Hey this is a good step by step. Also when Michael sends out his release notices he generally has some good instructions in these emails as well. Here is a sample from the latest release just this last week for 5.2.3.
I had to remove the URL's since I can not share those with non customers but this may be helpful...

CN
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Here is the next release for the
info@hand 5.x software stream -
info@hand 5.3.2.
IF YOU ARE USING
INFO@HAND 5.2.0 OR 5.2.1:
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This is a major new software release, providing Shipping and Receiving features for multiple warehouses, as well as support for incoming Bills, and the conversion of POs to Bills. A comprehensive list of the new features in 5.3/5.3.1 is provided below.
The first thing you should do is to go here (http://infoathand.com/documentation.html) and download all the new user and installation guides for any of these products that are relevant to you.
IF YOU ARE USING
INFO@HAND 5.3 or 5.3.1:
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If you are already using
info@hand 5.3 or 5.3.1, then you already have all the new features listed below, and 5.3.1 is just a patch release for you, fixing a variety of issues reported since 5.3 was released.
A FEW NOTES OF CAUTION AND ADVICE:
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1 - When upgrading an existing installation, you must first backup both the database and the installation directory, and then set broad write permissions on the installation directory, as the upgrade will need to write to it. When you are finished the upgrade, restore more secure permissions. If you have not taken backups, and experience an issue when performing an upgrade, you may cause yourself significant expense in billable services to repair your installation.
2 - Before performing an upgrade, uninstall any language packs you may have installed, After the upgrade, install the new language packs suited for the new version.
3 - To use
info@hand 5.3.x, you will require some potentially significant upgrades to your server's system software configuration comared to what was required for
info@hand 5.2.x or earlier versions. For a start,
info@hand 5.3.x requires the use of PHP version 5.1 at minimum, and supports up to 5.2.4 or 5.2.5. As well, for any
info@hand 5.3.x installation, make absolutely certain that your server has the PHP-XML module loaded (this is a new requirement for
info@hand 5.3.x, providing the DOM extension used by the PDF print feature new in 5.3.x for all List and Detail View screens.) You still need the MBStrings, LDAP and IMAP optional PHP components installed. Also check the
info@hand 5.3 Installation Guide (link below) to ensure that your server is running revisions of MySQL that are approved for use with IAH 5.3.x.
4 - Clients with customized software installations containing custom code should not install this patch.
5 - Upgrade patches may cause you to lose the placement of custom fields on screens in modules that are changed by the patch - if so - you will be warned, and you will have to re-position the fields after the patch. Note: The field definitions and data in the fields are retained, only the placement on the screens may be affected.
6 - The upgrade patch is loaded using the Upgrade Wizard in the Admin area.
7 - Make certain that upload_max_filesize and post_max_size settings in php.ini are both set for a size of at least 100 MB- otherwise the patch will not upload to your server correctly.
info@hand 5.3.2 FILES:
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The Full IAH 5.3.2 file is here: XXXXXXXXXX
The Upgrade patch for release 5.2.0 or 5.2.1 or 5.3/5.3.1 to release 5.3.2 is here: XXXXXXXXXXXX
If you are performing an upgrade, follow these steps after applying the upgrade patch:
You should immediately perform (in the Repair section of Administration) a Repair Database, and a Rebuild Relationships, then a Rebuild Javascript Languages
"Upgrade Products Stock" must be executed next, in the "Repair" section of Administration. This must be your next action after the upgrade and the rebuild/repair above, otherwise product stock figures will be invalid. The only other action allowed (and needed) before "Upgrade Products Stock" is adding new company address information to indicate the default warehouse, on the Admin - Company Information page, at the bottom.
"Upgrade Bills and Payments" must be executed next, in the "Repair" section of Administration. This repair action moves the association of Outgoing Payments from Purchase Orders to Bills. In IAH 5.2.1 and earlier, Outgoing Payments were linked to POs, but in 5.3.0 and later releases, Outgoing Payments are linked to Bills.
"Upgrade Credit Notes" must be executed next, in the "Repair" section of Administration. This repair action marks all Invoices with negative values as credit notes, using a new Credit Note checkbox field. This new checkbox may be used for filtering and reporting on credit notes, a minor new feature.
You will also need to run another Repair function - Rebuild Dashlets - which will rebuild the dashlets cache. This makes the new Forums, Calendar and Booked Hours dashlets available to users.
Note that after the upgrade, you may need to use Admin - Configure Tabs to add the new modules into the normal user interface, and then use Admin - Configure Group Tabs to add these modules from the left-hand column into their appropriate Groups.
CUSTOMER PORTAL & eStore 2.5.1 FILES:
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The Customer Portal 2.51 for use with IAH 5.3.x (full shrink-wrapped installation file) is here: XXXXXXXXXX
NOTE: This is a new version of the portal - only for use with
info@hand 5.3.x or later revisions. This Zip file includes all the files required for either a shrink-wrapped, or an advanced, installation of both the Portal and the eStore.
To upgrade an installation of an earlier version (shrink-wrapped only) of the Customer Portal to the 2.51 release, simply replace all program files in the portal installation directory with the files from the unzipped contents of the shrink-wrapped Customer Portal zip file, making sure only that you retain the old version of forum/Settings.php. If you had a customized portal installation, upgrading it and maintaining your customizations are your own responsibility.
With Customer Portal 2.51 we also support (see the Portal Installation Guide) its installation onto an existing installation of Joomla! 1.0.13.
Customer Portal 2.51 also supports the installation of our eStore 2.51, based on VirtueMart.
info@hand PBX 1.0 FILES:
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See here for the latest information and downloads for
info@hand PBX:
http://infoathand.com/iah_pbx.html
info@hand Mobile FILES:
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Please use the /mobile directory from the 5.3.2 Full download file to over-write the /mobile directory wherever you have it installed. This will add the new iPhone support.
info@hand PLUG-IN FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK FILES:
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See here for the latest information and downloads for
info@hand Plug-in for Microsoft Outlook 2003/2007:
http://infoathand.com/iah_outlook.html
Release Notes:
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5.3.x New Features:
Knowledge Base module - single-click article creation from Cases, or use conventional detail and edit views; articles may be tagged for searching; binary files and
info@hand Documents may be linked to articles; checkboxes control if articles may be seen by clients in the Customer Portal.
Forums module, with ability to subscribe to threads for notification of updates, user photos shown with each post, threads may be linked to most major items of information in the system. Forums dashlet provided as well.
Quote & Invoice enhancements - support for item group types - existing Product type, plus new Support and Services types.
New layout option for Quotes, Invoices and other financial PDFs the system can produce, supporting USA #10 window envelopes.
New Bills module and conversion of PO's to Bills.
Integration with the dimdim web meeting system.
Advanced PDF printing features for all list and detail view screens.
Mass export of Contact vCards, for Mac Address Book support.
Calendar day/week/month dashlet.
Campaign enhancements for newsletters, Web-to-Lead Form generation.
Service Case enhancements allow Service Parts to be linked to a Case, and subsequently to be automatically Invoiced.
Accounts module Mass Update panel enhancements enable an Email Template to be used to send an email with attached PDFs containing Statements and optionally all open Invoices, to multiple selected Accounts.
Shipping module, manages full or partial shipment of sales orders or invoices, links quantity shipped to each line of Invoices, generates Packing Slips, integrates with FedEx and UPS shipping and tracking systems, tracks product serial numbers, and decreases stock levels.
Receiving module, links quantity received to each line of Purchase Orders, links to Sales Order, and increases stock levels. Shipping and Receiving modules together add full inventory management to
info@hand.
Quick Campaign feature added in Mass Update panel of Contacts and Leads modules.
info@hand Mobile Enhanced iPhone support.
New dashlet for Booked Hours