Werk #9192: Changed operating system architecture to 64-bit
| Component | Firmware |
| Title | Changed operating system architecture to 64-bit |
| Date | Jan 7, 2016 |
| Level | Major Change |
| Class | New Feature |
| Compatibility | Incompatible - Manual interaction might be required |
| Appliance Version | 1.3.0 |
This release comes with a major change to the Check_MK Appliance Firmware. It migrates the operating system to a 64-bit architecture. This gives us benefits in memory management and ensures the platform is ready for the future.
The migration of sites from other linux systems will also be faster since no architecture migrations are needed anymore.
For standard environments the update procedure is straight forward, just like other regular firmware updates. However, there are some things you should be aware of:
- Install the Check_MK Firmware 1.2.1 or newer first! Before starting the firmware update to 1.3.0 (or newer) you need to update your appliance to firmware 1.2.1 or newer to ensure a flawless update to the 64-bit operating system. This is very important! If you try to update to 1.3.0 from a version older than 1.2.1 you may end up with a bricked device which can only be fixed by us.
- The Check_MK rail1 is not 64-bit ready If you own a Check_MK rail1, you will need to stick with the 1.2.x releases, because the hardware platform is 32-bit. All following 1.2.x releases we may release in the future will be maintenance releases for the old 32-bit platform. You will receive bug fixes and security patches with these releases. A follow-up model for the Check_MK rail1, which will have a 64-bit architecture, will be announced in the near future.
- Update of Check_MK sites If you update your monitoring sites to versions which are shipped with the firmware (currently 1.2.6p15), your sites will be fully migrated to 64-bit. When your sites use any other version, they will not start after the firmware update. To make them start again, you first need to upload matching 64-bit Check_MK versions and eventually update your sites to a 64-bit version. After completing this step, you will be able to start your site from the Site Management page. These are the first versions having 64-bit support on the appliance: stable branch: - 1.2.6-2015.12.01 - 1.2.6p15 innovation / master branch: - 2015.12.01 - 1.2.7i3p5 - 1.2.7i4 The update procedure will show you a list of your sites and their versions before the update is being started.
- Custom software If you installed custom software on your device, which is not compatible to the new 64-bit architecture, you will be warned about this before the update is started. You will have to clean this up manually before you can proceed.