Olpc-update
olpc-update is a command-line program to update your system software. It only copies the differences between your current version and a new OS image, preserving your files (journal) and activities you have installed.
olpc-update can download the new version from the internet, or from a file on a USB drive.
See Updating the XO for other update scenarios.
What version do I have now?
To tell what version of the system software you have, follow How to check the OS and firmware versions.
Second year G1G1 (Nov 17 to Dec 31 2008 donations) recipients received Build 656 or Release 8.2.0 release. First year G1G1 (Nov 12 to Dec 31 2007 donations) recipients received C2 (also known as MP) hardware running Builds 650, 653 or 656. For pre-production (prior to November 2007) equipment : You must be using a B3 machine or better, and build 650 or better.
How to upgrade
See the Releases page for the releases that are available. The release notes for each recent release will explain exactly how to use olpc-update to update to that particular version. Be sure to read the release notes before starting the update.
The instructions below are generic.
Simple online update
Note: You should always back up important files; e.g., to a USB drive or to a school server before updating, just in case.
olpc-update is designed to work with even the worst internet connections, and will do no harm if it is interrupted during download. It will resume from where it left off, without having to download what it has already downloaded.
To manually upgrade your machine when a new version is released:
- Plug the XO into an electrical outlet
- Connect to the internet. If you are upgrading because you have a WPA hotspot at home, you might want to go to a Public Hotspot to connect to the internet for an online upgrade, such as a T-Mobile hotspot or a local libary.
Firewall note: olpc-upgrade requires outgoing TCP PORT:873 to be unfiltered by the hotspot's firewall. In otherwords if the laptop has functional-access to the internet but olpc-upgrade returns the message "I don't think you're connected to the internet." check the hotspot's firewall is not blocking the outgoing TCP Port 873. - Start the Terminal Activity
(or if you cannot do so, open a console) and type the following (press the Enter key after it):
sudo olpc-update build-identifier
The build-identifier is normally identified on the release notes of the release you are upgrading to. Historically, build identifiers were simple numbers (e.g. 802), for newer builds prefixes are used to separate between the different laptop models (e.g. 10.1.3_xo1.5-860).
If you get an error saying "command not found", type "su -", press enter and then "olpc-update build-identifier" and press enter. For example:
su - /usr/sbin/olpc-update 802
If olpc-update successfully connects to the update server, some messages should display
Downloading contents of build build-identifier
Updating to version hash xxxx
Making clean /versions/updates/...
Trying irsync_pristine update from rsync://updates.laptop.org/build-build-number
- Cleaning tree.
- Fetching contents.
- Performing incremental rsync.
Verifying update.
Installing update in /versions/{pristine,run}/xxxx
Where xxxx is a version-specific number.
The olpc-update program uses several methods to update. If "irsync_pristine" fails, it will try "irsync dirty update", and then try "Performing full rsync". As long as the last method completes without errors, you're fine. This process may take more than thirty minutes.
When the process is complete, you need to reboot, unless you supplied the -r option to olpc-update.
If the new build includes newer firmware, then your XO will reboot twice.
When the XO restarts the update will be complete.
After updating, you should run the Sugar activity updater from the control panel. If not, you may find that various activities are not working.
Simple offline update
Unless you are running a very old release, you can also download the new release data onto a USB disk from an internet-connected computer, and then use olpc-update on an XO to perform the update, without requiring any internet connection.
Prepare a USB drive
Your USB drive needs to be writable from the computer on which you'll download the files, and readable from a running XO (as /media/YourDriveName).
Download .usb and .toc files onto USB
Insert a USB drive into a computer connected to the Internet.
Follow one of the build links in the "latest releases" box above. You need to download two files from the build's directory to the top directory of your USB drive: osNNN.usb and osNNN.toc, where NNN is the numeric part of the build you are updating to. For example, if you are updating to build 711, the files would be named os711.usb and os711.toc; if you are updating to build joyride-1452, the files would be named os1452.usb and os1452.toc.
Right-click (Ctrl-click for Mac) on each of the two names and choose "Save Target As" ("Save Link As" for Firefox). Save both files to the USB drive. Do not open the files.
USB update
- Plug the XO into an electrical outlet
- Insert your USB drive with the .toc and .usb files on it into your XO.
- Start the Terminal activity (or if you cannot do so, open the console), and enter:
sudo /usr/sbin/olpc-update --usb
If you get "command not found" errors, enter:
su - /usr/sbin/olpc-update --usb
When olpc-update is finished, reboot to start using your new build.
Restoring a previous OS
The update mechanism preserves the build from which you ran the updater as an "alternate" image from which you can boot. This means you can restore to a previous version of your OS if, after your update, your image isn't working properly.
To swap the "primary" and "alternate" images:
- shutdown the XO
- power-on while holding down the ' O ' gamepad key.
- release the key when you're instructed to do so
- check the OS version
Purging a previous OS
The update mechanism preserves the previous build to allow booting to an alternate image, but this consumes space. Eventually you may not need the previous image. To remove it you must identify the build carefully. Here is a sample Terminal session log with annotations.
Identify what is present
List the available builds on the system.
# ls /versions/pristine/*/boot/olpc_build /versions/pristine/802/boot/olpc_build /versions/pristine/ed3fcf7128610f1f6fe07890f2315742/boot/olpc_build # cat /versions/pristine/*/boot/olpc_build 802 851
This shows there are builds 802 and 851 available on the system.
Identify what is running
# cat /boot/olpc_build 851
This shows that the build currently running is build 851. Do not purge a build if it is the one running now — things break badly.
Measure free space before purge
# df / Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/mtdblock0 1048576 708572 340004 68% /
This shows roughly 340004 KB available.
Purge the unused build
# rm -rf /versions/pristine/802 /versions/contents/802 /versions/run/802
Removes all the files of the unused build. Takes a few seconds.
Measure free space after purge
# df / Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/mtdblock0 1048576 495944 552632 48% /
This shows roughly 552632 KB is available, a significant increase.
Verify builds present
# ls /versions/pristine/*/boot/olpc_build /versions/pristine/ed3fcf7128610f1f6fe07890f2315742/boot/olpc_build # cat /versions/pristine/*/boot/olpc_build 851
This shows only the one build is now present.
There is no need to reboot or restart after purging the alternate build.
More information
The olpc-update script works by transferring only the differences between builds from a USB drive or across the internet link from an updates server. This makes updating easier, mostly quicker, and almost always with less data transfer.
As an example of the data efficiency gain,
- A full reinstallation from OS build 602 to 603 would normally take about 279Mb of download data, whereas olpc-update takes 16Mb of download data,
- A full reinstallation from OS build 603 to 608 would normally take 262Mb of download data, whereas olpc-update takes 6.5Mb of download data,
- An olpc-update from OS build 602 to 625 takes 33Mb of download data.
The time efficiency gain is less easy to characterize. It depends on the speed of the internet link, the speed of the updates server, and whether the update was able to use its server-friendly efficiency mode. An olpc-update from 602 to 603 took under 17 minutes.
The current updates server is updates.laptop.org.
Root access
To actually update your XO, you must run the olpc-update command as the root user (you can check its version and get usage help without being root).
Entering sudo olpc-update options is the preferred way to run it as the root user. However, sudo is not available in some builds, and sudo does not work in some builds which require a password until you become "root". Here are some ways to become the root user:
- In later versions of the Terminal Activity you can become "root" by pressing the "#_" icon at the top of the terminal screen.
- In builds earlier than 703 you may need to instead enter su -l.
- In the console you can login as root.
The root prompt ends with #. Then you can just enter olpc-update options.
Updating olpc-update
If you are using an old build (from before 2008), olpc-update might not be recent enough to let you update via USB, or update to a build containing a library. Here's how to upgrade olpc-update to allow you to use the processes described above.
From a root prompt on your XO:
# wget -P /tmp/X -r -np -nd http://dev.laptop.org/~cscott/olpc-update/ # rpm -Uvh --force /tmp/X/olpc*.rpm
Or, if you are working without a internet connection on the XO-1, go to http://dev.laptop.org/~cscott/olpc-update/ and download both files to your USB drive. Then with the USB drive inserted into the XO-1:
# rpm -Uvh --force /media/your_USB_Drive_Name/olpc*.rpm
Now:
# /usr/sbin/olpc-update --version
should tell you that you have version 2.7 or higher of olpc-update. Note that the minor version number should not be interpreted as a decimal fraction; for instance, 2.17 is a later version than 2.7.
Usage
In summary:
- Be connected to the internet.
- In a terminal, become root, or type sudo before "olpc-update"
- Type olpc-update NNN where NNN is the build number or name-number,
- Wait for the update to complete,
- Reboot.
Be connected
Ensure the laptop or the emulator is able to access the internet, by being connected an an access point, or via the mesh, or using an ethernet connection.
Run olpc-update
Normally you only need to run olpc-update with a build number, like this:
# olpc-update 703
or
# olpc-update joyride-1779
There are other options. For example:
# olpc-update --help
Usage:
olpc-update [options] --hints hints-file
olpc-update [options] --latest stream-name
olpc-update [options] [-rf] build-number
olpc-update [options] [-rf] --usb
olpc-update --version
olpc-update --help
For example:
olpc-update 630
olpc-update joyride-2200
olpc-update --latest joyride
For convenience, 'olpc-update joyride-latest' is treated as an alias for
'olpc-update --latest joyride'.
Options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-f, --full skip incremental update attempt.
--force force update to an unsigned build.
-r, --reboot reboot after a successful update.
-p, --poweroff poweroff after a successful update.
--hints=FILE name of json-encoded hints dictionary identifying the desired
new version.
--latest=STREAM update to the version named by the given update stream.
-u, --usb update to new build on inserted USB stick.
-v display verbose progress information; repeat for more verbose
output.
-q, --quiet don't output anything; use exit status to indicate success.
--version display version and license information.
Update targets
There are several update targets available. There is usually one for each operating system build, and there are others for test builds and for Debian. To get a partial list of the available builds, use the command:
$ rsync rsync://updates.laptop.org | sort
Note that this does not list all the builds available. Instead, this just lists the builds which have been requested recently; the server loads new builds on demand and unloads old builds.
You can use the --latest option to olpc-update with one of the build streams listed at https://activation.laptop.org/streams/ -- for example:
$ sudo olpc-update --latest unstable
(But first <trac>7676</trac> needs to be fixed.)
You will need a developer key to install any of the builds below:
- Debian: Installing Debian as an upgrade (unmaintained)
- Ubuntu/Edubuntu: (unmaintained, currently broken: <trac>7012</trac>)
Advanced usage
Update using another laptop
Q: How can I re-use the bits for multiple laptops, using a laptop?
A: Imagine that you have two laptops, one is called SOURCE and the other TARGET.
On the SOURCE laptop, add an rsyncd.conf file to /etc:
[contents]
path = /versions/contents
uid = root
gid = root
[pristine]
path = /versions/pristine
uid = root
gid = root
Then start rsync --daemon there.
On the TARGET laptop, use rsync to check access and identify the build that is available:
SOURCE=10.0.0.1
rsync rsync://${SOURCE}/contents
Where 10.0.0.1 is the IP address or domain name of the SOURCE laptop.
Take note of the build identifier. It will be a hexadecimal hash, 64 characters long.
On the TARGET laptop, create an appropriate 'hints' file:
export SOURCE=10.0.0.1
export BUILD=dd44...597f
python2.5
>>> import os, bitfrost.util.json as json
>>> hints = ('%(BUILD)s' % os.environ, 'normal', [('rsync','rsync://%(SOURCE)s/pristine/%(BUILD)s' % os.environ)])
>>> open('hints.json','w').write(json.write(hints))
>>> exit()
Now on the TARGET laptop, use olpc-update to upgrade or downgrade to that build:
sudo olpc-update --hints hints.json
Several laptops can all be updated in the same way from one source with the same 'hints.json' file.
Setting up a local updates server
Q: How can I re-use the bits for multiple laptops, using a server?
A: This feature is available for testing but is not yet released.
The source code for the updates server is available at:
Basic installation instructions can be found at Upgrade Server.
Source Repository and Specification
Q: Where are the specifications?
A: See the XO updater article.
Q: Where is the source?
A: The source repository for olpc-update is
It also uses code from the olpc-contents package: