How can I get access to test releases of Centova Cast?
Question:
How can I get access to test releases of Centova Cast to try out new features and fixes before everyone else?
Answer:
As of July, 2016, all new Centova Cast builds are deployed to a testing channel prior to release to the general public. This allows our clients to try out new features and fixes before they officially "go live".
Test builds are typically pushed to production every Tuesday afternoon (barring the discovery of any substantial issues which might delay the release).
By default, all Centova Cast installations source updates from the "stable"
channel. To obtain access to the "testing" channel, simply edit the file
/usr/local/centovacast/etc/update.conf and locate the line that says:
UPDATECHANNEL=stable
Replace this with:
UPDATECHANNEL=testing
Finally, run /usr/local/centovacast/sbin/update to install the latest
testing build. (Note that if the updater indicates that no updates are
available, this simply means that there is currently no testing build
available.)
How are new testing builds announced?
Notification threads for both the stable and testing channels are available on our forums.
How do I receive the stable version of a test build once it's released?
Stable builds are simply testing builds that have been deemed stable enough to release -- that is, after a suitable testing period, stable builds are pulled directly from the testing channel for release to the public.
Therefore, as long as you keep up-to-date with the testing channel, you are guaranteed to always have either the latest stable build, or a newer testing build.
How unstable are "testing" builds? Are they suitable for production use?
Builds released to the "testing" channel are intended to be stable and ready for production use. They have not, however, had the benefit of extensive use by the general public, so it's possible that there may be unforeseen issues.
Experimental builds are not released to the "testing" channel; beta versions are deployed to their own separate channel used by our testers.
If I switch to the testing channel, can I later switch back to the stable channel?
Short answer: No, this is not recommended.
Long answer: Most of the time this should actually work without problems, but in testing builds where we have made substantial, non-backwards-compatible changes (such as significant database restructuring) downgrading to an earlier version will definitely damage your installation.
There is no way for you (as a client) to know which builds contain such changes, and we do not keep track of that on our end as downgrading is officially unsupported. If you insist upon doing this, we strongly recommend making a full backup of your server (including your database) before attempting to do so, and plan for potential downtime.