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Upgrading and Patches

Like any important software package, you CANNOT just install Shibboleth and then ignore it. Maintenance is required to fix problems, correct security defects, and occasionally perform major upgrades to stay current. Because Shibboleth is not developed solely by and for LSU, the timing of new versions and the end of support for older versions is not solely an LSU decision.

You should plan for upgrades every 12-18 months during lighter periods, just as with other software you maintain. In the interim, patch releases or minor updates may become available, and these can generally be applied more frequently without extensive downtime.

It should go without saying that if you don't have a development environment to try out the newer version, get a working configuration, and test your applications, you're going to have a very difficult time upgrading.

Minor Updates and Patches

Shibboleth SP patches and minor updates and patches are maintenance releases that address bugs and add forward-compatible features respectively. As a result, (barring bugs) you can safely apply such updates on top of your existing software without expecting anything to break or change behavior. Patches are a revision to the third version number (3.0.0 -> 3.0.1) while minor updates are a revision to the middle version number (3.0.x -> 3.1.x).

You should, however, be wary that relying on new features introduced in minor updates can result in a configuration that is not backward- compatible with older versions.

Applying Updates

The actual update process is platform-specific, but at this point, all of the supported packaging techniques include protection of configuration files across uninstalls or updates. Some platforms (e.g. Solaris) require a full uninstall/removal followed by a reinstallation of the new software. Others (e.g. RPMs) can be upgraded in place and simply restarted. The Windows version includes a "postinstall" ZIP file that can be used to bring any installation of a particular major release (e.g. 3.x, 2.x) up to date. If you have specific questions, you can ask on the users@shibboleth.net mailing list.