Migrating From Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 – What You Need to Know
Migrating From Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 – What You Need to Know
Launched on 3rd June 2020, Drupal 9 brings a powerful and highly consistent platform for businesses to encounter innovative digital experiences. With the older versions, upcoming end-of-life, enterprises have started migrating and charting to shift from the existing version to the Drupal 9 version.
As we already know, Drupal 7 will officially withdraw its support from November 2022. Does it seem scary? Well, you are not alone in this migration process. Businesses should consult experienced Drupal development agencies for the complete migration process.
Let’s dive into the following blog for more details:
If you are still on Drupal 7, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON:
Businesses need not panic if it is still on Drupal 7. The Drupal community will support officially till November 2022. After that, it will extend commercial support for additional five years or until 2025. Thus, organizations can begin their upgrade process as soon as possible to prepare and plan.
The Drupal community has outlined a list as to what to expect from D7 to D9 transition:
- No new features for D7 sites.
- No automated testing.
- No security support- no patches, no bug fixing, and no security advisories, leaving your websites vulnerable.
- Flagged as unsecured while integrating with 3rd party tool.
Want to continue with existing D7 sites? Explore the options still available:
Have a look at some of the existing options available:
- Continue with unsupported D7:
D7 sites will continue with the work even after its end of life. However, there is a twist to this. There won’t be any security support from the Drupal team. The lack of security support will lead to website compliance issues, especially with sensitive information.
- Partner for Extended Support (ES):
Businesses not opting for migration can enroll for the D7 ES program and partner with the Drupal Association. The partnership involves disclosing all the D7 security vulnerabilities to the vetted vendor and fixing them. However, the ES program is available only till 2025, post that businesses have to either platform to the latest versions or move to other CMS.
- Shift to different CMS:
Backdrop CMS:
The backdrop has a built-in upgrade path for D7 websites. If you plan to remain on the traditional website without any upgrade, backdrop CMS is a good bet. However, in the future, if you plan to shift to D9, migrating to backdrop CMS is not a good investment as there is no migration path from Backdrop to D9.
Other CMS:
D7 sites are compatible shifting to other CMS platforms outside the Drupal universe. WordPress offers plugins to simplify the move. One can also make custom CMS. However, there is a moderate and heavy investment of time and money while migrating.
Moving from D7 to D9:
Once you decide to migrate from D7 to D9, you can approach in two ways:
- Migrate directly from D7 to D9
- Migrate from D7 to D8, then to D9
The journey from D7 to D9:
With Drupal users holding the majority, users would want a direct up-gradation. Upgrading from D7 to D9 will cost the same as upgrading from D7 to D8 to D9. Yes, you heard that right!
The primary reason is D9 is a minor upgrade in terms of functionalities from D8. However, a direct upgrade from D7 to D9 is a whole different thing.
The second reason is backward compatibility. The Drupal community takes time to create enough modules compatible with the D9 version.
The journey from D8 to D9:
If you are on D8, updating to the latest D9 version is seamless. Along with core upgrades, D9 comes with Symphony 4 and 5. It will further reduce the time and effort.
The update from D8 to D9 is the removal of Deprecated Codes. One can find these codes in the modules integrated with the site.
Wrapping up:
If you are still on D7, we hope you have enough information to consider migrating to D9 as the next logical step. Once you opt for a D9 upgrade, consult the expert Drupal development agency for a smooth migration process. Infozion technologies would be happy to assist you with the entire migration process.