> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.b2ihealthcare.com/snow-owl/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.b2ihealthcare.com/snow-owl/setup-and-administration/upgrade-snow-owl.md).

# Upgrade Snow Owl

When a new Snow Owl Terminology Server release is available, we recommend performing the following steps.

New releases are going to be distributed the same way: a Docker stack and its configuration within an archive.

It is advised to decompress the new release files to a temporary folder and compare the contents of `./snow-owl/docker` .

```diff
[root@host]# diff /opt/snow-owl/docker/ /opt/new-snow-owl-release/snow-owl/docker/
Common subdirectories: /opt/snow-owl/docker/configs and /opt/new-snow-owl-release/snow-owl/docker/configs
diff /opt/snow-owl/docker/.env /opt/new-snow-owl-release/snow-owl/docker/.env
10c10
< ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION=8.19.14
---
> ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION=8.19.15
24c24
< SNOWOWL_VERSION=10.0.0
---
> SNOWOWL_VERSION=10.1.0

```

The changes are usually restricted to version numbers in the `.env` file. In such cases, it is equally acceptable to overwrite the contents of the `./snow-owl/docker` folder as is or cherry-pick the necessary modifications by hand.

Once the new version of the files is in place, it is sufficient to just issue the following commands; an explicit stop of the service is not even required (in the folder `./snow-owl/docker`):

```sh
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
Do not use `docker compose restart` because it won't pick up any .yml or .env file changes. See the explanation in the [official Docker guide](https://docs.docker.com/compose/reference/restart/).
{% endhint %}