*, including but not limited to people who have made a big impact in their local or regional community. If you know of someone who has made a big difference to any number of people in our community, we want to hear about it. 

This award was created in honor of long-time Drupal contributor Aaron Winborn, whose battle with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or  ALS (also referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease)  came to an end on March 24, 2015. Based on a suggestion by Hans Riemenschneider, the Community Working Group, with the support of the Drupal Association, launched the Aaron Winborn Award.

Nominations are open until Friday, March 29, 2024.
A committee consisting of the Community Working Group members (Conflict Resolution Team) as well as past award winners will select a winner from the nominations. 
* Current members of the CWG Conflict Resolution Team and previous winners are not eligible for winning the award.

Previous winners of the award are:

2015: Cathy Theys  
2016: Gábor Hojtsy
2017: Nikki Stevens 
2018: Kevin Thull 
2019: Leslie Glynn  
2020: Baddý Breidert
2021: AmyJune Hineline
2022: Angie Byron 
2023: Randy Fay

Now is your chance to show, support, and recognize an amazing community member!

If you know someone amazing who should benefit from this award please submit a nomination.

Also, if you are a creator and would like to help craft one of our future Aaron Winborn Awards, please reach out to the Drupal Community Working Group.
 

 

There is an ongoing debate among developers regarding the use of patches versus pull requests for contributions. Since its migration to GitLab in 2018, Drupal has undergone significant changes. As of July 2024, the removal of Drupal CI and automated patch testing could potentially change the way contributions are made.

DrupalCon Portland 2024 promises to be an unmissable event for web developers, designers, and business professionals invested in the Drupal ecosystem. As one of the most significant gatherings in the Drupal community, the conference offers a variety of benefits that extend beyond just technical knowledge. From networking opportunities to staying ahead in the rapidly evolving digital landscape, attending DrupalCon Portland can be a game-changer for professionals. Let's explore 6 of the top benefits of being part of this transformative event!

Cutting-Edge Insights

DrupalCon is renowned for bringing together thought leaders and experts in the Drupal community. Attendees will have the chance to gain insights into the latest trends, innovations, and best practices in web development, ensuring they stay at the forefront of the industry.

Networking and Career Opportunities

Connect with like-minded professionals and Drupal enthusiasts at DrupalCon. The conference offers a networking platform beyond sessions, fostering relationships for potential partnerships, job opportunities, and collaborative projects. Explore career prospects by engaging with hiring companies and recruiters in the Drupal ecosystem, as many organizations actively seek skilled professionals to join their teams.

Skill Enhancement

Join interactive training sessions and learn from industry experts at DrupalCon. These sessions aim to improve your skills and offer practical knowledge for immediate application to your projects. DrupalCon provides a variety of session tracks suitable for different interests and skill levels. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced developer, there are sessions customized to meet your requirements, guaranteeing a comprehensive learning experience.

Stay Informed About Drupal releases

DrupalCon Portland 2024 presents a fantastic chance to stay informed about the latest developments and insights in Drupal's upcoming core and feature releases. By participating, you can stay ahead of the curve by gaining knowledge about the new features, enhancements, and possible challenges that Drupal has in store. This event provides a valuable opportunity to stay current and well-informed within the Drupal community.

Contribute to the Community

DrupalCon provides a comprehensive experience beyond training and discussions, allowing participants to actively contribute through collaborative code sprints. These hands-on sessions, where developers collectively enhance Drupal core and modules, offer valuable practical experience. Beyond coding, attendees can also contribute through non-code avenues such as volunteering and mentoring, enriching their overall DrupalCon experience. This inclusive and collaborative spirit defines DrupalCon, fostering a vibrant community of shared knowledge and expertise.

Vendor Expo

Take advantage of the vendor expo at DrupalCon Portland 2024 to explore cutting-edge tools, services, and technologies that seamlessly integrate with Drupal. Immerse yourself in engaging conversations with industry-leading vendors to gain a deep understanding of their offerings. This is a unique opportunity to identify potential partnerships or solutions that can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your Drupal projects. By actively participating in the expo, you'll be able to discover and leverage the latest innovations that can elevate your Drupal experience.

DrupalCon Portland 2024 is not just a conference; it's an immersive experience that can significantly impact your professional growth. The benefits are extensive, from staying updated on the latest Drupal developments to forging valuable connections and contributing to the open source community. Attendees can expect to leave the conference with enhanced skills, fresh perspectives, and a network of contacts that can propel their careers to new heights.

Registration is now open for DrupalCon Portland 2024, held from 6-9 May at the Oregon Convention Center.

Upgrading your site from Drupal 9 to 10

Perry Aryee

Developer 08.02.2024

With Drupal 9 having reached its end of life (EOL) on November 1, it’s time to start planning for an upgrade.

For those already operating on Drupal 9, upgrading to Drupal 10 is not as daunting as earlier upgrades and promises to be easy, reflecting the software’s overall trend towards smaller, more incremental upgrades and faster iterations. According to Drupal, you should "completely update your Drupal 9 site to the most recent version of the modules and theme(s), before updating to Drupal 10." 

The deprecated code will be based on Drupal 9 moving into Drupal 10, but there are ways to search your system and update the specified code block.

The first thing to do is to install the  drupal/upgrade_status module in your project and enable it. composer require drupal/upgrade_status && drush en upgrade_status, if you have drush installed else go to admin > modules  and search for upgrade status and install it. After the module is enabled, go to Admin > Reports > Upgrade Status. This page should contain all the upgrades and code changes necessary before your site can be upgraded to Drupal 10.

Steps to upgrade Drupal 9 to Drupal 10

Migrating from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10 can be easy or can be difficult depending on the project you are involved in. Yes, because every site is different and may present its own unique challenges.

These are the following steps to migrate from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10.

1. Keeping your custom modules up to date with new standards and removing deprecated code will result in small changes before you have to do a major core upgrade. If the site is well maintained the changes are mostly with the core_version_requirement. You will need to update from core_version_requirement: ^9 to core_version_requirement: ^9 || ^10 . As soon as we are sure that our custom code is compatible with Drupal 10, we can move to check the contrib modules. And this is where things might get tricky

2. Upgrade contrib modules to versions which support Drupal 9 and 10. If the new version only supports D10, then you can add it to composer as an alternative version, for example: 'drupal/module_name': '^1 || ^2', and you can have version 1 still installed while on Drupal 9. Once you install Drupal 10, version 2 of the module will be installed by composer.

3. Uninstall obsolete modules and themes like Color, RDF, Seven etc. You can’t remove core modules or themes, but if you are not sure if these are depended upon, it can be moved from core to contrib especially classy and stable, which you can keep as contrib modules. You may need to set your Admin theme to Claro and re-export your config on this step. Use drush theme:uninstall theme(s) command (drush thun for short) to uninstall themes.

4. Remove orphaned permissions which are still assigned to user roles. Export your config before starting this step. The upgrade_status module will tell you which permissions need to go from which roles. Simply edit the user.role.[role].yml config ymls and remove the relevant lines from the permissions array. 

5. Upgrade Drupal core to latest 9.5, in order to upgrade to 10.

composer require drupal/core-recommended:^9.5 drupal/core-composer-scaffold:^9.5  --update-with-all-dependencies

Now let's look at the tricky part. Drupal 10 has some specific things we have to do to allow us to upgrade to drupal 10.

1. Drupal 10 runs with PHP 8.2 or later so make sure you have it to be able to upgrade. 

2. Not all modules are Drupal 10 ready so you will have to use drupal lenient.  You will have to get a patch for Drupal 9 only modules. Install mglaman/composer-drupal-lenient before attempting to upgrade. Otherwise these modules will create a dependency problem. After the installation, you need to declare the Drupal 9 modules which should be treated as Drupal 10 modules. For example, to allow drupal/token to be installed run:

composer require mglaman/composer-drupal-lenient

composer config --merge --json extra.drupal-lenient.allowed-list '["drupal/token"]'

3. If you have Drush installed make sure the version is ^11 || ^12, we use this because some module may not be version 12 compatible.

4. Drupal Console (drupal/console) is not Drupal 10 compatible and as such we have to remove it. 

composer remove drupal/console --no-update

5. Upgrade CKEditor 4 to CKEditor 5,if you have custom CKEditor 4 plugins which don’t have an upgrade path to CKEditor 5, then you can keep using CKEditor 4 but as a contrib module. You may have to use it although it is deprecated, to avoid errors when you deploy the Drupal 10 upgrade, when the config import tries to uninstall CKEditor.

6. If you use Entity Embed, you need to manually replace CKEditor Embed buttons with SVG icons as Drupal 10 is not using png.

7. Check custom code for core/jquery.once if it does exist update it to use core/once because jquery.once is removed from Drupal 10

8. If you encounter dependency issues, and composer just won’t let you upgrade to D10, but you are sure that all the dependencies are in order, then the quickest thing to do is to delete the composer.lock file(although its not a best practice), delete vendor folder then run composer install which will install from the composer.json file and create a new .lock file.

9. Note that you can ignore some false positives such as an empty custom profile, which phpstan can’t scan, and as such upgrade status would complain, the trick would be to create an empty .php file to get the issue fix

After all these are done and ready for upgrade, you can run this command

composer require 'drupal/core-recommended:^10' 'drupal/core-composer-scaffold:^10' 'drupal/core-project-message:^10' --no-update

If   drupal/core happens to be part of the composer.json file, remove it. This dependency is included in drupal/core-recommended and may cause problems. If you have drupal/core-dev installed, you can run this

composer require 'drupal/core-dev:^10' --dev --no-update

Now,let us test perform the update with the --dry-run option: this allows us to see if the update will runs smoothly or might encounter some errors.

composer update --dry-run

If you encounter any errors, walk through the process to resolve them. Resume the process when the errors are resolved, run the update with dependencies to update any transitive module.

composer update -W

Don’t forget to run drush updb and drush cex after the upgrade. This means you should run the upgrade on top of an installed and functioning D9 database.

If you have a custom theme that is  based on classy,seven or stable then don’t forget to install them as  contrib themes - composer require 'drupal/[module_name]'. You should uninstall and remove upgrade status after the upgrade process.

Pathauto has an issue with some config files so, if you have Pathauto installed then you need to update some configs by hand. Namely pathauto.pattern.[name] config files have had their selection_criteria plugins updated. For example node_type becomes entity_bundle:node. or  try the following command

drush eval 'include_once(DRUPAL_ROOT . "/modules/contrib/pathauto/pathauto.install"); pathauto_update_8108()'

In summary the whole update process for a site can be very difficult and ranges from project to project. It could have different modules installed, with some even locked to specific dev versions, as well as heavily patched old major versions of modules which needed to be upgraded. You walk through these steps and iterate through if need be to get your upgrade completed.

Discover how the Automated Testing Kit for Drupal, led by André Angelantoni, revolutionizes end-to-end testing with its versatile features, impactful vision, and seamless integration of Cypress.io and Playwright frameworks.