Joomla update option within its web interface:Joomla offers an upgrade to their latest version (3.3.0 at the time of writing) in the "components" area of the Joomla interface, when there is one available. The process itself is currently described by Joomla at: http://docs.joomla.org/J3.x:Upgrading_from_an_existing_version Newer versions may have stricter prerequisites:This latest version has a higher prerequisite of version 5.3.10 or higher of PHP (Joomla 3.2.x would have worked with PHP 5.3.1 or higher, for example).  Few running systems will include the most recent versions of software:Most Linux distributions, including Centos/Debian/Ubuntu versions currently used on CWCS systems, include an earlier version of PHP (albeit one modified to stay secure) in their software repositories. Joomla does not check prerequisites before attempting upgrade:Unfortunately, it doesn't check that the required PHP version is present, or include a prominent note for the user to check, nor does it fail gracefully. It allows the user to choose to start upgrade, but that will merely copy the newer Joomla files over the old ones. The end result is that the site will cease to work once the upgrade is complete, giving an error message to the effect that the required PHP version 5.3.10 is not present. Consider carefully before upgrading your CMS:It is a very good idea to check for any changed prerequisites for a newer version of Joomla (or any other CMS) when an upgrade/update is offered. If in doubt, delay upgrade. Some CMS authors will maintain more than one software version "tree" for security, so for instance they may continue to offer newer 3.2.x versions even after 3.3.x is released. Custom PHP update option:For some dedicated or virtual servers it is possible to have a more recent version compiled and installed by CWCS from source code subject to a fee. Please contact our sales team if you would like to order this.