What is the correct method to keep a RPi running emonSD-30Oct18 up to date?
In this sense I mean the current version of EMONCMS & Linux.
Hi @whatsupskip, If it is a pure SD image on an RPi (as opposed to the EmonPi) then there will be 2 parts.
The underlying system. The EmonSD is built off a Rasbian Stretch Lite base image. The recommended way from them to update is
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
This was slightly surprising to me as I usually just use upgrade rather than dist-upgrade but it is the recommended method.
To update EmonCMS, there are 2 paths.
The simplest way is to use the update script when a new release is made. Current release is 9.9.5, but 9.9.6 is in the wings. There is a new update script coming with that, which will keep things simple (we hope). This deos not update the underlying system.
If you are a little more adventurous then there are 2 different branches of the software called master and stable. The master branch has the latest fixes etc that are rolled up into releases on stable branch. If you are interested, I can take you through that.
In all cases, it is a good idea to take a backup before doing any significant upgrades.
Yes, I had seen this mentioned else where and this is why I asked.
Thank you for clarifying this for me.
Definitely a full image back up before you use dist-upgrade.
I seem to recall I tried it on emoncms and it really screwed things up. From that point on I never used dist-upgrade.
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There could have been another cause, but my system wouldn’t work properly after using dist-upgrade.
@whatsupskip see my threads here and here. I had some issues on dist-upgrade due to some changes to service file.
Hi Brian, where can I find this update script?
This thread was primarily about updating the underlying OS but I am guessing you are asking about EmonCMS.
It depends on what Version of EmonCMS you are are running and on what hardware.
Ah, that would be…
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On a Raspbery Pi !
That I think is the old Jessie image. There have been some changes that mean there are sometime issues with doing an update. The preferred solution is to backup the data and start with a fresh SD Card (which is on the newer ‘Stretch’ Raspbian). I’d suggest a new SD card so if all else fails you can put the old one back in and you have a small gap in your data collection.
Do you have an EmonBase (the little RFM card)?
Brian, you are indeed correct, I’ve just checked and it is running Jessie, and I do use the EmonBase/RFM69Pi.
So, as you suggest I guess it’s best just to rip out & replace. Fortunately, I have a spare RPi I can set it up on & tinker with (as I have lot’s of NodeRed stuff running too) before big switcher over.
Just one last question, any idea when the next version is due out? Is it likely to be October?
Probably not. Next release will be Buster and there will not be any immediate need to move. The aim is to make the backup and restore process simpler and more robust.
Excellent! Thanks for your help, that’s me busy this weekend then! 
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