To simplfy the upgrade process I decided again to try generating a diff file between 2.0.3 and 2.0.4 and using that to patch my sites rather than uploading a full set of new files. The process for generating the diff file is actually simpler than the one I used last time!

Here is the process I took on my local machine to generate the diif file:

1. Generated the patch file with svn diff using the following command (all on one line):
   

   svn diff http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/tags/2.0.3 http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/tags/2.0.4 > ~/2.0.3-to-2.0.4.patch

I then uploaded the patch file to my server and placed it in my home directory and applied the patch as follows:

1. Backed up my WordPress database using the wp-db-backup plugin
2. Made a copy of my WordPress install files as a backup
3. Then to apply the patch you change into the root folder of your WordPress blog and enter the following patch command:
   

   patch -p0 < ~/2.0.3-to-2.0.4.patch


And it was done! – There are no database changes between 2.0.3 and 2.0.4 and so upgrade.php does not need to be run as far as I know.

To save you some time if you would like to use this method of upgrade you can download the patch file I generated here: 2.0.3-to-2.0.4.patch.

You use this file with out any guarantee that it will work – Remember to backup first!

Update: After reading through Mark Jaquith’s notes on the upgrade to 2.0.4 from 2.0.3 I’ve noticed that the above patch file doesn’t include some new images used in the admin UI (binary files cannot be stored in diff files) to get these new images I suggest you download the zip file that Mark has provided on his blog.

To simplfy the upgrade process I decided to try generating a diff file between 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 and using that to patch my sites rather than uploading a full set of new files.

Here is the process I took on my local machine to generate the diif file:

1. Exported both 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 from svn using the following commands:
   

   To get 2.0.2 - svn --force export http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/branches/2.0
To get 2.0.1 - svn --force export http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/tags/2.0.1


2. Generated a patch file using diff:
   

   diff -U3 -r 2.0.1 2.0 > 2.0.1.to.2.0.2.patch


I then uploaded the patch file to my server and placed it in my home directory and applied the patch as follows:

1. Backed up my WordPress database using the wp-db-backup plugin
2. Made a copy of my WordPress install files as a backup
3. Then to apply the patch you change into the root folder of your WordPress blog and enter the following patch command:
   

   patch -p1 < ~/2.0.1.to.2.0.2.patch


And it was done! – There are no database changes between 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 and so upgrade.php does not need to be run as far as I know.

To save you some time if you would like to use this method of upgrade you can download the patch file I generated here: 2.0.1.to.2.0.2.patch.

You use this file with out any guarantee that it will work – Remember to backup first!