meta data for this page

Updating

CoreELEC can be updated either automatic or manual from both .tar and .img.gz files, but .tar files are faster to process.

Automatic

Auto-Update is enabled by default and tracks minor revisions, eq: CoreELEC 19.2.5 will update to 19.2.6, 19.2.7, 19.3 RC1 etc.

Major revisions (eq: 19.3 to 20.0) are excluded from Auto-Update as they frequently require (3rd party) Kodi add-ons to be updated also. Broken add-ons are the main source of update issues.

With Auto-Update enabled, the latest update file will download in the background, then Kodi will prompt to reboot and start the update process.

Disable Auto-Update

To manage system updates manually, Auto-Update can be disabled in the CoreELEC Configuration Addon.

Manual

Manual updates provide greater control over the update process. CoreELEC provides several manual update methods which are listed below.

CoreELEC Configuration Addon

  • navigate to the Updates section of the CoreELEC Configuration Addon
  • select Update Channel (CoreELEC major version)
  • select Available Versions

The update .tar file will start downloading in the background. Once completed, the system will prompt to reboot and perform the update.

Kodi File Manager

Another way is by using a USB Flash Drive and the Kodi File Manager

View hidden files and folders has to be enabled in Kodi settings.

  • enable viewing hidden files and folders
  • download the CoreELEC image or update file
  • copy file to a USB drive
  • insert the USB Flash Drive
  • navigate to /storage/.update/ using the Kodi File Manager
  • copy the update file from the USB drive to /storage/.update
  • reboot

Samba Share

  • copy/paste the update file to the UPDATE folder of the CoreELEC Samba share
  • reboot upon successful completion of the file transfer

Secure Socket Shell

  • SSH into CoreELEC and navigate to the (hidden) update folder
  • cd /storage/.update
  • ensure there are no files in the folder
  • ls -la
  • download the update file
  • wget <path to update file>
  • force writing all cached data to disk
  • sync
  • reboot

Example: 

wget https://relkai.coreelec.org/CoreELEC-Amlogic-ng.arm-19.4-Matrix_nightly_20211215.tar

Download locations:

Megatools

  • SSH into CoreELEC and navigate to the (hidden) update folder
  • cd /storage/.update
  • ensure there are no files in the folder
  • ls -la
  • download the update file
  • megadl <path to update file>
  • force writing all cached data to disk
  • sync
  • reboot

Example: 

megadl https://mega.nz/file/790WxQDI#Z0OJs2d8StgFNe2mRygarP

Downgrading

Downgrading is unsupported by Team CoreELEC (and Team Kodi).
Any support requests will be ignored.

When downgrading, all kinds of issues arise in the areas of:

  • Addon compatibility
  • Hardware compatibility
  • System stability
  • System useability

These issues can be circumvented by creating a new installation on external media with the desired older version of CoreELEC.