We are now using a new method to (semi) automatically update the system files for the web site as apposed to the previous manual method.  We are using a utility called 'drush' (DRUpal SHell) which automates the process.  Note that the drush commands have to be run from a command prompt in the drupal directory.  Some useful commands are:

drush          - displays all the options for the drush program
drush sm     - displays all the loaded modules, their state and their version
drush st      - basic status page for drush and the drupal directory
drush -s up  - simulates a system update without changing the files
drush up     - performs a system update of both core and module filesd
drush dl drush - Updates the drush package. Yes, drush can use itself to update itself ;-)

1) Logon to SalfordSAC.org.uk using a terminal emulator such as PuTTY.  For PuTTY, use the string "C:\Program Files\putty\putty.exe" salfordsac.org.uk -l ssac_admin  in a program shortcut to start the program. Use the usual admin password.

2) Type cd bk-sql-l
This will take you to the MySQL latest backups directory and list the file.  Check that it is a recent (less than one day old) backup.  These backups occur at 11:13 GMT (03:13 PDT, the time stamp you will see on the file) each day

3) Type backup-drupal
This runs the backup process for the drupal directory.  You should receive a SUCCESS message stating the backup ran and correctly copied the files. This process may take minutes.  The backup is a tar & gzip format (.tar.gz or .tgz extention); full instructions on how to restore from this format are to follow.

At the end it will take you to the drupal backups directory and list the files. Check that the drupal backup file was actually created.6

4) Type setdrush
This will take you to the drupal directory, list the files and display basic information about the drush utility

5) Type drush up
This will update all the core and module files and then run the update process.

Done.  So much easier than the manual method!