Upgrading Software via SSH

Occasionally, you may need to upgrade your server software. This may be due to software updates, a change in configuration, or the installation of supplemental software. While this can sometimes be accomplished via graphic user interface, in general it will be done via the command-line. In this article, we will go over how to perform a server update and upgrade software via the command-line interface. Please be mindful that updating some packages could prevent others from working correctly.

Note that you will require root access in order to use these directions.

Upgrading Software

By updating your software packages, you are downloading the latest version of the software that has been released since you last performed an update. By upgrading your software, you install the updated software and fully implement it. In order to perform both of these tasks, a few basic command-line operations are required. We only recommend performing these steps if you are comfortable with command-line operations. In this example, are using the YUM package manager, but the process is generally the same for other Linux-based operating systems. The process of upgrading your software is a two-step process that we will outline below:

1. First, log into the server via SSH.  
2. Next, run the following command to update server packages within the server.

   yum update

   
   
3. Once that is done, implement the updates using the upgrade command:

   yum upgrade

Congratulations, now you know how to perform software updates and implement them on your web server! Please note that certain pieces of software can depend on specific versions of related software in order to function. If this is the case, upgrading your software may cause some applications to not function properly. As such we recommend double-checking your server’s software requirements before performing any substantial upgrades.

Want to know what software you can install? Check out our Complete Software Installation Reference!