Software Management

Manage the versions of software that are deployed to a WordPress or a Node.js VIP Platform environment in the VIP Dashboard.

• The Software Management panel is environment-specific (e.g., Production, Develop). A different environment can be selected from the dropdown located at the upper left of the VIP Dashboard application view.
• Each software update applied to an environment must complete before another can begin.
• Environments continue to be available throughout the update process.
• In the dropdown lists of software versions, the version labeled “Active” is the version currently deployed to the environment.
• Available security updates for active versions of software are automatically applied to environments.
• Environments can be updated to a greater or lesser version of software, limited only to the available versions listed in the versions dropdown for that software.

Access

To access the Software Management panel:

1. Navigate to the VIP Dashboard for an application.
2. Select “Settings” from the sidebar navigation at the left of the screen.
3. Below “Configurations”, select “Software Management“.

WordPress

Select a version of WordPress to deploy to an environment, or enable managed updates that will automatically update WordPress to the latest stable version. Available minor releases and security releases for the active version of WordPress are automatically applied to environments.

Enable managed updates

Enabling managed updates for an environment will automatically update the environment’s version of WordPress to the latest stable release according to VIP’s platform release schedule. If managed updates are enabled for an environment that is not yet running the latest stable release version of WordPress, the environment will also be updated to the latest stable release version.

1. Select the tab labeled “WordPress“.
2. Set the managed updates toggle switch to “on”. A visual indicator of a check mark (✓) will appear in the toggle.
3. Select the “Update” button.
4. A dialog box will appear, prompting the user to confirm or cancel the update to the environment’s settings. Select the “Confirm” button to proceed with enabling managed updates for the environment.
5. An option will be given in a dialog box to proceed with the update to the environment’s settings or to cancel the request. Select the “Update environment” button to proceed with enabling managed updates for the environment.

Version selection

To update the version of WordPress running on an environment to a selected version:

1. Select the tab labeled “WordPress“.
2. Disable managed updates by setting the toggle switch to “off”. A visual indicator of an “x” mark will appear in the toggle.
3. Select the dropdown to display a list of available versions of WordPress.
   • Supported: Minor WordPress version releases X.X (e.g. 5.8, 5.9) that are secure and stable.
   • Testing: “Trunk” version intended for testing development code on non-production environments in preparation for the next major release cycle of WordPress.
   • Deprecated: Versions of WordPress that no are no longer eligible for security updates and will soon be unavailable on the VIP Platform.
4. Select the “Update” button.
5. An option will be given in a dialog box to proceed with the update to the environment’s settings or to cancel the request. Select the “Update environment” button to proceed with the WordPress version update for the environment.

PHP

To update the version of PHP running on an environment:

1. Select the tab labeled “PHP“.
2. Select a PHP version from the dropdown list.
3. Select the “Update” button.
4. An option will be given in a dialog box to proceed with the update to the environment’s settings or to cancel the request. Select the “Update environment” button to proceed with the PHP version update for the environment.

VIP MU plugins

The VIP Platform’s Must Use (“MU”) plugins are deployed to all VIP Platform WordPress applications. The VIP MU plugins production branch is intended for production environments, and the staging branch is useful for testing upcoming features on non-production environments.

To update the version of VIP MU plugins running on an environment:

1. Select the tab labeled “MU plugins“.
2. Select a VIP MU plugin version (production branch or staging branch) from the dropdown list.
3. Select the “Update” button.
4. An option will be given in a dialog box to proceed with the update to the environment’s settings or to cancel the request. Select the “Update environment” button to proceed with the VIP MU plugins version update for the environment.

Node.js

Node.js Long Term Support (LTS) releases in Active or Maintenance status—as well as the next Active LTS candidate—are available for Node.js environments.

To update the version of Node.js running on an environment:

1. Select a Node.js version from the dropdown list.
2. Select the “Update” button.
3. An option will be given in a dialog box to proceed with the update to the environment’s settings or to cancel the request. Select the “Update environment” button to proceed with the Node.js version update for the environment.