Patch EMQX at Runtime

If a bug fix only updates a few modules, you can use patch to upgrade emqx if you know what modules to be updated.

Note: If you can use release upgrade, then release upgrade is preferred. You should apply patches only when release upgrade is not available, and you're sure you know what you are doing.

Steps of Patching

1. Get the list of modules to be updated from emqx developers. For example:

   emqx.beam
   emqx_rule_engine.beam

2. Get the corresponding software package from emqx official website or emqx developer.

Visit open source download address or enterprise download address to download the corresponding version of the zip package.

Pay attention to selecting the correct software version number, OTP version number and operating system type, and select zip package type.

3. Unzip the downloaded zip package and find the modules to be updated:

   $ unzip -q emqx-ee-4.4.1-otp24.1.5-3-ubuntu20.04-amd64.zip

   Suppose we want to update the emqx.beam and emqx_rule_engine.beam, then find them in the extracted directory:

   $ find ./emqx -name "emqx.beam"
   ./emqx/lib/emqx-4.4.1/ebin/emqx.beam
   
   $ find ./emqx -name "emqx_rule_engine.beam"
   ./emqx/lib/emqx_rule_engine-4.4.1/ebin/emqx_rule_engine.beam

4. Ensure that emqx is started:

   $ emqx_ctl status
   Node 'emqx@127.0.0.1' 4.4.1 is started

5. Find the corresponding location of beam file, backup and replace the old beams:

   Locate the emqx installation directory:

   $ emqx root_dir
   "/usr/lib/emqx"

   Find the path of the old beam file in the lib directory under the installation directory:

   $ find /usr/lib/emqx/lib -name "emqx.beam"
   /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx-4.4.0/ebin/emqx.beam
   
   $ find /usr/lib/emqx/lib -name "emqx_rule_engine.beam"
   /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx_rule_engine-4.4.0/ebin/emqx_rule_engine.beam

   Back up the old beam file to the /tmp Directory:

   $ cp /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx-4.4.0/ebin/emqx.beam \
       /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx_rule_engine-4.4.0/ebin/emqx_rule_engine.beam /tmp

   Overwrite the corresponding files with the new beam file:

   $ cp -f ./emqx/lib/emqx-4.4.1/ebin/emqx.beam /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx-4.4.0/ebin/
   $ cp -f ./emqx/lib/emqx_rule_engine-4.4.1/ebin/emqx_rule_engine.beam /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx_rule_engine-4.4.0/ebin/

6. Load new files at runtime:

   $ emqx eval 'c:lm().'
   [{module, emqx},
    {module, emqx_rule_engine}]

Rollback the Patches

1. Copy the backup files back to the original directory:

   $ cp -f /tmp/emqx.beam /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx-4.4.0/ebin/
   $ cp -f /tmp/emqx_rule_engine.beam /usr/lib/emqx/lib/emqx_rule_engine-4.4.0/ebin/

2. reload the beam files:

   $ emqx eval 'c:lm().'
   [{module, emqx},
    {module, emqx_rule_engine}]