Upgrading GAP

If you have the most recent version of GAP, then it may happen that some packages were upgraded since the GAP release was made, because packages are released and upgraded individually and independently of the core GAP system.

There are several possibilities to get new versions of these packages.

One of them is to wait until the next GAP release will be published. Its distribution will contain all latest versions of packages redistributed with GAP, tested for the compatibility with the new release and all other redistributed with GAPGAP packages. You will have to repeat the full installation following instructions for a new installation.

If you wish only to install new versions of selected packages case by case, without changing other parts of your GAP installation, you need to retrieve individual package archives which are accessible via the package overview.

We recommend to install new versions of individual packages (and also to keep your ``private'' packages which are not redistributed with GAP) in your user specific GAP root directory. The name of this user specific directory depends on your operating system and can be found in GAPInfo.UserGapRoot (see GAP Root Directories). This way you will not keep your personal files in the main GAP root directory and will be able to upgrade GAP straightforwardly after the new release without a risk of your customisations being lost.

Finally, if you have used one of the alternative installation methods to install GAP, then you should check their update instructions to find out how to update your installation.