How to: Update Jekyll

So, updating Jekyll is really simple, as always - which means this will be a pretty short post.

First, let’s check what you’re currently running. Since your site almost certainly has a Gemfile, use Bundler for everything:

bundle exec jekyll -v

Now update:

bundle update jekyll

That bumps Jekyll (4.4 as of writing) and its dependencies within whatever constraint your Gemfile allows, and records it all in Gemfile.lock. If your Gemfile pins an old version, loosen it first:

gem "jekyll", "~> 4.4"

Then run bundle exec jekyll serve and make sure the site still builds.

Yes, seriously, that is it.

One heads-up for anyone jumping from a much older Ruby: newer Rubies stopped bundling a few libraries Jekyll historically leaned on, so if the build complains about csv, logger or base64, just add them to your Gemfile and bundle install. Two minutes, tops.