Automatic Updates

There are at least three ways to update MailArchiva:

• Full Manual Update - Download the full MailArchiva installer and run it over your existing version.
• Quick Manual Update - Download the MailArchiva WAR file and unpack into the web apps folder.
• Automatic Update - Update MailArchiva from the Console.

This article concerns the Automatic Update method. MailArchiva's auto update engine periodically checks for new software updates. Provided that notifications are enabled in Configuration->Status, the administrator is automatically notified via email when new updates become available. To update the product, login to the Server Console, and visit Configuration->Auto Update. Click on the Update button beside the update particulars and wait for the server to complete the update process.

In most cases, the server will restart automatically. However, occasionally the server may have difficulty restarting. In this case, the MailArchiva service may need to be restarted manually. After applying an update, always check that the server is functioning normally. To verify the server is archiving properly, login to the Server Console and examine the archiving chart (accessible from Status->Charts). Furthermore, verify that the expected version is running by checking the version information in Configuration->About.

The auto update engine is capable of updating the MailArchiva application itself, however it cannot update Java, startup/shutdown scripts or the application server (i.e. Tomcat) components. Thus, from time-to-time, it is still necessary to perform a full update by downloading the complete product and running the installer over the existing version. Major version upgrades are not supported by the auto update system. If a major version upgrade (i.e. V3->V4) is required, follow the manual upgrade steps.

Due to the heavy workload of archiving software, it is recommended to always perform an attended update.

What To Do If The Update is Unsuccessful?

The auto update engine will not permit an update to proceed, if there are any unexpected modifications to the local MailArchiva install base. In such situations, the resolution is to perform a manual update. It is in fact very quick to update via the WAR file method as it simply involves unzipping a WAR into the ../webapps/ROOT folder.