Online Update does not work

Problem

The IACBOX Online Update does not work.

Solution

First off clarify that the IACBOX does not directly report connection-related errors since this should work at any time with a valid system configuration. Further information to connection-related errors can be found in the update logs on the online update WebAdmin page.

Generally there are 3 different types of errors which can appear:

  • File transfer did not work (rsync error )
  • Certificate mismatch (general connection error)

For every update the IACBOX will create an update log which can be accessed at the bottom of the online update page. Some information may only be available in the according log file, so these should always be checked first in case the online update fails.

File transfer errors (rsync)

Rsync errors indicate that the IACBOX could not connect to the online update servers, or the datastream was interrupted at some point. This usually happens with some kinds of firewall solutions which do intercept SSL/TLS traffic. Review all firewall settings and disable features with possibly intercept SSL/TLS traffic.

General connection errors

These kinds of errors indicate general problems like:

  • No internet connection
  • The DNS servers don’t resolve correctly
  • The current system time is invalid

The first 2 points can easily be tested by navigating to the WebAdmin menu Network/Tools and by performing a Ping on to update.frozentux.org. This must always return a valid ping reply. If not, then the problem is related to either no internet connection or a faulty DNS server configuration. Also since the IACBOX uses encrypted traffic for updates, it is important that the system has a valid date and time configuration. This is required for the initial handshake for certificate-based encryption. If the system time is in the past or future, certificate checks can quickly fail and terminate the connection. As a solution, restore the default NTP server in Network/Settings to ntp.frozentux.org and restart the IACBOX before re-trying the update process.

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