Releases & auto-update¶
What it's for¶
Your backend is the update server for your fleet: desktop clients check it hourly and update themselves silently. Admin → Releases is where you publish versions — per operating system, each with a Stable and a Beta channel.
How to use it¶
Publish a release. Open the OS tab, choose Stable or Beta, and upload the installer file. The upload is the publish — the file is stored, its checksum computed, and every client on that OS/channel picks it up within about an hour.
Test before the fleet gets it. Upload to Beta first, put one or two test devices on the beta channel (client Details → Channel), and let them update. Once you're satisfied, click Promote beta → stable — the same file goes fleet-wide, no re-upload.
Update a specific device right now with Force update on its Details page instead of waiting for its hourly check.
Roll back by re-publishing the previous version on the same channel — clients treat it as the current release.
Hand out installers via the public downloads page,
https://<your-host>/downloads — it always serves the current stable
release per OS. For Windows rollouts, Download installer package gives
you a ZIP with the installer plus a pre-filled settings file (see
Windows client).
Android updates through Google Play — the Android tab only hosts the APK file for sideloading; publishing there doesn't push updates to phones.
Pitfalls¶
- Rollout is "within the hour," not instant. Clients poll hourly on their own schedule. Use Force update when you need a machine current immediately.
- A device on beta with no beta published simply gets stable. Beta devices never fall behind — you don't need to keep a beta published at all times.
- Devices that are offline update when they return. The version stats on the Overview show the rollout spreading; stragglers are usually just powered off.
- Don't distribute installers by copying files around. Publishing here is what makes auto-update, checksums, and the downloads page work — a hand-copied installer bypasses all of it.