Currently, there is a --verbose option for jhipster upgrade, I think it should be the default mode because it gives more information to the user about what is being done to her git repository.
Also, some operations like npm install can take long time to complete and when output is muted user has no idea whether things are running smoothly or process is hung for some reason and may never complete.
In case of failure, user may have a clue on what went wrong and maybe fix it by herself.
So, I propose:
--verbose option and maybe to add --silent or --quiet Ok for me
+1
BTW, I found that yeoman offers some logging helpers and some color conventions for different statuses: http://yeoman.io/environment/log.js.html
I like the log.ok() method with green checkmark as it clearly states a success and still is color-blind friendly.

Here is the new output with --silent option:

Most helpful comment
BTW, I found that yeoman offers some logging helpers and some color conventions for different statuses: http://yeoman.io/environment/log.js.html
I like the log.ok() method with green checkmark as it clearly states a success and still is color-blind friendly.