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Upgrades are performed by the appliance owner from the admin GUI. Every update is cryptographically signed by Kvelden and verified on the appliance before anything is installed — nothing runs unless the signature and version checks pass. The appliance is air-gap friendly: you upload a bundle file, no internet access is required.

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How Enclave upgrades work

Enclave ships each release as a single signed update bundle (enclave-update-<version>.tar.gz) containing the new operating-system image and the new application. You obtain the bundle from Kvelden, upload it in the admin GUI, and the appliance does the rest. Two design guarantees make this safe to run on a production system:

A/B system slots

The appliance keeps two operating-system slots (A and B). An upgrade is written to the inactive slot and the appliance reboots into it. The previous slot is kept intact, so a failed upgrade can fall back instantly.

Verified, self-healing apply

After the reboot the appliance starts the new version and runs a health gate. If the new version is healthy it is committed; if not, the appliance automatically rolls back to the previous slot — the OS and application always move together, never split.
1

Verify

The bundle’s signature, format, and version are checked on the appliance. A tampered, corrupt, or older-than-installed bundle is rejected before any change is made.
2

Snapshot

A safety database snapshot is taken automatically before the application is changed, so a rollback restores both the OS and the data.
3

Install to the inactive slot

The new OS image is written to the standby A/B slot. The running system is untouched until it reboots.
4

Reboot & activate

The appliance reboots into the new slot and applies the new application.
5

Health-gate & commit (or roll back)

The new version is health-checked. Healthy → committed. Unhealthy → automatic rollback to the previous slot with your data intact.

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Choose your path

Standalone upgrade

A single appliance. Updates in place with a brief reboot (a few minutes of downtime while the appliance restarts into the new version).

Cluster in-place upgrade

Two or more clustered appliances. Rolls one node at a time, standbys first and the primary last — with zero user-visible downtime.

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Before you upgrade (both paths)

Software updates are owner-only and require an additional password confirmation (step-up) at the moment you apply. Sign in with the owner account before you begin.
Download the release bundle (enclave-update-<version>.tar.gz) provided by your Kvelden account team. Keep it on the machine you’ll use to access the admin GUI. No internet access is needed on the appliance.
An upgrade needs working room for the bundle plus the new images. The GUI runs a preflight that checks this and refuses to start if space is short, so you’ll never begin an upgrade that can’t finish. If preflight flags disk space, free some (e.g. remove older uploaded bundles under Software Update) and re-run it.
A correct clock is required for signature and TLS validation. Check System → Diagnostics; if time is off, set it under the appliance’s time settings before upgrading.

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What you don’t have to do

No console, SSH, or command line — the entire upgrade is driven from the GUI.
No manual rollback scripting — rollback is automatic if the new version is unhealthy.
No internet on the appliance — updates are offline bundle uploads.
On a cluster, no per-node file copying — the bundle is distributed to peers automatically.