# Server updates and restarts > Source: https://www.allsweb.com/sixpanel/docs/server-updates > Markdown for agents: https://www.allsweb.com/sixpanel/docs/server-updates.md > Publisher: AllsWeb (www.allsweb.com) Part of: SixPanel documentation **What this page is for:** keep the machine your project runs on patched, and restart it safely when it asks for one. There are **three** different "updates" on this server. People mix them up, and that is how the wrong thing gets updated on a busy Friday. | What you want newer | Where in the panel | Over SSH | |---|---|---| | **Your 6ammart code** | **Deploys** → update | `sudo sixpanel deploy` | | **SixPanel itself** (the panel, the CLI, the serving configuration) | **Settings** → panel updates | `sudo sixpanel server update` | | **The server itself** (Ubuntu, security fixes) | **Settings** → **Server security updates** | `sudo sixpanel server os-update` | This page is about the **third** one. For the first two, see [Deploy and update your code](https://www.allsweb.com/sixpanel/docs/deploy-update) and [Update SixPanel itself](https://www.allsweb.com/sixpanel/docs/update-sixpanel). **You need** - The panel open on the **Settings** page, or root SSH access. - The server able to reach the internet. - **A backup from the last few days.** See below — this is the important one. ## 0. Some of this already happens by itself The installer switches on Ubuntu's own **unattended security upgrades**, so security fixes for the packages on this machine are installed automatically as they are published. That is the baseline, and it is the reason a SixPanel server that nobody touches for a month is still a patched server. What it does **not** do is restart the services that are still running the old libraries, or restart the machine after a kernel update. That is what the rest of this page is for: a deliberate pass, done when it suits you. ## 1. Why a backup first An operating-system update replaces files that everything else on the machine depends on. It almost always goes fine. When it does not, there is no undo button: the only way back is a backup taken **before** it. So the safe order is always the same: ``` sudo sixpanel backup run full sudo sixpanel server os-update ``` In the panel, take the backup on the **Backups** page first, then come back to **Settings**. If there is no successful backup in the last **7 days**, the panel **refuses to start** the update. It shows a warning and a tick box. You can tick the box and go ahead anyway — but read the warning first. It is telling you the truth. Over SSH the same rule applies: unattended runs (`--yes`) refuse without a recent backup unless you add `--no-backup`. ## 2. When to update - **Every month or so** is enough for most projects, on top of the automatic security upgrades above. - **Straight away** when the check says the updates are **security** fixes and you are on a public domain. - **Not** in the middle of your busiest hours. Your site keeps working while the update runs, but a few services restart at the end. ## 3. Check first — this changes nothing In the panel: **Settings** → **Server security updates** → **Check for server updates**. You get: - how many packages can be updated, and how many are **security** fixes, - the list of package names, - how much free disk the server has, - how old your newest backup is, - whether the server already owes you a restart. Over SSH: ``` sudo sixpanel server os-update --check ``` Add `--json` if you want to read it from a script. ## 4. Install the updates In the panel, press **Install server updates** and confirm. The log appears live. It has five steps: safety check, refresh the list, install, restart the services running old code, report. Over SSH: ``` sudo sixpanel server os-update ``` What it does, and what it deliberately does **not** do: - Your **site stays open** while it runs. - Your **configuration files are kept**. The update never asks you a question and never replaces a config file you have edited. - It **refuses to start** if the system disk is nearly full. The installer unpacks new files before it removes the old ones, and a disk that fills up half way through leaves broken packages behind. - At the end it restarts the services that are still running the old libraries — the web server, PHP, the database, the cache and your project's workers — because a patched library only reaches a program that starts after the patch. - It never restarts **the panel itself** from inside its own update job. A panel update or a server restart does that. - It never restarts the system message bus, or anything else where a restart mid-session is worse than waiting for a reboot. When it skips one, it says so and tells you a restart is needed. There is one extra option, **full-upgrade** (`--full-upgrade` over SSH). It allows bigger changes: it can install and remove packages, not only update them. It is the riskier one. Leave it off unless support asked you for it. ## 5. Restart the server when it asks Some updates — the Linux kernel, core libraries — only take effect after the machine restarts. The report says so, and the panel shows it on the **Settings** page. **A restart takes your site offline for the whole time it lasts — usually 60 to 90 seconds, sometimes longer on a slow server.** Pick a quiet hour. Nothing is lost. The database is written to disk cleanly first, so every order that was already placed is safe, and everything starts again by itself after the machine comes back — every SixPanel service is enabled at boot. In the panel: **Settings** → **Restart this server**. You have to confirm. After that the page says the server is restarting and reconnects on its own in about 60 to 90 seconds. Over SSH: ``` sudo sixpanel server reboot ``` Your SSH session ends when the machine goes down. That is normal. ## 6. If the browser will not open — the SSH fallback Everything on this page works over SSH, and it works even when the panel is down. Log in as root and run: ``` sudo sixpanel server os-update --check sudo sixpanel server os-update sudo sixpanel server reboot ``` Full help for any of them: ``` sudo sixpanel help server os-update sudo sixpanel help server reboot ``` ## How to check it worked - `sudo sixpanel server os-update --check` says **0** updates available. - `sudo sixpanel doctor` is green. - Your site opens as normal and you can place a test order. ## If it went wrong - **"not enough free disk"** — the update refused and changed nothing. Free space first: `sudo sixpanel disk`, then `sudo sixpanel prune`, or delete old snapshots on the **Backups** page. Then run it again. - **"could not reach the update servers"** — the server has no internet or its update servers are down. Wait and try again. Nothing was installed. - **The update stopped half way** — run it again. Package updates are safe to repeat; it picks up where it stopped. Then run `sudo sixpanel doctor`. - **"packages held back"** — apt kept some updates because they need new dependencies. That is normal and safe. If the same ones stay held back for weeks, `--full-upgrade` is the answer, at a quiet hour and after a backup. - **The site is slow or broken after an update** — restart the services and read the log: ``` sudo sixpanel service restart app sudo sixpanel logs app -n 50 ``` - **The panel did not come back after a restart** — give it three minutes. Servers with slow disks take longer. Then check the machine is actually running in your hosting provider's dashboard, and see [Troubleshooting](https://www.allsweb.com/sixpanel/docs/troubleshooting). - **You want to go back** — there is no undo. The way back is the backup you took before it. See [Backups](https://www.allsweb.com/sixpanel/docs/backups).