Auto-Update Mechanisms¶

Skywire can keep itself up to date in three independent ways. They are not mutually exclusive layers of one system — they are three separate mechanisms shipped by three separate packages, each appropriate to a different deployment style. Pick the one that matches how you run skywire; running more than one at once is redundant and can fight over the binary.

Mechanism	Package	Unit(s)	Cadence	Updates by	Best for
1. unattended-upgrades	`skyrepo`	apt's `apt-daily-upgrade.timer`	apt periodic (≈daily)	reinstalling the `skywire-bin` `.deb` from the Skycoin apt repo	Debian/Armbian boards installed from the apt repo
2. source auto-update	`skywire-autoupdate`	`skywire-update.service` + `.timer`	daily (`+` up to 1 h jitter)	`go install github.com/skycoin/skywire@<commit>` → `/opt/skywire/bin/skywire`	nodes that build from source and track the rolling release
3. docker auto-pull	`skywire-docker-autopull`	`skywire-docker-autopull.service` + `.timer`	every 5 min	`docker pull` + `docker compose up -d --force-recreate`	container deployments

All three ultimately track the same rolling release off develop: the source updater installs the tip of develop (or a tagged release / pinned commit / prebuilt binary — see the channels below), and the docker path tracks the :test Docker tag. See Skywire Auto-Update for the update channels and how the prebuilt-binary pre-releases and the :test Docker tag are produced.

1. unattended-upgrades (Debian / apt)¶

This is the lightest-touch option: it uses stock Debian unattended-upgrades to reinstall the skywire-bin package whenever a newer .deb is published to the Skycoin apt repository. Nothing skywire-specific runs — apt does the work on its normal daily schedule.

Everything here is shipped by the skyrepo package, which registers the apt repository and drops in the opt-in configuration.

What `skyrepo` installs¶

skyrepo writes the apt source list to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skycoin.list and installs the signing key. The repository is mirrored at three hostnames (any one works):

deb http://deb.skywire.skycoin.com   sid main
deb http://deb.theskywirenetwork.net sid main
deb http://deb.skywire.dev           sid main

It also ships example opt-in files under /usr/share/doc/skyrepo/examples/ (they are not copied into /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ automatically — you opt in):

52unattended-upgrades-skycoin — extends unattended-upgrades to cover the Skycoin origin:

// Extend unattended-upgrades to cover the Skycoin apt repository.
// Merges with Allowed-Origins from /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades.
// Origin metadata (per `apt-cache policy`):
//   o=skycoin, l=skycoin, n=sid, c=main
Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern {
    "origin=skycoin,codename=sid";
};

99skycoin-periodic — turns apt's periodic timers on (needed on Armbian, whose 02-armbian-periodic disables them by default):

APT::Periodic::Enable "1";
APT::Periodic::Update-Package-Lists "1";
APT::Periodic::Unattended-Upgrade "1";
APT::Periodic::Download-Upgradeable-Packages "1";

skycoin-refresh-before-upgrade.conf — a systemd drop-in that forces an apt-get update immediately before the daily upgrade so a freshly-published .deb isn't missed:

[Service]
ExecStartPre=-/usr/bin/apt-get update

The skyrepo post-install script activates that drop-in (copying it under /etc/systemd/system/apt-daily-upgrade.service.d/ and running systemctl daemon-reload) only if you have opted in by placing 52unattended-upgrades-skycoin in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/.

Enable it¶

sudo apt install skyrepo unattended-upgrades
sudo cp /usr/share/doc/skyrepo/examples/52unattended-upgrades-skycoin /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/
sudo cp /usr/share/doc/skyrepo/examples/99skycoin-periodic          /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/
sudo systemctl restart apt-daily-upgrade.timer   # re-reads the drop-in

Verify the origin is covered:

apt-cache policy skywire-bin
sudo unattended-upgrade --dry-run --debug 2>&1 | grep -i skycoin

First-boot installer, not the updater

skyrepo also ships install-skywire.service (a one-shot that runs apt reinstall skywire-bin on first boot, then disables itself). That is a provisioning helper — it is separate from the recurring unattended-upgrades path described here.

2. Source auto-update — `skywire-autoupdate`¶

The skywire-autoupdate package (depends on skywire-bin and go) rebuilds skywire from source on a daily timer, following the rolling release. It installs /usr/bin/skywire-update plus a service and timer.

skywire-update.service:

[Unit]
Description=Skywire auto-updater
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/skywire-update

skywire-update.timer:

[Timer]
OnCalendar=daily
RandomizedDelaySec=3600
Persistent=true

What `/usr/bin/skywire-update` does¶

Sources /etc/skywire.conf for its settings (SKYENV).
Resolves the target from UPDATE_CHANNEL (default develop = the tip of the develop branch). Also accepts latest (the latest tagged release), an explicit <commit-hash>, or binary / binary-develop / binary-master (download a prebuilt linux binary from the rolling <branch>-latest GitHub pre-release, verified against SHA256SUMS, instead of building from source).
Compares that target to the running binary (skywire -b) and exits early if nothing changed.
For the source channels, builds as the unprivileged skywire-build user (home /var/lib/skywire-build) with go install github.com/skycoin/skywire@<target> (GOFLAGS=-trimpath). The build tries GOPROXY=direct first and falls back to the default module proxy if the direct git fetch fails; GOPROXY_MODE=direct|proxy forces one mode. For the binary* channels, downloads and verifies the prebuilt binary instead. Either way, installs the result to /opt/skywire/bin/skywire.
Runs skywire autoconfig, then systemctl restart skywire (plus anything in RESTART_SERVICES) if the service is active.
Prunes the Go build/module caches on exit.

Tunable knobs in /etc/skywire.conf: UPDATE_CHANNEL, GOPROXY_MODE, MODCACHE_CAP_MB, RESTART_SERVICES.

Enable it¶

The package's install hook already creates the skywire-build user (adding it to the docker group if present) and runs systemctl enable --now skywire-update.timer. To manage it:

systemctl status  skywire-update.timer     # is it scheduled?
systemctl start   skywire-update.service    # force an update now
journalctl -u     skywire-update.service -f # watch a run
systemctl disable --now skywire-update.timer # stop auto-updating

Companion docker updater in the same package

skywire-autoupdate also ships skywire-docker-update.service / .timer (every 30 min), which resolves the latest develop commit, does docker pull skycoin/skywire:<sha>, retags it :test, and recreates the compose stack. It is not enabled by default. Do not confuse it with the separately-packaged skywire-docker-autopull below — they are two different docker auto-updaters.

3. Docker auto-pull — `skywire-docker-autopull`¶

For container deployments, the skywire-docker-autopull package (its own package — depends on docker and docker-compose) watches the published image and recreates the stack when it changes. The source unit docker-autopull.service is installed renamed as skywire-docker-autopull.service:

[Unit]
Description=Skywire Docker image auto-pull
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/skywire-docker-autopull
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

skywire-docker-autopull.timer runs every five minutes:

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*:0/5
Persistent=true

What `/usr/bin/skywire-docker-autopull` does¶

IMAGE="${DOCKER_IMAGE:-skycoin/skywire:test}"; compose stack lives in DEPLOY_DIR / COMPOSE_DIR.
docker pull "$IMAGE" and compare the image ID to what is running — exit if unchanged.
Smoke-test the new image (docker run --rm "$IMAGE" --help), then docker compose up -d --force-recreate and docker image prune -f.

Enable it¶

The package's post-install runs systemctl enable --now skywire-docker-autopull.timer. To manage it:

systemctl status skywire-docker-autopull.timer
systemctl start  skywire-docker-autopull.service    # force a pull now
journalctl -u    skywire-docker-autopull.service -f
systemctl disable --now skywire-docker-autopull.timer

Which one am I running?¶

# apt-based (mechanism 1)
systemctl status apt-daily-upgrade.timer
ls /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ | grep -i skycoin

# source auto-update (mechanism 2)
systemctl status skywire-update.timer

# docker auto-pull (mechanism 3)
systemctl status skywire-docker-autopull.timer

If more than one timer is enabled and active, disable all but the one that matches your install method — otherwise an apt reinstall, a source rebuild, and a container recreate can each clobber the others' binary.

Auto-Update Mechanisms¶

1. unattended-upgrades (Debian / apt)¶

What skyrepo installs¶

Enable it¶

2. Source auto-update — skywire-autoupdate¶

What /usr/bin/skywire-update does¶

Enable it¶

3. Docker auto-pull — skywire-docker-autopull¶

What /usr/bin/skywire-docker-autopull does¶

Enable it¶

Which one am I running?¶

What `skyrepo` installs¶

2. Source auto-update — `skywire-autoupdate`¶

What `/usr/bin/skywire-update` does¶

3. Docker auto-pull — `skywire-docker-autopull`¶

What `/usr/bin/skywire-docker-autopull` does¶