As a team dedicated to maintaining a robust participatory democracy platform, we recently undertook the significant task of upgrading Decidim from version 0.27 to 0.28. This upgrade, which took approximately six months to complete, involved major breaking changes and required meticulous planning and execution. This case study provides a firsthand account of the challenges we encountered and the solutions we implemented to ensure a successful transition.
The Goal
Our primary objective was to upgrade Decidim from version 0.27 to the latest version 0.28, ensuring that our platform remained up-to-date with the latest features, security patches, and improvements.
Challenges Encountered
- Dependency Updates:
- Challenge: Updating Decidim to v0.28 necessitated careful management of gem dependencies. Despite specifying versions in our Gemfile, resolving conflicts with other gems and ensuring compatibility with Ruby and Rails versions was a significant challenge.
- Solution: We meticulously reviewed and adjusted dependencies to align with Decidim’s requirements. This involved updating Gemfile entries, testing compatibility in isolated environments, and leveraging dependency management tools to identify and resolve conflicts.
- Configuration Changes:
- Challenge: Decidim introduced several configuration changes between versions. Adjusting our existing configuration files, particularly in config/initializers/decidim.rb, to accommodate new settings and deprecations required thorough testing.
- Solution: We conducted a comprehensive review of the configuration changes, updating and validating each setting. This included creating backup configurations, testing in staging environments, and ensuring that all configurations were correctly migrated without breaking existing functionalities.
- Database Migration:
- Challenge: Updating the database schema using rails decidim:upgrade and rails db:migrate was a critical step. While Decidim provides migration scripts, some customizations in our deployment required careful validation and adjustment post-migration.
- Solution: We meticulously planned and executed the database migration, ensuring data integrity and backward compatibility with existing data structures. This involved creating backup databases, testing migration scripts in isolated environments, and validating data integrity post-migration.
- Asset Compilation and Deployment:
- Challenge: Compiling and deploying updated assets such as JavaScript and CSS files using rails assets:precompile required careful validation. Ensuring that the precompiled assets did not conflict with existing assets and maintaining a smooth transition for end-users was crucial.
- Solution: We implemented a rigorous asset compilation and deployment process, including testing in staging environments and validating asset versions. This involved clearing cache, testing across different browsers, and ensuring a seamless user experience post-deployment.
- Post-Upgrade Testing and Validation:
- Challenge: After completing the upgrade steps, rigorous testing was essential to validate the stability and functionality of the platform. We encountered issues related to user workflows, performance degradation in certain modules, and unexpected UI changes.
- Solution: We adopted a comprehensive testing strategy that included unit tests, integration tests, and user acceptance testing (UAT). This involved creating test plans, executing test cases, and addressing issues promptly to ensure platform stability and user satisfaction.
Solutions Implemented
- Comprehensive Testing Strategy:
- We adopted a comprehensive testing strategy that included unit tests, integration tests, and user acceptance testing (UAT). Testing the new UI changes took a significant amount of time, ensuring that all functionalities were thoroughly validated.
- Incremental Rollout Strategy:
- To minimize downtime and mitigate risks associated with the upgrade, we implemented an incremental rollout strategy. This involved deploying updates to staging environments first, conducting thorough validation, and gradually rolling out changes to production environments in controlled phases.
- Collaboration and Documentation:
- Close collaboration among team members and stakeholders was instrumental in overcoming challenges. We maintained detailed documentation throughout the upgrade process, documenting configuration changes, migration scripts, and testing outcomes. This facilitated knowledge sharing and quick resolution of issues encountered during and post-upgrade.
- Community Support and Resources:
- Engaging with the Decidim community and leveraging available resources such as forums, documentation, and support channels proved invaluable. Community feedback and insights helped us navigate specific challenges and gain insights into best practices for upgrading Decidim.
Conclusion
Upgrading Decidim from v0.27 to v0.28 presented our team with various challenges, from managing dependencies and configuration changes to validating database migrations and ensuring seamless asset compilation. Through meticulous planning, rigorous testing, and collaboration, we successfully navigated these challenges and implemented a robust upgrade strategy. Our experience underscores the importance of proactive planning, comprehensive testing, and leveraging community resources to ensure the smooth and successful upgrade of Decidim, empowering continued support for participatory democracy initiatives.
