php cms automatic updates

[aggrav8d]

Hi, phpfreaks.

 

I'm looking for a nice way to automatically update copies of my CMS as they become available.  I see a lot of CMS leave it in the hands of the maintainer - from checking for updates all the way to patching the system.  Is this really the best way?  Surely there's a method that can simplify this for everyone.

 

Please give me the benefit of your experience.

[gevans]

I used to use a forum software that would advice you when new releases were available. In the admin area there was some script that would pull details from the domain that promoted the software checking the current version with the working version. They could then download new updates from there.

 

The updates would still need to be uploaded and an update script run.

[aggrav8d]

Any idea what system they used to poll the promoting site?  most file*() commands are right out and I can't count on curl to be available.

[gevans]

I'll see if I have an old version lying around and have a look...

 

 

 

 

...here we go

 

$currversion = explode("|", @file_get_contents("http://www.flexbb.net/public/currentversion.txt"));

 

That's the line that did it for them

[Philip]

SMF (the board used at PHP Freaks) will let you know when you need to update, but it won't automatically update. However - their update script is pretty awesome (when visiting their download page check out the large upgrade)