It’s recommended to update to the latest version of Ghost to keep your site and data secure, and gain access to the latest features in Ghost. For a successful upgrade, ensure that Ghost, Ghost CLI, and Node are all on compatible versions. Use our Node Compatibility Matrix as a reference. This is a major update with breaking changes.

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1. First, make a full backup

Whenever doing a manual update it’s a good idea to take a full backup of your site first. If anything goes wrong, you’ll still have all your data.
  1. Start by exporting a JSON file backup of all your posts from the Labs area of Ghost Admin.
  2. Then, make a copy of your entire /content directory as a backup for themes and images.

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2. Update your theme

Quite a few things have changed compared to the pre 1.0 version of Ghost, so you’ll need to make some changes to your theme. To see what changes need to be made, download a copy of your theme zip file, and upload it to GScan. GScan will provide a report on any new features in the Ghost theme API which are not being used, or any old ones you might be using which have been deprecated - so you can get everything fixed up.

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3. Create a brand new Ghost install

There is no direct update path to the latest version of Ghost, so you’ll need to create a brand new install to migrate to. Major versions of Ghost break compatibility to allow the platform to evolve. Creating a new install means you’ll have the latest version of the app while still being able to import your old content. On Ghost(Pro) this takes a few clicks, or if you’re self-hosting you can follow our in-depth guides. To install v1 run the command ghost install --v1

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4. Migrate your content from old to new

Once the new install is set up, the only thing left to do is to import all of the content which was backed up at the start of this process.

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Import JSON

To begin the migration, head to the Labs section of Ghost Admin and import the ghost.json backup which you exported earlier. The importer will let you know if there are any issues.

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Copy images

Password tokens are not migrated, so all users will need to go through the password reset flow to unlock their accounts. If you have any trouble, start by searching the docs and the forum for help!

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5. Update to the latest version

Now that you’ve successfully updated from Ghost 0.x versions to 1.0, you can proceed to update to the latest version to access all new features, and keep your site secure — follow this guide to get started.

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6. Upload theme

Finally, upload your updated theme to the Design section of Ghost Admin to get your site looking the same way it did before. Again, the theme uploader will tell you if there are any issues.