Updates

The panel improves over time: every new version brings new features, improvements and fixes. The server operating system (Ubuntu, AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux) also receives updates, above all security ones. Administrators manage both from the Updates page.

Which version am I using?

The version is written at the bottom of the side menu (for example v0.7.0); on the phone you find it under More. Tapping it opens the News page.

The News page

In News you find every version, newest first, with the changes explained in plain words and a label for each change:

• New: a feature that was not there before;
• Improved: something that works better or is handier;
• Fixed: a problem solved;
• Security: one more protection.

When a version you have not seen yet arrives, a dot appears next to News. It disappears when you open the page. The news is shown in your language.

Updating the panel (administrators)

The Updates page shows the installed version, the latest available one with its news, the time of the last check and the update history.

When a newer version exists, every administrator page shows a banner at the top: “KoaPanel X.Y.Z is available”, with What's new (the versions since yours, in your language) and Update now. You can hide it with the ×: it comes back with the next version. If the versions you are missing include security or important fixes, the banner says Important update, uses the warning colors and, once hidden, comes back the next day. Administrators also receive one email per new version (and a message in the chats connected in API keys › Webhooks, if any).

Under Install updates automatically choose:

• Notify only: the panel checks every 6 hours and notifies the administrators (banner, email, chats); you install with Update now. It is the choice of panels installed before version 0.40.11, until you change it;
• Important updates only: the panel installs by itself only the versions with security or important fixes, and notifies you about the others. It is the choice of new installations;
• All stable updates: the panel installs every new stable version by itself;
• No checks: no automatic check and no notice; you can always press Check now.

With the two automatic choices you also set the time window (for example from 03:00 to 05:00, server time) and the days (every day, or for example only Saturday and Sunday; a window crossing midnight belongs to the day it starts). The automatic update is careful:

• before installing it checks the disk space and the state of the panel;
• it never starts while backups, migrations, account moves or other operations are running: it waits for a later moment of the window;
• if the new version does not start correctly, the panel goes back to the previous version by itself;
• it makes one attempt per version: if it fails it does not retry by itself, it notifies the administrators and you decide with Update now.

After every automatic update the administrators receive an email (and a message in the chats) with the version and the result, and the Activity log records it.

Updates come from the KoaPanel console stable channel (https://console.koapanel.app/updates/stable.json), already set: every version is signed and the panel checks the signature before installing it. Set another channel only if we give you one.

Before updating

When there is a new version the page shows the installed version and the new one, its news (the first four, with Show all for the others), the estimated duration, how many megabytes will be downloaded and the Update now button, which asks for a confirmation.

What happens when you press “Update now”

1. The panel downloads the new version and checks its digital signature and fingerprint: if something does not match, the update is refused and nothing changes.
2. It saves a copy of the current version and installs the new one. If operations are running (backups, migrations, antimalware scans) it waits for them to end; Update without waiting interrupts them and restarts at once.
3. It restarts in a few seconds. Sites, databases and files are not touched.
4. If the new version does not respond within a minute of the previous one stopping, the panel goes back to the previous version by itself and tells you.

The progress screen

After the confirmation a dedicated screen shows live:

• the percentage in the ring and the current step (Check, Download, Signature and integrity check, Test of the new version, Backup of the current version, Installation, Panel restart, Health check);
• what is happening right now, for example “Downloading version 0.8.1 · 4.2 of 11.8 MB · 3.1 MB/s”;
• the time remaining (“about 2 minutes”, “less than a minute”) and the elapsed time. The estimate uses the measured speed and how long the previous updates of your server took, so it gets more accurate over time;
• the list of steps, with the duration of those already completed.

During the restart the panel does not respond for a few seconds: the page shows “The panel is restarting…” with a counter, reconnects by itself as soon as the panel is back and shows you the result. No need to reload or sign in again. You can also close the page: the update goes on anyway.

At the end you see “Updated to …” with the button to see the news or, if something went wrong, an explanation in plain words: if the new version did not pass the final check, the page confirms that the previous version is running again. The Technical details box, closed at first, holds the full log to send to support.

While an update runs, a small indicator with the percentage appears in the side menu (at the top on phones): tap it to reopen the progress screen from any page.

Administrators receive an email with the result and, right after, the one with the news of the version. The panel never installs a version older than the one in use; a failed version is not retried automatically.

Server updates

In the second part of the page you see:

• how many system updates are pending and how many are security ones;
• whether a server reboot is needed (for example after a kernel update);
• when the last check was made (the panel checks by itself twice a day).

After a check, the Pending updates box sums up how many packages there are, how many are security ones, how much will be downloaded and the estimated duration; it warns when the server will probably need a reboot afterwards and which services (for example nginx, PHP-FPM, MariaDB) restart for a moment. Below is the package list with the current and the new version, with a search and a filter for the security ones.

The buttons:

• Update now: after a confirmation installs every update keeping the existing configuration files and opens the progress screen. The steps are: package list refresh, planning, download (with speed), installation and configuration, cleanup. The package list updates while it works (waiting, downloaded, installed) with the “12 of 24” count. At the end the page tells you whether a reboot is needed and offers the button to do it;
• Check now: refreshes the package list, with a small progress bar;
• Reboot server: to use when the page says “Reboot required”. For one or two minutes sites and panel are not reachable: choose a moment with few visits.

Automatic security updates

With Automatic security updates on (recommended, and on after installation) the system installs every day, by itself, only the security updates (on Ubuntu with unattended-upgrades, on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux with dnf-automatic). You can also allow the automatic reboot when needed, at the time you choose: it is usually off, because it is better to decide yourself when to reboot.

Package sources that aren't working

If a third-party source added to the server (a PPA or a vendor's repository) no longer exists, lost its signing key or doesn't respond, the check carries on with the other sources, and the Package sources that aren't working box shows its address, the file it's configured in (/etc/apt/sources.list.d/…) and the reason. If you no longer need it, click Disable this source: the line is commented out (or the deb822 source gets Enabled: no) and the file stays, so you can turn it back on. Ubuntu and panel sources can't be disabled: if they are the ones not responding, the check fails and it's best to try again later.

Update history

At the bottom of the page the Update history lists the updates of the panel and of the server, newest first, with date, duration and result. Tap a row to reopen its progress screen with steps and technical details.