Implementing Drupal 9 Patches Locally and from URL: A Comprehensive Guide

Applying patches is a common practice in Drupal development to address issues in contributed modules or Drupal core. This guide will walk you through the steps of applying patches locally using the patch command, from a URL using the curl command, and integrating patches using Drush and Composer.

1. Applying Patches Locally using patch Command:

Steps:

1. Download the Patch:
   • Obtain the patch file (.patch) that you want to apply. For example, let's assume the patch is named example.patch.

2. Navigate to Your Drupal Project Root:

   cd /path/to/your/drupal/project

3. Apply the Patch:

   patch -p1 < example.patch

   • The -p1 flag adjusts the strip count for the leading slashes in the file paths mentioned in the patch.
4. Verify Changes:
   • Review the changes in the affected files to ensure the patch was applied successfully.

2. Applying Patches from URL using curl Command:

Steps:

1. Download the Patch:
   • If the patch is hosted online, obtain the URL.

2. Navigate to Your Drupal Project Root:

   cd /path/to/your/drupal/project

3. Use curl to Apply the Patch:

   curl -L https://example.com/path/to/example.patch | patch -p1

   • The -L flag follows redirects, and -p1 adjusts the strip count.
4. Verify Changes:
   • Review the changes to ensure the patch was applied successfully.

3. Applying Patches with Drush:

Steps:

1. Install Drush:

   • Ensure Drush is installed globally.

   composer global require drush/drush

2. Navigate to Your Drupal Project Root:

   cd /path/to/your/drupal/project

3. Apply the Patch using Drush:

   drush ev "$(curl -s https://example.com/path/to/example.patch)"

   • This command uses Drush's ev (evaluate) command to apply the patch.
4. Verify Changes:
   • Review the changes to ensure the patch was applied successfully.

4. Applying Patches with Composer:

Steps:

1. Update Your composer.json File:

   • Add the patch definition in the extra section:

     "extra": {
       "patches": {
         "vendor/package": {
           "Example patch description": "https://example.com/path/to/example.patch"
         }
       }
     }

2. Run Composer Update:

   composer update

   • Composer will now apply the specified patch during the update process.
3. Verify Changes:
   • Review the changes to ensure the patch was applied successfully.

Conclusion:

Mastering the art of applying patches in Drupal 9 is crucial for keeping your projects up-to-date and resolving issues efficiently. Whether you prefer manual patching or using tools like Drush and Composer, these methods offer flexibility and ease in managing your Drupal codebase.