Upgrade from Sitefinity CMS 14.4 and higher

RECOMMENDATION: Sitefinity 14.4 LTS or higher versions are supported releases. However, we recommend always upgrading to the latest Sitefinity CMS version. 

PREREQUISITES: You must have installed Sitefinity CLI. For more information, see Sitefinity GitHub repository » Sitefinity CLI.

1. Perform a health check using Sitefinity Check-up service.
   For more information, see Sitefinity Check-up service.
2. Run Sitefinity CLI and enter an upgrade command with the following syntax:
   sf upgrade "{{path to the solution you want to upgrade}}" "{{version you are upgrading to}}"

   Note that entering a specific Sitefinity CMS version is optional. In case you do not provide a version option, the latest version available will be used for the upgrade.

   EXAMPLE: Run Sitefinity CLI and enter the following command:
   sf upgrade "D:\TestProject\SitefinityWebApp.sln" "15.2.8499"

   For more information about using Sitefinity CLI and additional command parameters, see Sitefinity CLI.

If your project is using ASP.NET Core or Next.js pages, you need to upgrade the decoupled frontend Renderer as well. Perform one of the following:

• Upgrade ASP.NET Core Renderer
• Upgrade Next.js Renderer

NOTE: If your project is using only ASP.NET Core pages or Next.js pages, you do not need to migrate the frontend technology. You can skip this section.

IMPORTANT: Support for Web Forms capabilities in Sitefinity CMS frontend was discontinued in version 14.1. Progress strongly advises against using Web Forms for production deployments in any version beyond 13.3 LTS, which is the last officially supported version for Web Forms.
Web Forms capabilities are no longer eligible for support, feature development, or bug fixes - including security updates. Any newly introduced or discovered issues, including critical bugs without workarounds, will not be addressed.
The recommended alternative options are ASP.NET Core and Next.js.

NOTE: MVC capabilities are supported in all supported Sitefinity releases - 13.3 LTS, 14.4 LTS, and 15.x.

To help you evaluate the current state of your project, use the Sitefinity Migration Analyzer. For more information, see Sitefinity Migration Analyzer.

Depending on the results, perform one of the following:

• Web Forms
  If your project runs Web Forms pages, templates, or widgets, you must modernize the frontend technology that your website uses.

  You can choose between ASP.NET Core or Next.js. For more information, see Advantages of modern frontend technologies.

  After choosing a technology, perform one of the following

  • Migrate from Web Forms to ASP.NET Core
  • Migrate from Web Forms to Next.js
• MVC

  RECOMMENDATION: If your project runs MVC pages, templates, or widgets, we recommend modernizing the frontend technology that your website uses.

  You can choose between ASP.NET Core or Next.js. For more information, see Advantages of modern frontend technologies.

  After choosing a technology, perform one of the following:

  • Migrate from MVC to ASP.NET Core
  • Migrate from MVC to Next.js
• Hybrid – Web Forms and MVC

  If your project runs both Web Forms and MVC pages, templates, or widgets, you must transition Web Forms to ASP.NET Core or Next.js. You can still run the MVC pages, templates, and widgets, however we recommend modernizing them as well.

  NOTE: In the special case when you have very few Web Forms elements and predominantly MVC, to minimize costs, you can migrate Web Forms to MVC and continue running in MVC only mode.
  For more information, see Migrate from Web Forms to MVC.

Cloud migration involves transitioning from self-hosted environments to fully managed cloud services provided by Progress Sitefinity.
Consider the option to migrate to Sitefinity Cloud to streamline future upgrades, reduce infrastructure overhead, and enhance overall system reliability.
For more information, see Cloud migration.