We would like to inform you that we will be upgrading the operating system (Debian GNU/Linux) on all our servers from the current release Buster to the new stable release Bullseye. The upgrade process has already begun and will be completed in stages over the next few weeks. Several servers have already been successfully upgraded to the new Debian version.

This upgrade will not affect most sites and software, but still, there are several important points you should have in mind and address if necessary:

• PHP and MySQL versions will not be updated with the OS upgrade, which means that popular software (such as WordPress, Drupal, OpenCart, Joomla, etc.) should not be affected.
• Python, Perl, and Ruby interpreters and their libraries will be updated to newer versions. Debian 11 Bullseye comes with Python 3.9, Perl 5.32, and Ruby 2.7. If you are running software using any of these programming languages, you should make sure it is not version-dependent and/or confirm that it is working properly after the update.
• Python 2 has been deprecated in Debian 11 Bullseye. Most of the Python 2 libraries have been removed in Bullseye, so you should definitely check whether your software is compatible with Bullseye, and make sure it works properly after the update. Also, if you are still using Python 2, you should consider migrating your software to Python 3.
• The C standard library (libc/glibc) will also be updated as part of this OS upgrade. If you have manually compiled binaries, we recommend verifying that they still function properly after the Debian upgrade. You may need to recompile any such binaries to ensure compatibility with the new OS.
• Common Linux utilities will also be updated. This includes binaries such as ImageMagick, Redis, Memcached, cURL, and many others. Generally, this should not affect your software.

The total downtime per server during the OS upgrade process should not exceed several minutes.

If you have any questions, you can contact us through our support portal or via the “24/7 Support” section in your Account Panel.