Update the server

Update the server using the mechanism appropriate to its installation.

Before you start

Review running sessions and make a backup. Updating can restart the server and may refuse disruptive work unless explicitly accepted.

Update from the dashboard

Sign in as an administrator. In the server dashboard sidebar, open Server Settings → Updates. The Components table shows running and newest versions for the server, desktop apps, and enrolled nodes. Select Re-check to refresh the release information for the whole table.

Browser workflow

1. Find the Server row and compare Running with Newest.
2. Review any explanation below the row, including the binary being replaced, database-backup location, and whether the service restart will keep subshells running.
3. When an update is available and this installation supports it, select Update to followed by the offered version.
4. Review the confirmation and select its update button.
5. Wait for downloading, verification, backup, installation, and restart to finish. Confirm the reported running version when the server returns.

The update restarts the server, temporarily interrupting dashboard access. Whether local subshells keep running depends on the service definition; the page explains that before confirmation. Update anyway accepts the disruptive case. Resolve the service configuration or finish active work before choosing it.

If updating is unavailable, the row explains why. A container or unsupported installation needs its own update workflow below. If the server does not return, check subshell-server status on its host and follow Update troubleshooting.

Inside Subshell Server

In the desktop app's dashboard, the table shows Subshell Server App and Subshell Server CLI together with the bundled-version explanation. Open the update assistant, when offered, opens the desktop assistant that handles the app and its bundled server. A newer standalone server release can exist before the app bundles it; the displayed newest version does not mean the assistant can install that release independently.

A browser cannot open a desktop assistant on another machine. Desktop rows provide release information; use the desktop app's own update workflow to install its update. See subshell.sh for downloads.

For enrolled execution machines in the same table, follow Node updates.

Standalone CLI

subshell-server update --check
subshell-server update

The updater verifies signed release information, stages a database snapshot, replaces the binary, and completes the update when the new server starts.

--to <version> requires that version to match the newest server release in the configured index. It does not fetch an arbitrary historical release.

--from <file> uses a local file and requires you to verify its provenance. --no-restart leaves restart to the caller. --force can allow a downgrade or override a live-pane refusal.

Desktop app

In Subshell Server's tray menu, choose Check for Updates…, or select the available-update item when one is offered. This opens the desktop assistant's update screen for the app and bundled server. The assistant handles the app and server phases. Updating only a standalone CLI release does not change a binary bundled in an older desktop installer.

Containers

Pull the new image and recreate the container with the same persistent mounts and configuration. With Compose:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

The Proxmox server helper has its own image-update operation. Do not run a binary self-update inside the image.

Rollback

The standalone rollback command restores the previous binary and database snapshot when available:

subshell-server update --rollback

Next steps

See Backups and restoration, Version compatibility, and Update troubleshooting.