Versions, update branches and repositories

We recommend installing the latest version of the panel that contains its most up-to-date features. However, there are situations which may require installing a specific version. This is why it is important to understand the difference between the panel versions and update branches and how they are numbered. 

Panel versions

The version consists of three numbers separated by dots:

The easies way to keep track of updates is by release version, as the releases are numbered consecutively. The list of updates that are included into a particular release is available on our website.

Update branches

There are two update branches: 

• beta — the latest release that contains new features;
• stable — the stable release that has been tested by our users; always numbered with an even number.

Beta and stable are stages that the releases go through. When a new release comes out, it has the beta status. Two weeks later, a new beta release comes out. The previous beta becomes stable (if its number is even) or is incorporated into the current beta (if its number is odd). This means there is one stable and two beta releases per month. For example:

Repositories

The update branch — beta or stable — determines which software will be available in the panel.

The branch is first selected during panel installation. The script automatically connects two repositories: ispsystem-base to install the base software from the selected branch and exosoft to install the panel framework:

Going beta → stable and vice versa

In the panel

1. Log in to the panel with an administrator level account or above.
2. Navigate to the System Settings section.
3. In the Update branch field, select the required option.

   

4. Save the changes.

In the console

1. Connect to the server with the panel via SSH.
2. Run one of the commands depending on the branch you are switching to:
   stable → beta

   echo 'beta' > /usr/local/mgr5/etc/repo.version

   beta → stable

   echo 'stable' > /usr/local/mgr5/etc/repo.version

   
   
3. Update the panel information:

   /usr/local/mgr5/sbin/licctl fetch ispmgr

Specifics of changing the update branch

• When going stable → beta, the panel packages are updated to the release version available in the beta repository.
• Going beta → stable with a downgrade of the panel release version is only possible manually using the package manager.
• When going beta → stable, the panel packages will only be updated when the release version available in the stable repository becomes higher than the installed version. As long as the installed release version is higher than the release version available in the stable repository, installation of any software will fail.
  To avoid software installation issues:

  1. Log in to the panel with an administrator level account or above.
  2. Navigate to the System Settings section.
  3. In the Update software automatically field, select do not update.
  4. Save the changes. Now the current branch repository will be written to the /usr/local/mgr5/etc/repo.version file in the format <release_version>-<repository>. For example, "6.42-beta".
  5. Change the branch using one of the methods.

  This method "locks" the panel release version and disables all updates. Installation of any software will only take place from this repository.

  To enable panel updates, select update ispmanager products in the Update software automatically field. However, if the installed release version is still higher than the available release version, the installation of any software will fail.