Update 13/10/2021: The information in this blog post might be outdated, please refer to our documentation and the Umbraco 9 product page for up-to-date information. For migration from Umbraco 8 to Umbraco 9, please see our documentation.
Will I be able to upgrade my existing site to Umbraco 9?
You won’t find an upgrade button - but you will be able to migrate existing projects to Umbraco 9. This goes both for the open-source CMS and for projects on Umbraco Cloud (Uno and Heartcore projects will be upgraded automatically to Umbraco 9 at a later stage).
How can I migrate from 8 to 9? And how “easy” is the migration?
All projects can be migrated. How big of a task it will be, depends on your current project setup.
The biggest change is the move from ASP.NET to ASP.NET Core, so the biggest deciding factor in your projects migrations is how tightly coupled you are to ASP.NET and .NET framework.
Content migration
Your content will “just work”, as there are very few database changes (and there are automatic migrations in place for these).
Packages and dependencies migration
Your packages and other dependencies will need to work with Umbraco 9 and .NET 5+. Many Umbraco packages are already available for version 9, but in some cases, you might need to look for alternatives or reach out to the package creator and ask for their plan to upgrade to Umbraco 9.
Code migration
As for your own code, there will be some work needed. For templates, the changes are mostly syntactical, and some namespace changes. For the pieces of your code that interact with Umbraco, please refer to the “What has changed from Umbraco 8 to 9” blog post where you’ll find a description of the areas you should be aware of.
We’re working on basic migration guides for both CMS and Cloud and plan to publish these sometime after the launch. Keep an eye on future Product Update blog posts for news on this.
How straightforward will the migration from 9 to 10 be, since 10 is LTS (aligned with .NET 6 LTS)?
Umbraco 10 is planned for release in H1 2022. This is earlier than previous Major versions of Umbraco but reflects our new plan for release cadence and semantic versioning. This plan is based on a Major LTS version every two years allowing Umbraco to follow Microsoft .NET LTS release cadence closely. Thus, Umbraco 10 will be a LTS version aligned with .NET 6 LTS.
You can learn more about the new release cadence for Umbraco CMS as well as plans for LTS (Long term support) and EOL (End of life) here.
When Umbraco 10 will be released in H1 2022 it will be an LTS version. So should you wait to migrate or hold off new projects? No. Our recommendation is that you go with Umbraco 9 in order to reap all the benefits of the new framework. The project migration from Umbraco 9 to 10 will not be like the move from version 8 to 9. The process will be more like upgrading from an old Umbraco 8 minor to the latest Umbraco 8 minor. New Major versions will include breaking changes, but we will keep these to a minimum and add automatic migrations when possible and therefore expect the move between future major versions to be relatively straightforward - especially if you keep up with the cadence.
When we get closer to the Umbraco 10 launch, we’ll communicate more about this.
Should I upgrade my existing site?
If you can, yes. Umbraco 9 is better than previous versions in many ways, including runtime performance.
For projects that are no longer in development and where runtime performance is not important, we recommend you take the Long Term Support of Umbraco 8 into account when considering whether to take the plunge or not.
When Umbraco 9 is released, it will be the main Umbraco release which means that you’ll get access to new features and fixes every 6 weeks as part of the Minor release cadence.
What happens if I don't upgrade?
Nothing 🙂
When the final minor version of Umbraco 8 is released (TBD - we’ll communicate about this in future Product Updates), that version will be supported for 2 full years + an additional year of “security”-updates.
So you can stay safe on Umbraco 8 for quite a while. After the release of the final minor version of Umbraco 8 no more features will be added to version 8.
For Umbraco 7 projects, the Security phase started in July, 2021 and EOL is September 2023.
How will the new major structural changes affect my Umbraco projects?
Again, this depends on what type of functionality your project(s) contain and how tightly coupled to .NET Framework the implementation is. You will find that many of the Umbraco conventions you know and love are the same, or similar, so getting started with Umbraco 9 should be a familiar experience. For some tips on some of the larger changes see the What has changed from Umbraco 8 to 9 blog post.
When released, is it ready for real projects?
Yes!
After a year of testing Alpha, Beta and RC versions, we’re pleased to see a version that’s fully ready for production.
And with the majority of package developers doing a fantastic job in keeping their packages up to date with the latest version of Umbraco 9, we’re confident that Umbraco 9 is well equipped for real-life projects by launch (H5YR to all package developers!).
We already know of projects that are running live on the Release Candidate versions, and we can’t wait to see even more when the full release is out next week!
Will Umbraco Cloud projects be on Umbraco 9?
Umbraco 9 will, of course, be ready in Umbraco Cloud from day 1!
This means that by launch, new projects will by default be on Umbraco 9, and when you spin up an Umbraco Cloud trial, it will be in Umbraco 9.
Through the portal, you will still be able to create new projects on Umbraco 8 for a while. The creation of Umbraco 8 projects will be possible until the “Support” phase of Umbraco 8 is over (24 months after the final minor release of Umbraco 8).
If you want to migrate an exiting Umbraco Cloud project to Umbraco 9, this is possible - please see the “How can I migrate from 8 to 9?” question/answer above and keep an eye out for a basic Umbraco Cloud migration guide which will be published after the launch.
Umbraco Uno and Heartcore projects will be upgraded automatically to Umbraco 9 later this year. We’ll communicate more around this directly to our Uno and Heartcore customers and in future Product Update blog posts.
How will Umbraco 9 work on Umbraco Cloud?
The short answer is: Pretty much like it always has! You still get all the great features you’re used to on Umbraco Cloud such as one-click installs, multiple environments with built-in schema and content synchronization, automatic upgrades, and much more.
The longer (and more interesting) answer: With Umbraco 9 running on .NET 5 (ASP.NET Core), we seized the opportunity to improve Umbraco Cloud projects both from a structural and functional standpoint.
- You now get access to using .NET 5 command line tools to manage, build and run your project locally.
- It is much easier to create a Visual Studio solution and collaborate with your colleagues on these.
- Deployments rely on .NET build steps and NuGet for a better and safer experience.
And on top of this, you get all the benefits of a faster and more performant Umbraco CMS.
Keep your eye on the Umbraco blog on Monday, September 27th for more exciting details on how Umbraco 9 will work on Umbraco Cloud.
Still got questions?
You are able to find more FAQs at the bottom of the “Migrating Umbraco CMS to .NET Core” page. Or why not...👇
Join the live launch stream of Umbraco 9
One of the best ways to get your head around all the new fantastic stuff you get in Umbraco 9, is by joining us for the live launch stream.
The live stream will take place on Tuesday, September 28 at 14:30 - 16:05 CEST. During the live stream, you’ll get guided through the main new features and improvements when working with Umbraco 9.
And if you still got a lingering question after reading the above, make sure to submit it for the live QnA that’ll take place at the end of the launch stream.
Sign up for the Umbraco 9 launch
