ComfortUpdate

General

The ComfortUpdate tool is a new feature for LimeSurvey introduced in version 1.87. ComfortUpdate is designed to update your installation of LimeSurvey automatically from your web browser, with just a few mouse clicks; instead of having to perform a manual update.

ComfortUpdate is currently a free beta test service. We considering that at some point in the future users might have to pay a small fee to purchase an upgrade key to continue using the feature.

Requirements

Your PHP installation must be compiled with support for ZLib. Check your PHPInfo to see, and contact your system administrator to confirm. [1].

Your server must be able to connect to http://update.limesurvey.org/(external link) in order to use the ComfortUpdate tool. If you have problems with this and get error messages like

  10060 could not connect to the host "update.limesurvey.org"

Using ComfortUpdate

The LimeSurvey ComfortUpdate feature is safe to use even with active surveys. It does not delete or destroy any existing data. However you should keep in mind that this is a beta feature and ensure you have backed up your database and files manually before proceeding.

• Go to the Global Settings Icon, select the first tab, and click the button for “Updates”
• The ComfortUpdate screen will display an update link if a new version of LimeSurvey is available. If not click “Check now” to see if a new update is available.
• If an update is found, LimeSurvey will display a link to allow you to update. Click on this to begin updating.
• If you have never used before or ComfortUpdate upgrade key is not valid will be asked to enter an upgrade key. During the trial period use the default key for free updates.
• LimeSurvey will now verify your installation directory to check the appropriate permissions are set to allow an update. A list of proposed changes will be displayed.
• If there are any problems, you must correct them at this point, and then proceed to the next step.
• The ComfortUpdate will now make a backup of your database (if you use MySQL) and save your old installation files in the /tmp directory. If you use a different database, you should backup your database manually before proceeding.

ComfortUpdate will now update your installation to the latest version, including updating the database for any new changes.

Known problems

Blank page on step 3

If you get a blank page on step 3 it usually means that the memory limit of your PHP configuration is set too low. During that step LimeSurvey tries to create a database backup and a file backup (of the files that will be replaced).

Using a proxy server to connect to update.limesurvey.com

If you have to use a proxy server to connect to http://update.limesurvey.com(external link) you might have to edit the http.php file in your LimeSurvey installation. To do so browse to the /admin/classes/ folder and open the file http.php with an editor. Have a look at the variables in the first lines of this file and add values if needed.

Example: Connect to a proxy server 111.111.111.111 port 1234 without authentication edit the following lines to look like

 var $proxy_host_name="111.111.111.111";
 var $proxy_host_port=1234;

If you are using Limesurvey 2, http.php can be found in /application/libraries/admin/http/. There are pre-coded variables within the file so only details of your proxy are needed. If your installation is running unusually slowly, setting an appropriate proxy may be the cause.