Client Auto-Update and Server Version Matching
The ILLiad Client checks for its own updates and installs them for you. In ILLiad 10, which update you're offered depends on the version your ILLiad server is ready for.
How the matching works
Every ILLiad Client build published by Atlas declares the minimum server version it requires. When the Client checks for updates, it compares that against the version your server expects and offers only a build your server can support.
If a newer Client requires a server upgrade you haven't performed yet, that build simply isn't offered. The Client keeps running normally and staff see nothing at all — no message, no prompt. Once your server is updated, the newer Client becomes available automatically at the next check.
The Client checks when it starts, and then about every 12 hours while it's running.
Before version 10, the Client took the newest build published for its version line regardless of what the server was ready for. Matching updates to the server means a Client can no longer get ahead of the server it talks to.
What staff see
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| An update is available and your server supports it | A prompt: "A new version of the ILLiad client is available. Would you like to update to version X now?" You can decline; an An update is available indicator then appears in the status bar so you can start it later. |
| An update exists but requires a newer server | Nothing. The Client runs normally. |
| Your Client is older than your server requires | The Client tells you it must be upgraded before it can be used, and closes. |
| Your Client is newer than your server supports | The Client reports a client/server version mismatch. |
When an update is running, the status bar shows Downloading update, and the Client closes itself so the installer can run.
For administrators
Nothing needs to be configured for this to work. Two settings are worth knowing about:
VersionClient— the Client version your server expects. The server updater sets this when the server is updated, and it's what update matching compares against. You don't normally edit it by hand.ClientUpdateLocation— an optional override for where the Client looks for updates. This is blank at most sites, which is correct. If you've set it, point it at a location containing the current update information; if the Client can't read what it finds there, it falls back to the standard Atlas source.
Because builds are matched to the server, Atlas can publish a Client that requires a newer server without affecting sites that haven't upgraded yet. Those sites keep the Client they have until their server is updated, at which point the newer Client is offered on its own.