%META:TOPICINFO{author="ProjectContributor" date="1768584200" format="1.1" version="1"}%
---+!! %TOPIC%
<img class="foswikiRight" src="%ATTACHURL%/logo.png">
Checks Foswiki.org for updates

%TOC%

This plugin is used to keep [[%USERSWEB%.AdminGroup][administrators]] informed
of updates to their installed extensions via a pop-up message at the top of the
page.

Users can choose to either perform the update immediately using the =configure=
tool, or delay it until later.

---++ Usage

Click below button to force checking foswiki.org for extension updates. A message will be displayed
at the top of the page.  Normally it is displayed only when updates are required, but clicking this button will always display the banner.
Note: The search for updates can take a while, depending upon the responsiveness of Foswiki.org.  Please be patient.

%BUTTON{"%MAKETEXT{"Search for updates"}%" icon="fa-refresh" href="%SCRIPTURLPATH{"view"}%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%?refresh=updates"}%

The upgrade decision is stored locally, so that the plugin will only check for
updates again when this cookie expires (in 7 days).

Note that the plugin requires Javascript and Cookies to be enabled in the
browser.

---++ Notes
The plugin sends update status requests to the repository server to retrieve
the current release information for extensions. If these update status requests
are proxied via the local server (the default) then the current status of
extensions retrieved from the repository is cached in the
working/work_areas/UpdatesPlugin directory for 24 hours (default) before being
retrieved again. You can safely clear the cache at any time by deleting all
files in this directory.

%T% If you are using private extensions on your wiki server that are not available
as Open Source on foswiki.org then use the ={ExcludeExtensions}= parameter in =configure=
to prevent disclosing them to the outside world.

---++ Info

This plugin was initially developed during a collaborative design and coding session at the 2011 Foswiki Camp.

---++ Installation Instructions

You do not need to install anything in the browser to use this extension. The following instructions are for the administrator who installs the extension on the server.

Open configure, and open the "Extensions" section. "Extensions Operation and Maintenance" Tab -&gt; "Install, Update or Remove extensions" Tab.  Click the "Search for Extensions" button.  
Enter part of the extension name or description and press search.   Select the desired extension(s) and click install. If an extension is already installed, it will *not* show up in the
search results.

You can also install from the shell by running the extension installer as the web server user: (Be sure to run as the webserver user, not as root!)
<verbatim>
cd /path/to/foswiki
perl tools/extension_installer <NameOfExtension> install
</verbatim>

If you have any problems, or if the extension isn't available in =configure=, then you can still install manually from the command-line. See https://foswiki.org/Support/ManuallyInstallingExtensions for more help.


---++ Dependencies
<table border="1" class="foswikiTable"><tr><th>Name</th><th>Version</th><th>Description</th></tr><tr><td align="left">JSON</td><td align="left">&gt;=0</td><td align="left">Required. Available from the CPAN archive.</td></tr></table>

---++ Change History
%TABLE{columnwidths="7em" tablewidth="100%"}%
| 2.20 (16 Jan 2026) | Foswikitask:Item15613: some performance improvements to UpdatesPlugin |
| 2.11 (02 Jul 2025) | Foswikitask:Item15510: sort plugin list before requesting report |
| 2.10 (31 Jan 2025) | Foswikitask:Item15443: cannot parse <nop>UpdatesPluginReport |
| 2.00 (12 Nov 2019) | Foswikitask:Item14873: rewrite and simplify |
| 1.04 (22 Jan 2018) | Foswikitask:Item14448: fixed broken outdated plugins report<br/>\
                       Foswikitask:Item14529: UpdatesPlugin should not cookie realm.<br/>\
                       Foswikitask:Item14605: Fix a compile error on perl <= 5.10. | 
| 1.03 (03 May 2017) | Foswikitask:Item13907: Report list of extensions needing update. |
| 1.02 (23 Jan 2017) | Foswikitask:Item14281: Cookie related changes. Inconsistent use of the domain and secure flags. |
| 1.01 (24 Jul 2015) | Foswikitask:Item13555: Compare VERSION not RELEASE strings.<br/>\
                       Foswikitask:Item13524: Plugin reports "0 extensions need update - too noisy |

%META:FORM{name="PackageForm"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Author" title="Author" value="Foswiki:Main.MichaelDaum, Foswiki:Main.CrawfordCurrie"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Copyright" title="Copyright" value="&copy; Foswiki Contributors 2011-2026"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Description" title="Description" value="Checks Foswiki.org for updates"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Home" title="Home" value="Foswiki:Extensions/UpdatesPlugin"}%
%META:FIELD{name="License" title="License" value="[[http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html][GPL (Gnu General Public License)]]"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Release" title="Release" value="15 Mar 2026"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Repository" title="Repository" value="https://github.com/foswiki/distro"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Support" title="Support" value="Foswiki:Support/UpdatesPlugin"}%
%META:FIELD{name="Version" title="Version" value="2.20"}%
%META:FILEATTACHMENT{name="logo.png" attr="h" comment="" date="1768584200" size="53676" user="ProjectContributor" version="1"}%
