NeonOS Updates

You can always download the latest NeonOS image from neon.ai. In most cases though, you can perform in-place updates from your device. Updates will generally take about 30 minutes to complete and once started, you will not be able to use your device until updates finish.

Updates via Skill Intent (since Neon Core 22.10.2a15)

For images as of December 20, 2022, you may check for updates by asking your device "are there any updates?". Neon will tell you the installed Neon Core version and if there is an update available. If a newer version is available, you will be given the option to install it.

Manual Update for Installations (prior to Neon Core 22.10.2a15)

If you have an older version of Neon that does not include the update skill, you may still update your device manually without having to install a new image.

Update via SSH

If you have another computer available on the same network as your Neon device, you can connect via SSH to start the update. 1. Ask your Neon device "what is your IP address" and type it somewhere you can copy & paste from. 2. From a terminal on your other computer, enter ssh neon@<device ip address.

(Windows 10/11 has an app called 'Terminal' that you can find using the 'search' feature in your Start menu. It will open a terminal window for you.)

Your terminal address will differ, but here is an example:

image

You might see this warning:

image

That's normal. Type in 'yes' and press enter. After the change is made, you'll be returned to where you started. image

  1. Type in ssh neon@<device ip address again to start the password update process. You'll be prompted to enter the password. The default password for Neon AI OS images is 'neon'. It will not show in the terminal window when you type passwords. Type in neon, and press enter. Follow the prompts to set a new password. image

  2. One more time, type in ssh neon@<device ip address and enter your password.
    Your terminal prompt should change to show that you are accessing Neon on your Mark II device. For example: image

Now Run the one-time update script

Update via on-device terminal

If you have a USB keyboard available, you can open a terminal on your Neon device to start the update. 1. Connect a USB keyboard to your Neon device. 2. Press ctrl+shift+F1 to open a terminal. 3. Tap or click on the terminal. 4. Run the one-time update script

Run the one-time script

Run the following commands to download and run the one-time update script:

wget https://neon.ai/one-time-update bash one-time-update

Example of running wget:

(The https://neon.ai/one-time-update page is a friendly url which redirects to the longer one used in the example.)

image

Your Mark II display should change to show the Neon logo, and words showing its status. This may take a couple minutes, or longer depending on your connection speed. When you see the home screen return, you're good to go!

Update Process

The update process may vary slightly as systems mature, but a description of the components is included here.

Neon Updates Skill

The Neon Updates Skill handles user requests to check for updates. If an update is requested, the skill will emit a message to start an update which the PHAL Plugin will handle. This skill is also where settings determine if pre-release versions are included in updates.

Core Updater Plugin

Updates are managed by the Core Updater Plugin which is configured in Neon OS to run the neon-updater SystemD service. The neon-updater service is responsible for backing up the current system and installing a newer version of neon-core.

neon-updater Service

The neon-updater service comes from neon-image-recipe and is responsible for performing Python package updates. The service will stop all core processes, backup the current Python environment, and then update Python packages. After installation, the service will check that the core services load before optionally rolling back failed changes and then restarting Neon.