I have been using Duplicate for several years on a self hosted ubuntu 24 server.
Recently I am being prompted to update Duplicati with another version. However, when I peruse the manual, I don’t see any clear instructions for effecting an update.
When I search the forum, I see references to queries from 2017 & 2018 reflecting broken systems.
If I have missed the procedure in the documents I apologize. However, could someone please provide a clear method for updating Duplicati that doesn’t break the system.
If you’ve never done any update, you’re probably not even at 2.0.8.1 yet.
It’s 2025 now, and much has changed, including fewer bugs and a whole new updater scheme.
Does the style look like:
or is it just a link to the Downloads page (which IMO could use some notes or directions on it)?
You can find your current version on the About screen. What is it, and what is the prompt offer?
Do you know dpkg, apt, or similar? That’s the new plan. The old (e.g. to 2.0.8.1) was custom.
Updating Duplicati was the old way with three buttons. Installation is more suited to a 2.1 install.
Since topic title talks about “manual update”, I wonder if you’re trying to install 2.1.x.x manually?
As always, software installs are best done after stopping the software, e.g. Quit the TrayIcon and systemctl stop duplicati if you run it as a systemd service. 2.1.x.x also has a GUI password.
Having installed from Beta channel, you are being offered a newer Beta, although your offer is somewhat stale. If you dismiss it, you might get a v2.1.0.3 offer. As a 2.1 release, these install similarly to how you would install any package on your system that you download on your own.
One way using dpkg is given in the manual. Your GUI file manager can probably also install it.
There is also now a Stable release v2.1.0.4 which you could install, unless you prefer the Beta.
If you visit the download page, the Stable release is highlighted, and important information is at:
v2.1.0.4_stable_2025-01-31 release notice. One important point is it now needs GUI password.
2.0.8.1 had this as optional (and only advised for some uses), so I suspect many didn’t set one.
Duplicati Access Password discusses, and how you set it up depends on how you run Duplicati. Easiest is if you already have a password. It will be converted. Next best may be a manual start, followed by TrayIcon to open the browser. There are pictures there. Start at boot followed by the manual opening of browser for Duplicati is harder and will need typing password to access GUI.
I’m pretty sure that I have done an update once before a year or so ago. It seems that you would download the current version and then overwrite the existing version with the new one.
However, I am concerned about breaking the current system as it has performed flawlessly.
You mention getting the GUI password. To be on the safe side, where is that password stored so that I can copy it and store it for later if needed?
Yes, the previous versions featured a built-in updater that would download an update package and run from that.
Since we updated to .NET8, Duplicati no longer requires Mono and has architecture specific builds the update process was reverted to rely on the operating system package manager.
The upside of this is that your package manager now shows the correct version, and it runs better.
For the 2.1.0.4 version, it is self-contained so you can run it from an extracted zip file if you like.
However, it will upgrade your databases, so you either need to use the backups or use the roll-back instructions.
