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As I sit here typing, I am in the process of backing up a Magento 1.1.4 website which is about to become a Magento 1.2.0.3 website. This site has been significantly modified on both the frontend and the backend. I am expecting to lose the custom modifications to the backend adminstration area but I am hopeful we’ll have a bit of luck with the front end and everything will keep functioning as intended.

If you have come here looking for some tips before you do something similar, you might want to ensure that you have both an offline backup to restore your site if it all goes belly up and that any modifications you’ve made are in /app/design/frontend/default/custom_folder and /skin/frontend/default/custom_folder (where “custom_folder” is all your customised files).

If you haven’t done this, then once you’ve duplicated your customisations tell Magento that you now wish to use your “custom_folder” theme in the Admin Panel (Admin > System > Configuration > Design > Themes > Default).

Now log into the Magento Downloader and check for updates. All the files which need to be updated will be highlighted in yellow. For the download and install process to go smoothly, you’ll want to make sure you have the right permissions on everything otherwise it may bomb out half way through. To do this, just pick a decent FTP program (Filezilla will do the trick) and CHMOD the necessary files/folders with 777 perms. Not sure which are the right ones? Probably best you do just about all of them considering if things go wrong in this process, you’ll lose everything… like I did the first time I tried this!

With your permissions set and your downloader setup to go, just click the “go” button and let Magento to all the hard lifting for you. After a couple minutes worth of downloading and installing, the installer will prompt you to refresh the page. Should everything have gone well, you should see a list of Magento’s components which have all been updated. If you didn’t check your permissions before proceeding however, you’ll probably see a blank page. If so, it’s time you reach for that backup.

On inspection of the site after the upgrade, everything ended up working out as planned. I lost my WYSIWYG editor from the backend and a few other customisations I had changed in that area, but the front was just as I left it thanks to setting up my working folder as a theme. Hope you all have as much luck when you give it a go.