This is a beta release of documentation for Magento 2.4, published for previewing soon-to-be-released functionality. Content in this version is subject to change. Links to the v2.4 code base may not properly resolve until the code is officially released.
You must install and configure Elasticsearch 7.6.x before upgrading to Magento Commerce or Magento Open Source 2.4.0. See Check the catalog search engine for details.

Magento upgrade overview

This topic discusses the ways you can:

  • Upgrade the Magento software from one version to another
  • Update any of the following:

    • Modules (also referred to as extensions; extend Magento capabilities)
    • Themes (change the look and feel of your storefront and Admin)
    • Language packages (localize the storefront and Admin)
  • Uninstall extensions

Upgrade the Magento application

The way you upgrade (that is, patch) the Magento application depends on how you installed it:

  • Magento Open Source and Magento Commerce: If you used Composer to install the Magento application or if you downloaded an archive, you must use the command line.
  • Magento Open Source only: If you cloned the Magento 2 GitHub repository because you are contributing code to the Magento Open Source codebase, upgrade the software manually.
  • If your Magento root directory is <your Magento install directory/pub>, you can upgrade in any of the following ways:
    • For the upgrade, create another subdomain or docroot that uses the Magento installation directory as its root.
    • Upgrade the Magento software using the command line.
  • To upgrade from Magento Open Source to Magento Commerce, see Upgrade from Open Source to Commerce.

System upgrade refers to updating the Magento 2.x core modules and other installed modules. To migrate from Magento 1.x to Magento 2, see the Migration Guide.

For upgrade or update, you must use the same authentication keys you used to install the Magento software.

For example, you cannot use Magento Open Source authentication keys to update or upgrade Magento Commerce or vice versa. You also cannot use another user’s authentication keys or Shared account authentication keys.

Related topics

Complete the tasks discussed in Prerequisites.