1. Overview

As a Bitcoin ATM operator, you want to maximize your fleet’s uptime, even when performing necessary upgrades and maintenance. This article will help you to adopt the best practices in the area of upgrading your server and terminal network with minimum downtime and the other risks that might be involved.

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Our product comes with major releases and minor releases. Minor releases are also called patch releases.

Major releases contain predominantly new functionality, database, architectural, and security improvements and may contain changes that introduce bugs.

Minor releases contain just bug fixes and are designed to be safe and easy for the operators to install. Patch releases are numbered in incremental order.

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It is highly recommended to always run your production server on a supported release. Risks arising from not staying on a supported version include; but are not limited to, sudden downtime due to 3rd party wallet provider API change or 0-day vulnerability discovery. GENERAL BYTES can provide a fix in such situations via a new patch, but only for currently supported releases.

4. Right time for upgrading production

Please time your upgrades to coincide with periods of maximum available GB support

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1. Test new release on testing environment

   1. Evaluate new features.

   2. Make sure essential features work.

   3. Perform test transactions on your machine.

   4. Test that your extensions are compatible with this release and are working as expected.

   5. When something seems to be broken contact GB tech support to fix the issue with patch release.

   6. When everything works go to step 2.

2. Test upgrade on your pre-production environment.

   1. Perform test transactions on your machine.

   2. Perform upgrade and take notes of the steps you had to make and values you filled in.

   3. Make sure essential features work and perform quickly - spot possible performance issues when listing terminals or identities.

   4. When something seems to be broken contact GB tech support to fix the issue with patch release.

   5. When everything works go to step 3.

3. Upgrade production environment

   1. Choose a good date for your upgrade.

      1. When your downtime will have minimum impact on your customers.

      2. Not far from your previous pre-production upgrade so you remember well what steps you took and workarounds has been taken.

   2. Use the notes from your dry-run on pre-production environment.

   3. Follow upgrade laws

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6. How new release gets manufactured

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