Updating FluxDeploy

FluxDeploy Core checks for new releases once a day, tells you when one is available, and installs it with one click. Relays follow Core through the usual relay upgrade (Sites > Upgrade, or the relay maintenance window) - a relay never checks for releases itself.

Everything is on Settings > General > Updates (/settings/general/updates).

How FluxDeploy knows an update is genuine#

Releases are published to the public FluxDeploy downloads repository on GitHub. Downloading a file from the internet and running it on your server would be dangerous on its own, so FluxDeploy does not trust the download site. Every release carries a release manifest - the version, and the exact size and SHA-256 of every file - signed by the FluxDeploy release key. The public half of that key is built into FluxDeploy itself.

• A release whose manifest is missing, malformed, or not signed by that key is never offered. It is recorded in the audit log as UPDATE_MANIFEST_REJECTED and the reason is shown under Last check.
• When you install, FluxDeploy downloads the installer, checks its size and SHA-256 against the signed manifest, and checks the signature again immediately before running it. Any mismatch deletes the download and nothing is installed.
• A build of FluxDeploy that carries no release key says "Updates are not available for this build" and never checks or installs anything. Install new versions with the installer from the downloads page.

The Updates page#

• This Server - the version running now, when the last check ran and what it found. Check now runs a check immediately.
• Available Update - shown only for a verified release newer than this server, with its release notes. A release that cannot be installed from here (see Upgrade floor below) says why.
  • Update now downloads, verifies and installs it. FluxDeploy stops for a few minutes while the installer runs; deployments in progress are interrupted.
  • Update in maintenance window installs it in the relay maintenance window set on Settings > Relays > Registration & Upgrades. Use Cancel scheduled update to undo.
• Update Settings
  • Check for updates daily (on by default). Turn it off on a server that cannot reach the internet.
  • Install verified updates automatically in the maintenance window (off by default). Needs a maintenance window; an automatic install waits while any deployment is in progress.

The Dashboard shows one Updates line while a verified newer release is available. It disappears once that version is installed.

What happens during an install#

1. The installer is downloaded to an administrators-only staging folder under the data folder (CoreUpdateStaging), and verified against the signed manifest.
2. FluxDeploy hands it to Windows as a one-time task that runs as SYSTEM, separate from the FluxDeploy service - the installer has to stop the service to replace its files. The installer runs its normal silent upgrade, reusing every setting chosen at install time (data drive, database).
3. The service starts again on the new version and checks that it is running the version the update aimed at. The result is shown on the Updates page, written to the audit log (UPDATE_INSTALLED or UPDATE_FAILED) and sent as a notification.

If the installer fails, the previous version keeps running and the Updates page says why, with the location of the installer log (install.log in the staging folder). An installer that has not finished within two hours is reported as failed.

Who can update#

Only Admin users can check, install or schedule updates (Operators cannot open the page; Read Only users can see it but not act). The same rule applies to the API under /api/settings/updates/ (status, check, install, schedule, settings). Updating stays available even when the product is locked by an expired licence, because a new version may be exactly what the server needs.

Upgrade floor#

A release can declare the oldest version it may be installed over. A server below it is told which version to install first (from the downloads page), then to update again.

Audit and notifications#

Notification events (System category, on by default): FluxDeploy update available, FluxDeploy update installed, FluxDeploy update failed.