Insights

Making the move from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9

2 Nov 2021

Drupal 8 End of Life (EOL) is 2 November 2021. Drupal 8 end of life is here. Read on for the latest advice from the Full Fat Things team on what you need to do next. 

The transition from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9 is simple, with minor differences needed to upgrade. We can help make sure the transition goes off without a hitch.

Why can’t I stay on Drupal 8?

As a general rule, it’s good business practice to upgrade to the latest version of any operating system or platform. That way it will always be up to date with bug fixes and security updates, as well as new features. That’s as true for Drupal as any other.

In the case of Drupal 8, now that the official support has ended (as of 2 November), your business will be exposed to any security issues that arise and there will not be any more bug fixes.

What’s the difference between 8 and 9?

Drupal 9 is, in effect, a ‘cleaned-up’ version of Drupal 8, getting rid the ‘baggage’ that has been accumulated since its launch in November 2015. It is the same as the final minor version of Drupal 8, apart from two key things: any ‘deprecated code’ will have been removed and third-party dependencies will be updated.

This move will allow new features to be added more easily and more quickly in future. In addition, the upgrade path from version 9, and from future versions, will be more straightforward.

What do I do now?

Firstly, check which version of Drupal you are on.

If you’re still on Drupal 7, you still have another year to plan your upgrade – however, there is a bigger jump from version 7 to 9 than there is from 8 to 9. You should start planning your version 7 to 9 upgrade soon.

If you’re on Drupal 8, you need to upgrade to 9 – now. The time needed to move to Drupal 9 depends on which minor version of Drupal 8 you are on, and how much custom code you have on your site.

How can Full Fat Things help?

We’re keen, as top British Drupal contributors, to get as many sites upgraded to the most up-to-date version of Drupal as possible. Get in touch with us today and we can help you determine what you’ll need to make the move from Drupal 7 or 8 to Drupal 9.