How to Upgrade to ION 5.0

ION 5.0

Prepare your wallet backup

As always, backup the wallet.dat file to a safe location, for example an external storage device like a portable hard drive or memory stick.

Remember, this data file contains the private keys to all of your ION coins that may be spread across hundreds of addresses. It is therefore recommended that you encrypt your wallet first, before creating a backup, using a strong password. This prevents unauthorized persons from being able to access your funds should they gain access to this file. Be sure to remember your password, and/or securely save it in a safe and protected location.

Launch ION 4.0 and from the top menu, select File > backup Wallet. Save it in the safe location you prepared.
Close/Shutdown the ION 4.0 wallet.

Prepare the wallet data directory for ION 5.0

Clear the .ioncoin directory (folder) of everything EXCEPT:
wallet.dat
ioncoin.conf

See below for the default data directory location for your OS:

Windows Default Data Directory
C:\Users\YourUserName\Appdata\Roaming\ioncoin

Linux Default Data Directory
~/.ioncoin

MacOS (OS X) Default Data Directory
~/Library/Application Support/ioncoin/

To open this hidden folder on Mac, launch Finder and from the top menu select Go->Go to Folder. Copy+paste the above location and press Go.

Download and install the ION 5.0 release from the official ION Coin Core GitHub repository.
Launch ION 5.0 to begin a full resync (this may take some time).