Release channels

The Nexus Telemetry Fleet collector is published on 3 release channels. A collector updates from the channel its platform records. On macOS and Windows that is stable unless NF_UPDATE_MANIFEST_URL names another. See Server updates for the fleet server.

Channels

Channel Purpose
stable Production. The default. The generated install commands name the fleet server’s own channel
beta Early access to the next release
alpha Nexus Telemetry’s own testing. Every release is published here first. The public demo runs this channel

A release is built and signed once, and moves unchanged from alpha to beta to stable.

Changing channel

Change the channel name where the platform records it, then update the collector by hand. See the platform’s page for the update command.

Platform Where the channel is recorded
Debian and Ubuntu The channel name after /apt in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nexustelemetry-fleet.list
RHEL and Fedora baseurl in /etc/yum.repos.d/nexustelemetry-fleet.repo
Docker The image tag
macOS and Windows The channel name in the NF_UPDATE_MANIFEST_URL address

Updates from the dashboard

The fleet server reads the channel manifest every 6 hours and compares it with the version each collector reports. A collector on an older version is marked behind.

To update one collector:

  1. Press Update software in the terminal’s Actions menu, or Update to <version> under Software on its Admin view.
  2. Confirm in the drawer.

To update every online collector that is behind:

  1. Open the List view.
  2. Press Update all · N behind and confirm.

Software shows the progress of the update. The collector restarts and no readings are lost. An offline collector updates when it next connects.

Platform How the update is applied
Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL and Fedora A root-owned updater installs the package with apt or dnf, which verifies the package signature
macOS and Windows The collector downloads the installer, checks its hash and runs it
Docker Never. A container cannot replace itself. See Docker for the update by hand

An update never changes a collector’s certificate. The collector reconnects to the same record. Do not enrol it again.

Disabling updates from the dashboard

Platform Setting
Windows MANAGEDUPDATES=0 on the msiexec install command. It sets NF_MANAGED_UPDATES=0 for the host, and the collector refuses every update
Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL and Fedora sudo systemctl disable --now nf-collector-updater.path. Nothing on the host applies the update
macOS NF_UPDATE_MANIFEST_URL set to an empty value. The collector refuses every update
Docker None. Docker never updates itself

See Collector configuration for every other collector setting.

Version indicators

Where What it shows
List view, Version column Each collector’s version, marked behind when older than the channel’s newest
A terminal’s page, beside Software <version> available
Admin view, Software An Update to <version> link