Firmware Update

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NComputing is constantly improving NoTouch OS and creates updated software releases frequently. The operating system is distributed in the form of firmware images (e.g. RX-HDX, RX420(HDX) or EX400 firmware image) - registered NComputing customers can find them in our Management Portal by going to www.ncomputing.com. If you want to update to a newer version this is done very easily via the system's configuration application. We strongly advise you read the Release Notes before updating and check if you need the update at all and if some of the changes described in the document could have a negative impact on your installation. We also advise you to test new version in a small subset of your endpoints first. The following guide describes how to do a firmware update.

Most people will use NoTouch Center and manage firmware updates from NoTouch Center. There is an article describing that, please see here: Firmware Update (NTC)

By "Firmware Update" we refer to updating an already-running NoTouch system with an LFI file.

How do I know what version I run?

There are plenty of places where NoTouch tells you what OS image it currently runs:

  • The "Information" section in the Configuration
    • Log in to the local Configuration, then click on "Information"
    • Access the device via browser (Configuration#Remote access)), then click on "Information"
  • Press Ctrl-Alt-S, aka Sysadmin's best friend
  • The "Firmware Update" page in the Configuration
  • In NoTouch Center, visit the "Info" tab of the device

There are other, not so obvious ways requiring have certain services switched on:

  • With enabled SSH Server, by typing lsb_release -a
  • With enabled SNMP in 1.3.6.1.4.1.53064.1.1.1.1.0

Central management update procedure (with NoTouch Center)

In a nutshell, upload your new OS image to NoTouch Center using either Resources->Images or in the VA console under "OS images". Then, select it on group or client level. NoTouch Center will then roll it out, according to other parameters that govern how the update is being rolled out. See here for more information: Firmware Update (NTC)

Local update procedure (without NoTouch Center)

We assume that the device is powered on and the NoTouch OS desktop can be seen on the monitor. Now please open the Start Menu by clicking on "START" in the taskbar and select the menu item "Configuration" or just press the Ctrl-Alt-C key combination.

NoTouchOS-en-AccessConfiguration-Step1.jpg

After that, the login screen appears:

NoTouchOS-en-AccessConfiguration-Step2.jpg

Now please log in with the administrator password of the device. If you have never set your own password, use the default password "admin" (without quotes). Older versions of NoTouch OS, or those configured with older versions of NoTouch Center might use "liscon" as default password, again without quotes. So in case "admin" does not work, use "liscon".

After successful login, please click on the menu item "Firmware Update":

NoTouchOS-en-FirmwareUpdate-Step3.jpg

There are three local methods to update the device firmware:

(1) Local device firmware update via USB medium:

Download the latest firmware update file by visiting RX-HDX Getting Started Guide or EX400 Getting Started Guide, and save the firmware update file (.lfi) on a USB memory stick. Insert the USB memory stick to the device. When you click on "Firmware Update" menu above, it will list available firmware update files (see below example). Choose the corresponding firmware update file you wish to update to and click on "Update" only once to start the process. It may take several minutes to update. The system will take some time to verify and process the update. The system will reboot automatically. Do not interrupt this procedure.

USB memory stick update.png

(2) Update device firmware by uploading it to the system via web browser

Use your web browser (on a PC or VDI desktop, "your" workstation), simply point your web browser to the IP address or host name of the thin client device (e.g. RX-HDX, EX400). Log in with the same password as you would locally (default is admin). Then navigate to settings -> Firmware update -> Under "Upload firmware update" section, click on "Choose File" to invoke your PC/laptop's file explorer. Navigate to the device firmware update file location and perform firmware update.

Upload with browser.png

(3) Update device firmware through a valid web URL:

You can also update device firmware through a valid URL. Please enter the URL of the firmware image to be written to the device. Thus, all NoTouch OS expects is, that the firmware image is accessible at a standard web server via the standard HTTP protocol. Yes, it's that easy! No special software, no proprietary protocols, just put the image file somewhere accessible via Web. In case you have no HTTP server, have a look at www.apache.org and install the Apache HTTP server; Apache is free software and can be downloaded and used at no cost.

Note: This update procedure only accepts .lfi files, no ISOs or whatever files.

NoTouchOS-en-FirmwareUpdate-Step4.jpg

Directly after clicking on "Update" the device reboots and starts a special maintenance mode to make the update happen. Please do not interrupt this process. Make sure network connectivity and power are not interrupted. After doing the update, the device reboots again and presents the usual desktop. All your configuration settings are still present.

Firmware update with remote SSH login

And even if you can't access the web interface, there's still the possibility to manually start the update using remote access over SSH. You could start the SSH session with help of the supplied applet for NTC with one click, or you just use any *nix terminal or e.g. Putty on Windows to SSH to the client (http://rx-hdx.ncomputing.com/kb/SSH_login#NoTouch_Receiver). After the login, gain superuser privileges and then simply execute the command "cupdate" followed by a http-Link to the image update file (extension *.lfi):

Stratodesk*CLIENT:~# cupdate http://my.webserver.com/my_image_file.lfi

Starting firmware update process ...

Waiting 5 seconds to reboot to settle syslog ...