I have got a good installation of NC going now. It takes plenty of time and effort away from oneās general work to set this up, learn, and get it working.
But every once in a while, I am surprised to find that my server has been automatically updated to a later NC version/update without warning (seen from my end). As a result of the update, I am usually forced to break off what Iām currently doing, to immediately check through what NC functions - in my current customized setup - that no longer works as before, what graphic layout has been affected, what no longer works, and what has been added, what is necessary to set up or change etc.
Updating (changing) a live server which oneself and others are somewhat dependent of, is no small thing, very sensitive. Risky even.
I donāt mind updates. They are even necessary securitywise, and bettering from some perspectives, but I feel I need to control WHEN updates are to take place. So that I can take a little time to check through the functionality, see what has changed, see what was working before that doesnāt work the same any more etc. As it is right now, updates just āhappenā, out of the blue, and Iām always very nervous about automatic updates taking place during a time which we use the server intensely. .
I got my config.sys set to āupdater.release.channelā - āstableā. There are other update options than Stable, but there seems to be no option to ādisableā automatic updating, meaning I can choose when to perform an existing update.
Do I understand this correctly? And if so, are there any workarounds to achieve manual updating at will?
There is usually no automatic update procedure. Every update must be initiated manually and cannot be done without the intervention of an administrator, so what you describe is a mystery, at least to me.
But since you didnāt provide any exact information and completely left out the support template, I canāt be of any help.
So if you really expect help, then you have to explain in detail how the server was installed, which operating system is used? Was it installed via the distributionās package manager? Is it a snap, doker or AIO appliance or is it even a hosted service from a provider? What updates did you observe? From, to what version?
Questions upon questions to be answered, without which you cannot be helped.
Usually no automatic update procedure? Iām surprised to hear that.
Iām using a Snap base NC installation on Ubuntu Server, local computer, and I have never initiated any update on my own.
What I experience, is that NC updates itself and notifies me through the Notifications app when it is done. Sometime when I try to login, via web, I am met by the service mode window instead of the usual login prompt. Usually doesnāt reside for long, and when it resides, NC is updated.
When NC updates itself, I get a notification which also includes an e-mail that informs me of that this has happened (since I am admin).
These emails looks like this for me:
When I installed NC this spring, I was on ā¦ prob v26.0.0 or 26.0.1. Iām on 27.1.1 now and I have experienced probably about 10 updates in between there. None of the updates were initiated by me. No button press, no approval, no clicking on any ācheck for updatesā, nothing. I got NC desktop client too, it updates automatically as well, although there I get asked if I want to perform the update or not.
In fact, I wouldnāt know how to initiate a NC update manually. I got no button for it nowhere in the web interface, donāt know any Ubuntu commands for it etc.
Iām feel surprised, confused to hear that there shouldnāt really be an automatic update service for NC ā¦ (?)
This is how I understand snap:
The Snap package manager, known as āsnapd,ā is responsible for keeping Snap applications up to date. Snapd regularly monitors the Snap applications running in the background and checks for available updates. When updates are found, they are downloaded and installed automatically. This typically occurs in the background, without requiring user intervention. This mechanism ensures that Snap applications are always kept up to date.
I donāt use snap or docker, only vanilla server on barre metal and you did not post this in the right section (I fixed that) so maybe somebody else with snap experience can help you.
Personal experience, unlike other deployment, snap is very tightly integrated and very well tested when it comes to update roll out. I have been using Snap based deployment since last couple of years, and auto update till date is really effective, stable and flawless.
Snap not just updates NextCloud but it also updates the related dependencies. From user and server admin point a view, snap team takes all the headache of testing all those individual stuff, leaving the admin / users free on other tasks.
One drawback, longer wait time. Stability comes only after proper testing before pushing the updates, and usually snap is the last deployment to receive the latest update, often few months after the actual update from NextCloud.
But as a long term user, I value stability and flawless, hiccup free experience so in my use case, delayed update isnāt really an issue.
@NaXal, I also installed Nextcloud via Snap years ago, and have found it to always seamlessly upgrade. In fact, after 6+ months of running Nextcloud, I decided I ought to upgrade for good practice, and was shocked to see it was already on the latest!
Anyway, you mention snap is delayed by months, and Iāve seen that online a lotā¦ but Iāve found itās always the bleeding edge. For example, I just tried out Nextcloud AIO installer, and thatās actually an older version than my 2 year old snap!
AIO bundles NC 27.1.0 currently but 27.1.2 will be released soon.
Additonally, I just wanted to point out that in AIO updates are not forced, instead you need to update via the AIO interface (in 2-3 clicks) or enable daily backups which allows to also enable automatic updates which is the better way to handle this imho.
Yes, I think AIOās opt-in upgrade approach is sensible. And no complaints from me about software releases leading/lagging, I understand it takes time to get it right.
Although the snap may sometimes lag, I think itās a common misconception that the snap always lags by 3+ months, at least thatās what I usually see online. From the issue you linked, it sounds like those delays are mainly for major upgrades, or dodging known bugs. In my opinion, thatās very different from a chronic lag, like a Linux distro might have.
