Drupal 9 is coming!
It won’t be a revolution like Drupal 8, but the evolution of it. It is scheduled for release on June 3rd, 2020, so save the date. Drupal 8.9, the last major update of the Drupal 8 line, will also be released in June.
What is new in Drupal 9?
Not much and a lot of it. Compared to Drupal 8.9, just updated the underlying framework and other dependencies. Compared to Drupal 8.8, all the new features of Drupal 8.9 were added.
Drupal 9 aims to resemble a modern CMS, but it's under the hood. It will bring a new theme, but probably in Drupal 9.1 or later. It also has a new admin theme, Clarothat is already experimental in Drupal 8.8.
Source: Drupal.org
What is not in Drupal 9 anymore?
That is one of the reasons why Drupal 9 is the new major release. Drupal contributors work on cleanup for Drupal 9, removing deprecated code.
A list of deprecated core APIs with their replacements can be found in this article. Most of these deprecations simply unify old APIs, furthering the transition of Drupal development towards modern PHP. Magic functions are no longer necessary, and developers must use either standard PHP functions or load namespaced classes and utilize their methods. This makes Drupal 9 feel more likea modern PHP framework, which is good for developers.
Some deprecated core modules are removed in Drupal 9—namely block_place, entityreference, field_layout and simpletest. Place Blocks module is eradicated. Entity Reference module is deprecated and should be removed entirely in Drupal 10. The Field Layout module is removed and replaced with Layout Builder. SimpleTest is moved from core to be contrib module once again.
How do I upgrade from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9?
It’s essentially the same as updating to any minor version of Drupal 8. It is designed to be as compatible with Drupal 8 as possible. These basic steps are stated official guide:
- Ensure your hosting environment matches the platform requirements of Drupal 9
- Update to Drupal 8.8x or 8.9.x (if not already on that version)
- Update all contributed projects and ensure they are Drupal 9 compatible
- Make custom code Drupal 9 compatible
- Update core codebase to Drupal 9
- Run update.php
To be sure, you can use the Upgrade Status module.
However, there is still one thing you need to be aware of.System requirements are different in Drupal 9 than in Drupal 8.
| Drupal 9.0 | Drupal 8.8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Apache | 2.4.7 or higher | 2.x |
| Nginx | 0.7 or higher | 0.7 or higher |
| PHP | 7.3 or 7.4 | 7.0.8 to 7.4 |
| MySQL | 5.7.8 or higher | 5.5.3 or higher |
| MariaDB | 10.2.7 or higher | 5.5.20 or higher |
| Percona | 5.7.8 or higher | 5.5.8 or higher |
| PostgreSQL | 10.0 or higher | 9.1.2 or higher |
| SQLite | 3.26 or higher | 3.6.8 or higher |
Will the transition be smooth?
Yes, it should be. If you are already running Drupal 8.8, you have little to worry about. But it is always good to wait for 9.0.3 and let early adopters debug some issues of the new version.
How do I upgrade from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9?
I would suggest developing a new site from scratch, but there are some cases where it is not an option. Drupal has your back even in this, but it won’t be that straightforward as migration from 8 to 9. Drupal has Migrate Drupal module in its core to migrate from older versions of Drupal.Upgrade Status module can point out code problems before upgrading.Drupal Module Upgradercan help modify module to be compatible with Drupal 8 and 9. You can also analyze your code using the Drupal Check static code analysis tool.
What will happen to older versions of Drupal?
They will follow the planned lifecycle. Drupal 8.7 will receive security updates until June 2020. Drupal 8.8 will receive security updates until December 2020. Drupal 8.9 will receive security updates until November 2021 or shorter. Drupal 7 will receive security updates until November 2021. This means that November 2021 will mean the end of life for both Drupal 8 and Drupal 7. Vendor Extended Support should be available even longer, until year 2024. But it will not be a major concern of the Drupal core team anymore.
Source: Drupal.org
What happens next?
Well, the development of Drupal is planned for the coming years, so you should not worry. Drupal 10 is scheduled for release in the middle of 2022, and Drupal 9 is expected to be supported until the same time.
