Proposed New Update Tool and Update Method #282
Replies: 5 comments 9 replies
-
|
It doesn't even make sense to me why the current update code doesn't work for some people. I just tested it a bunch and it worked :( |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
Well, I don't know how many other people have run into upgrade issues. in my case, I looked for instructions that told me how to update and found outdated info. If I had just found the "update" button in the web interface, I may never have looked further, avoiding trouble completely. (Or maybe I still would have had a problem if it is a bad card that took down my installation.) I don't know that the upgrade mechanism can be blamed. My problem can be avoided in the future with a change to the documentation (which I believe already happened). And on that note ... I can't be very helpful on the development side of things. I haven't coded anything in years. But maybe I can assist on documentation if that's needed. I don't know what is needed. My random difficulty aside, the system just kinda works. I don't know how much documentation anyone wants. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
My 2cents 🪙 Git method (current)In order to continue the Some problems I've noticed are that things are configurable, but only directly in the git-tracked scripts - Like mentioned in this comment #268 (comment) Everything configurable needs to be pulled into their own ENV vars, and sourced properly - Once that is done, then you can remove the This should remove a lot of the merge-conflicts encountered in this method. Any merge-conflicts that do arise, can be chalked up to "You shouldn't modify those files locally. please use birdnet.conf variables" Packaged + Versioned releasesWe'll need to figure out a way to package the application up in a way that is repeatable and install'able on desired OS's. This will also require a lot of the "configuration refactor" from the Git Method above... With this you can add automations around the package building and versioned releasing. With versioned releases you'll also gain a sort of "contract" with users where small changes can be updated easily and not require any major changes to their systems, but larger/Major changes are your way of saying "This is a major overhaul of the application or its dependencies and these steps are needed to be taken prior/after upgrading" |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
I agree and have been lazy. I'll do my best to see to this~ the "Advanced Settings" page is about to be a big one! |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
Being a new "BirdNET'er" - first of all: thank you for what seems to be an enormous effort! Secondly, i surely can be of assistance in reporting and debugging any kind of issues when updating - should any arise... Is there already any kind of documentation re: updating an installation? IMHO - no offense meant - standard procedures like installing / updating / backups should be documented (if even roughly, someone else can fill in prose as seen fit) but also all configuration options should be there. I'd gladly help filling the docs - as i said, even if it's just a few rough skeletons / "red links" in the Wiki... |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
Thanks for your kind words and offerings.
👍
Only the small excerpt on the ReadMe
Please feel free to start creating some documentation for the project as you get familiar with how it functions! I know of many articles I wish were available to users which I have neglected to write while things have been in development -- (there has been a LOT of documentation come and go, even an entire other now-redirected domain, https://birdnetwiki.pmcgui.xyz when the system was BirdNET-system, named after |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I've thought a bit about this, and had this idea (could be half-baked, could be usable, hard to say at this point): If there were two Update options, the user could decide whether they want to keep local changes ( The options could be along the lines of "Update (Keep local changes)" "Upgrade (discard local changes and get up to date with Ok, half-baked is my verdict after reading it over, but worth posting since it could spark another idea elsewhere. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
What sorts of local changes are people making outside of configuration changes? I think it's only fair that if someone wants a smooth update, they stick with a supported package? If a change you made is so awesome that you don't want to lose it, chances are others can use it also and it should be folded back into the distribution. If everyone keeps up to date, upgrades should be really easy (comparatively). Of course, I do realize keeping up to date isn't always as easy if you're using it out in the field and not always connected to the internet. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I actually like this solution, although maybe there'd be just one Update button, but after you click it it would check if you have local changes and if so, then prompt you with the option to clear them or keep them. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
@ehpersonal38 Thoughts on the efficacy of @airigami, as @jmherbst mentioned, #268 (comment) are among the customizations in use -- added to the list can be aesthetic and web page language changes. But you are not wrong that it is not reasonable to support customizations -- I do, however, want to allow customizations since I find user-access to the code integral to what makes BirdNET-Pi such a powerful tool, while also being able to obtain new features and security patches. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I have made translations into Swedish of the pages and some other adjustments of a couple of pages and have also added my own link page. I have written some scripts that do this and in order for the updates to work properly, I restore the original files in the directories homepage and scripts (except birds.db) before I run an Update. After the update, I run the customization scripts again. Then I get a combination of the latest updates and my own translations and customizations. So far it seems to work well. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
I think it's a great script! 😄 I can't really think of a better solution. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
Another cause of local changes is BirdNET itself:
In case of the shebangs, I believe changing just the first line of a python file in this repo, will cause a conflict when users update their BirdNET installation via the GUI. In general, it would be a good if a vanilla BirdNET could run from unmodified code. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
|
I noticed this earlier today as well. I'll try and get something up to correct this. |
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
-
Updating sucks! :)
I really want to make it better, but have found that figuring out what will work and always work has been a bit of a moving target. As soon as I think I have a method figured out, I learn that it does not work for everyone.
I wanted to ask this community from those of you with professional application development and other collaboration/version-control type stuff how I might be able to implement better, more reliable updates.
My best regards as always,
Patrick
Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback.
All reactions