Upgrade Your Telerik ASP.NET Controls in 6 Easy Steps

Upgrading? Why?

You have probably asked yourself this very same question each time we ship a new version (and this happens quite often—three major releases per year and at least one service pack in between). We do this to get the latest features and fixes to you as soon as possible, so we can make your development easier.

Such short release timeframes bring another benefit - there are fewer changes from the previous version. This means that the more often you upgrade the version of your Telerik ASP.NET AJAX controls , the fewer difficulties you will have with the process in the long term.

Quick Steps for an Easy Upgrade

As promised in the title itself – here is a list of six steps that will yield a successful update:

1. Backup your project (a simple copy to another folder is usually enough)
2. Delete the old Telerik.Web.UI.* references from your project and close the project. Yes, this includes the Skins and Design assemblies, too
3. Open the Bin folder of your project in Windows Explorer and delete the old Telerik.Web.UI.* assemblies
4. Go to the new installation's Bin40 folder (for .NET 4.0; for .NET 3.5 you need Bin35 and Bin45 for .NET 4.5) and copy the new assemblies. In case you are using a hotfix use to the folder where you unzipped it
5. Paste the new assemblies in the Bin folder of your project in Windows Explorer
6. Open the project in VS and add references to the new assemblies. Make sure the versions are correct. See this blog on checking the version numbers

Now, if you are using GAC deployment, things can get a bit more complex – you need to add the Telerik.Web.UI assembly to the GAC manually and the reference in your project must reflect the proper versioning. More on this subject is coming soon, as the .NET 4.0 GAC is different (and harder to use) than the .NET 3.5 and it deserves its own post. Still, the basic steps are explained in this help article.

UPDATE: Here is the new post on the matter: Working with Assemblies in the GAC.

The above list is basically a shorter version of the Upgrading RadControls Trial to RadControls Developer license or newer version help article and is applicable for simpler cases – when you have not skipped many versions, when your project is already coming together smoothly – if you experience build errors or other issues the more complex guide will be needed.

Clearing browser and ASP caches is also a good idea regardless of the list you are following. It is not included here but it is point number 19 (without counting sub-points) in the full list. There you will also find details about issues with the Visual Studio cache, too.

Other Important Resources

You may find it useful to review the following resources:

• The Known Issues and Important Changes sticky note in the forums. It lists changes that may affect your code and known regression issues (that are usually fixed in the subsequent release). Review the information for the releases you go through so you can evaluate whether you will be affected by anything.
• UI for ASP.NET AJAX Release History—reviewing the release notes for all releases you go through will let you see what has changed, what fixes, features and controls have been implemented so you are better prepared to meet your project's challenges.

Still Having Difficulties?

Fear not—in case you have difficulties with upgrading we are always here to help. The General discussions section of the forums contains information about scenarios other people have experienced, so a search there can answer your question in no time. If you still can’t find what you are looking for—submit a ticket and we will be glad to assist you.