Updates

What "update" means

Both C21 Live Control and C21 Live Encoder are updated by re-running their installer in update mode. The version is the customer-visible release tag (a semantic version published by Cires21).

C21 Live Control update flow

livecontrol update --check               # Dry-run — check available versions and compatibility
livecontrol update <version>             # Update to a specific version
livecontrol update <version> --no-backup # Skip the pre-update backup (not recommended)
livecontrol update <version> --force     # Skip confirmation prompts and allow reinstall of the same version

The update runs the following steps in order:

1. Pre-update backup — taken automatically unless --no-backup is passed. The backup contains the configuration and a database dump.
2. Pull — the new image set is pulled from the Cires21 registry.
3. Apply — the running containers are stopped and replaced with the new images.
4. Migrate — database migrations included in the new release are run.
5. Health check — the installer waits for the stack to become healthy.
6. Cleanup — old images are pruned.
7. Rollback (automatic) — if any step fails, the installer restores the pre-update backup and brings the previous version back up. The instance is left in the pre-update state.

To roll back manually after a successful update, restore the previous backup:

sudo livecontrol restore               # List available backups (`/var/backups/livecontrol/`)
sudo livecontrol restore <pre-update>  # Restore from the named backup

On the encoder, backups live at /var/backups/c21/system/*.tar.gz. Same pattern: sudo liveencoder restore lists, sudo liveencoder restore <file> restores.

C21 Live Encoder update flow

curl -fsSL https://get.cires21.com/liveencoder | sudo -E bash -s -- --upgrade -y

The installer pulls the new encoder image set and replaces the running containers. When the upgrade includes a driver or kernel update that requires a reboot, the installer reboots the host and resumes the update on its own after boot.

Rolling back

There are two paths to roll back the encoder:

• Via the CLI: sudo liveencoder update <previous-version>.
• From the bootstrap tarball: curl -fsSL https://get.cires21.com/liveencoder | sudo -E bash -s -- --upgrade --version <X> -y.

Coordinate the rollback with the Live Control side so the compatibility window stays valid (see below).

Compatibility

The Live Control's installed version and the Encoder's installed version are paired — each release set is tested against a compatibility window. When versions drift outside the window, Live Control surfaces the affected Devices on the Devices page with a version-mismatch indicator and the affected Live streams refuse to start until the encoder is updated to a compatible release.

When updating in production, the recommended order is:

1. Update Live Encoder first on a maintenance window (one Encoder at a time if multiple are deployed).
2. Verify the Encoder reports healthy and runs a test Live stream.
3. Update Live Control on its own maintenance window.

The reverse order is also supported when the new Live Control release advertises backward compatibility with the previous Encoder release — verify in the release notes.

Cross-links

• Install C21 Live Control
• Install C21 Live Encoder
• Licenses — verify license validity remains after a major version change.
• Devices — the surface that exposes the encoder version on each registered Device.