At Ikus Software, we've been using Odoo to manage our business operations for years. It's a powerful platform that has served us well—but there's always been one significant pain point: upgrading between versions.
The Migration Challenge
Anyone who has tried to upgrade an Odoo instance knows the struggle. The process is complex, time-consuming, and requires deep technical knowledge. While Odoo offers an official upgrade path, it comes with a catch: you need to pay for it. The "free" tier requires adopting their non-free (proprietary) enterprise edition, which isn't an option for many of us committed to open-source solutions.
After dealing with this frustration upgrade after upgrade, we decided enough was enough. It was time to fill this gap and make the process accessible to everyone.
Introducing OpenUpgrade Docker
We're excited to announce OpenUpgrade Docker, a new open-source project that dramatically simplifies the Odoo migration process for Docker deployments.
Built on top of the excellent OCA/OpenUpgrade project, OpenUpgrade Docker provides pre-built Docker images that include everything you need to upgrade your Odoo database. No more piecing together complex procedures or spending hours troubleshooting—just run a single command and follow the steps.
How Simple Is It?
Here's all it takes to upgrade your Odoo database to version 17:
docker run -it \ -v /path/to/odoo/data:/var/lib/odoo \ -e HOST=your-postgres-server \ ikus060/openupgrade:17 \ odoo-openupgrade --db-name mydb
That's it. The migration runs, and your database is upgraded to the target version.
An Open-Source Contribution
This project is our contribution back to the Odoo community. We know we're not alone in facing these upgrade challenges, and we believe everyone should have access to straightforward, reliable tools for maintaining their Odoo installations.
OpenUpgrade Docker is completely free and open-source, just like the OpenUpgrade project it's built upon. Whether you're running a small business or managing multiple Odoo instances, you can use these tools without licensing fees or vendor lock-in.
Getting Started
Ready to try it out? Visit the project page for complete documentation and examples:
The README includes everything you need: prerequisites, folder structure, usage examples, and troubleshooting tips. We've also opened a feature request with OCA/OpenUpgrade to improve Docker documentation across the ecosystem.
What's Next?
We're maintaining and improving OpenUpgrade Docker based on real-world usage and community feedback. If you encounter issues or have suggestions, please open an issue on the project page.
For problems specific to the migration scripts themselves, report them directly to the projet OCA/OpenUpgrade.
Have you struggled with Odoo upgrades? We'd love to hear about your experiences and whether OpenUpgrade Docker helps simplify your workflow. Feel free to reach out or contribute to the project!