Manual Update for V20 – Best Practices?

[mmichal]

I am looking for a recommended way to manually update the 3CX V20 system.

I know that the most recommended way to update the 3CX system is by enabling automatic updates, which generally work very well. Updates are then performed within a specified one-hour window. Unfortunately, we have some systems that run 24/7, and we can only afford a 15-minute maintenance window at a very specific moment. On these systems, we have been manually applying updates through the web interface.

The issue with manually updating via the web interface is that it only updates the 3cxpbx component, while the operating system packages remain outdated, often leaving the Linux OS vulnerable.

At first, it seemed that updating the OS from the Linux console using apt-get dist-upgrade would be the solution. However, today I found that this command would upgrade our 3cxpbx version 20.0.4.487 (20.0 Update 4 Build 487 Release) to 20.0.5.551, which (so far) has only been announced as a Release Candidate. I also noticed that systems with automatic updates enabled have not yet upgraded 3cxpbx from 20.0.4.487 to 20.0.5.551.

So, my question is: How can we manually update production systems in a way that ensures all the latest STABLE versions of packages for Debian Linux are installed, without unintentionally upgrading to a release candidate version of 3CX?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[SteveITS]

3CX has posted that:

• Automatic updates are recommended.
• Manual updates don't update Linux, as you noted.
• Using apt on the 3CX server may upgrade libraries/packages 3CX hasn't tested so is not recommended.
  (I didn't know about prerelease, though...good to know...I'd guess/wonder if that means alpha/beta also)
• Upgrading Linux SBC should be done via apt, for OS security updates.

We enable automatic updates when desired. Which, it sounds like, you tried.

 

[fxbastler]

...
However, today I found that this command would upgrade our 3cxpbx version 20.0.4.487 (20.0 Update 4 Build 487 Release) to 20.0.5.551, which (so far) has only been announced as a Release Candidate.

Not really. 3CX Version 20.0.5.551 is not listed in the 3CX build history yet. We've only had the problem since today. This version isn't marked as a test version either.

It looks like it's the regular 3CX v20u5: if you look with apt list -a 3cxpbx, the designation testing is missing, which always suggested an official release version. But it hasn't been officially announced till now.

Otherwise you could always use an apt upgrade manually and if you really want to, pin the desired 3CX version.

Or as @SteveITS suggested: enable automatic updates when desired.

Edit: Others were already delighted with this 551 update yesterday (04.03.25 CET).