Note: This upgrade method works if you have Discus 3.10 or higher. Older versions of Discus point at now-deprecated download servers and are therefore not supported. If you need to upgrade a version of Discus older than version 3.10, you must use the telnet or console method.

To upgrade a Discus board using FTP:

1. Log in to your Discus board as the board administrator (typically admin).

2. Click the link to "Version Manager" from your Administration Main Menu.

3. Click the button to generate a new FTP distribution. (In version 4.0 this is under the "Upgrades" tab. In earlier versions this button appears on the main page.)

4. On the resulting page on the DiscusWare website, click the link to download your distribution (named discus4_00.zip or discus3_10.zip depending on the version you have generated). If you are downloading Discus Professional, you will be prompted for a username (enter your license number) and password (enter your download password). Save this zip file to a place on your computer where you can easily find it later.

5. Click on the link to the readme file, which contains all steps needed to complete your installation. Follow all instructions in the readme.html file that is presented to complete your upgrade. Please refer to the FTP Upgrade Tips below to ensure that your upgrade goes smoothly.

1. Creating new directories: When you upgrade by FTP, most of the directories that you are instructed to create will already exist from your previous installation. If you are upgrading from Discus 3.10 to Discus 4.x, or from Discus Freeware to Discus Professional, you will have a small number of additional directories to create. Otherwise, you may find that you do not have any directories to create. Therefore, if you find that you are creating all of the directories again, you are probably doing something wrong.

2. Replacing files: A key step of your upgrade is uploading files. In your upgrade, changes have been made to various files, and these files are uploaded (overwriting the existing files). However, your upgrade distribution is specifically prepared so as not to provide you with any "blank" data files that would cause you to lose messages, topics, or users. Therefore, you should upload the files from your distribution to the server.

3. Deleting existing files on the server: DO NOT do this! Nowhere in the readme file, this document, or anywhere else are you told to clear out your existing directories on the server before uploading your upgrade. If you do this, you will very likely lose some or all of the data on your discussion board. This advice can be paraphrased as follows: do what the directions say, and don't get creative in adding your own steps.