description: How to upgrade Mastodon to a newer version
menu:
docs:
parent: administration
weight: 5
---
When a new version of Mastodon comes out, it appears on the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/releases). Please mind that running unreleased code from the `master` branch, while possible, is not recommended.
Mastodon releases correspond to git tags. First, switch to the `mastodon` user:
```sh
su - mastodon
```
And navigate to the Mastodon root directory:
```sh
cd /home/mastodon/live
```
Download the releases's code, assuming that the version is called `v2.5.0`:
```sh
git fetch --tags
git checkout v2.5.0
```
The release page contains a changelog, and below it, upgrade instructions. This is where you would execute them, for example, if the release mentions that you need to re-compile assets, you would execute:
After you have executed all special release-specific instructions, the last thing remaining is restarting Mastodon. *Usually* the streaming API is not updated, and therefore does not require a restart. Restarting the streaming API can lead to an unusually high load on the server, so it is advised to avoid it if possible.