New major Pioreactor software release: 25.11.12
TLDR:
- All Pioreactor v1.5 require the latest software version.
- You can't update existing software - you need to rewrite your SD card (export / import options below).
- Your cluster can be on different software versions.
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With the new Pioreactor v1.5 hardware, we have a major software release to accompany it. Most software releases don't get a blog post, so why is this one special?
The team behind the Raspberry Pi maintain the core operating system we use for the Pioreactor. We take these operating systems, and add our own software on top of them, and distribute them as "images" to our users. However, every two years, Raspberry Pi releases a major operating system update (based on the Debian updates, if your curious), which is loaded with improvements. The unfortunate thing for us is that it requires a full rewrite of your SD card.
But since it's a full rewrite of your SD card, we have planned for this and are taking advantage of this opportunity:
- First, to minimize disruption, in software 25.9.18, we added a way to export system data from the Pioreactors as an archive. This archive can be used to bootstrap your new Pioreactor.
- This export / import step is also a way to back up Pioreactors safely.
- We've made significant changes to our underlying software that will simplify installations and upgrades for users.
- To support the hardware changes in Pioreactor v1.5, we've added new hardware folders to handle how hardware & models works on the Pioreactor. This is fully customizable, too.
- We've also added new features like exporting images of your charts, hiding calibration curves, and new performance improvements.
How to update to this latest version
Quick and dirty option: just reflash the cluster
- First, back up all your Pioreactors by exporting their system files.
- Visit the UI's Inventory page.
- On each worker card, click "Manage" -> "Export". Confirm that the archive was downloaded onto your computer. Note that the leader Pioreactor might take a while to export since it's downloading your database, too.
- Optional: Visit the Leader page, click "Export" under the " System file browser" card. Do this if your leader is not a worker.
- Power off the cluster, remove SD cards, and re-writing the SD cards with the latest releases you need:
Migrating existing data option
- First, back up all your Pioreactors by exporting their system files.
- Visit the UI's Inventory page.
- On each worker card, click "Manage" -> "Export". Confirm that the archive was downloaded onto your computer. Note that the leader Pioreactor might take a while to export since it's downloading your database, too.
- Optional: Visit the Leader page, click "Export" under the " System file browser" card. Do this if your leader is not a worker.
- Make note of all the Pioreactor names, including your leader. Optional: place a physical note by each Pioreactor with its name.
- Remove off the power from each Pioreactor, and remove the SD card from each Pioreactor.
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Download the latest Pioreactor releases you need:
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First, we'll start with your cluster leader:
- Write the latest leader (or leader-worker) release to an SD card. Add any local_access_point files if you need.
- Insert into the appropriate Pioreactor hardware, and power on.
- Visit the Inventory page, and select "Manage" -> "Import system files" and select the leader's zip file your downloaded earlier.
- This should reboot the Pioreactor, and populate your database, configs, etc.
- For each worker in your cluster, do the same as above with their respective zip file.
Need help? Let us know!
Feel free to email us, or visit our forums, to ask for assistance! We also have some more documentation on our doc site.