Update Ovira

Ovira updates from the panel or from the command line. The panel and each node update separately, and clients stay connected while they do. This page covers the three ways to update, what happens during an update, and how nodes follow.

Update from the panel

When a new version is out, every admin sees a banner at the top of the panel and a dot next to Updates in the menu. The owner can press Update now in the banner. Remind me with the next version hides it until the following release.

On the Updates page:

1. Press Check for updates if the page does not already show a version.
2. Read What's new.
3. Press the install button for the version, then Install to confirm.
4. Keep the page open. It shows the stages Download and verify, Install and Restart.

The panel is unreachable for a few seconds while it restarts. Every open panel page then reloads by itself and says which version it is on. OpenVPN stays up, and an inbound restarts only when the new version changes its settings.

Only the owner can install. Other admins see the page and the banner.

Update from the command line

On the panel server, as root:

ovira update            # newest stable release
ovira update --beta     # newest beta

Running the installer command again does the same: on a server that has Ovira, it opens the ovira menu, where you choose the update entry. The same commands work on a node, where they update the node program and leave the tunnels up.

Channels and automatic updates

Under Update settings on the Updates page, the owner chooses:

Setting	What it does
Channel	Stable has tested releases only. Beta gets new features first and is tested less. You can switch back to stable at any time.
Automatic updates	Off never installs. Notify me shows the banner. Install automatically installs a new release at the hour set in Install at, in the server's time zone, which the page shows.
Update nodes together with the panel	Nodes follow the panel once it has started on the new version.

Update the nodes

The Node versions list on the Updates page shows each node's version. A node that is behind has an Update to button. With Update nodes together with the panel on, nodes follow the panel by themselves. A node that is offline at that moment is checked again later, so look at each node's own result instead of assuming that every node updated.

The node program restarts without stopping its OpenVPN processes. Tunnels normally stay up, but an update that changes an inbound's configuration can restart that inbound.

What the update checks

• Every download is verified against the signed release list, and the panel refuses a file that does not match.
• The page refuses to install an older version that lacks a feature you use: WireGuard, OpenConnect, roles and reseller limits, or inbounds that are not on a node. It names the first version that supports the feature, and asks you to delete the feature's data or choose a newer version.
• If the new version does not come up, the panel shows The panel did not come back on the new version. Check the server log. Look at ovira logs.

WARNING

Take a backup before you update. It is your way back if something goes wrong.

Related pages

• Updates: the Updates page field by field.
• Back up and restore: the file to keep before an update.
• Add a node: nodes are separate installs with their own ovira command.
• Changelog: what changed in each release.