Last week the Joomla Security Strike Team issued another high severity alert for Joomla version 1.5. This is hot on the heels of a moderate alert in April. All 1.5.x installs prior to and including 1.5.17 are affected.
Updating Joomla is not especially difficult but streamlining the process is worthwile if you look after more than just a few sites! Hosting tools such as cPanel and Installatron can help automate this process for you but it can take a few weeks for the updates to be made available via these tools.
The best way to do updates is to use the excellent (and free) Update Manager from Sam Moffatt you can find this extension on the Joomla Extensions web site: http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/installers/9332
Before doing any changes, make sure you have a recent backup of your website!
Install Update Manager (you only have to do this once):
- Go to: http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/installers/9332
- Click on the "Download" button and download the com_jupdateman_151.tgz file to your local machine
- Log in to the back-end of your Joomla site www.yourdomain.com.au/administrator and click on Extensions -> Install/Uninstall
- Browse to the com_jupdateman_151.tgz file on your local machine and click on "Upload File and Install"
Update Joomla to latest version:
- Go to Components -> Update Manager
- Click on "download the update file >>>"
- Click on "Patch Package"
- Once downloaded, Click on "you can proceed with the install >>>"
- If all is well, you will see the message, "You have successfully upgraded your Joomla! install! Congratulations!" and your update is complete
Depending on how big the latest patch is (and how far behind you are), updates can now be done in a few minutes or even a few seconds.
How do you keep your Joomla sites up to date?
Update: Admin Tools from Akeeba also has a "one click" update process that is very easy to use.
Website Health Check
To find out how well your website is configured, order a Website Health Check for $90.
The Health Check includes:
- check CMS and third party extension/plugin versions
- check Google is seeing the website as responsive
- check website page load speed
- check robots.txt
- check free space
- check backup is enabled and suitably configured
- check web hosting configuration and suitability
- recommendations on how best to address any discovered issues
Note that no changes are made to your website during the Website Health Check without consulting you first.
The cost of a Website Health Check is refundable if you purchase a 12 month Website Maintenance and Backup Subscription within 30 days of the check.
Website Maintenance and Backup Subscriptions
| Economy | Business | Enterprise | |
| Monthly Cost | $39 per month | $69 per month | $99 per month |
| Annual Cost | $390 per year* | $690 per year* | $990 per year* |
| Third party extensions | up to 10 extensions | up to 20 extensions | up to 30 extensions |
| Monthly Report | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free initial security audit (valued at $220) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Monitor new CMS and third party extension/plugin updates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| High priority CMS updates installed within 24 hours | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| High priority third party extension/plugin updates installed within 24 hours | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Non-critical CMS and third party extension/plugin updates installed quarterly | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly off-site backups | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Non-critical CMS and third party extension/plugin updates installed monthly | No | Yes | Yes |
| Installation of web application firewall (e.g. Akeeba Admin Tools Pro) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly off-site backups | No | No | Yes |
| Monthly malware scan | No | No | Yes |
* Pay 12 months in advance and get 2 months free.