High-Level Instructions

{update, Mod}
{update, Mod, supervisor}
{update, Mod, Change}
{update, Mod, DepMods}
{update, Mod, Change, DepMods}
{update, Mod, Change, PrePurge, PostPurge, DepMods}
{update, Mod, Timeout, Change, PrePurge, PostPurge, DepMods}
{update, Mod, ModType, Timeout, Change, PrePurge, PostPurge, DepMods}
  Mod = atom()
  ModType = static | dynamic
  Timeout = int()>0 | default | infinity
  Change = soft | {advanced,Extra}
    Extra = term()
  PrePurge = PostPurge = soft_purge | brutal_purge
  DepMods = [Mod]

Synchronized code replacement of processes using module Mod.

All those processes are suspended using sys:suspend, the new module version is loaded, and then the processes are resumed using sys:resume.

update with argument supervisor is used when changing the start specification of a supervisor.

{load_module, Mod}
{load_module, Mod, DepMods}
{load_module, Mod, PrePurge, PostPurge, DepMods}
  Mod = atom()
  PrePurge = PostPurge = soft_purge | brutal_purge
  DepMods = [Mod]

Simple code replacement of the module Mod.

For a description of PrePurge and PostPurge, see update above.

DepMods defaults to [] and defines which other modules Mod is dependent on. In the relup file, instructions for loading these modules come before the instruction for loading Mod when upgrading, and conversely when downgrading.

{add_module, Mod}
{add_module, Mod, DepMods}
  Mod = atom()
  DepMods = [Mod]

Loads a new module Mod.

DepMods defaults to [] and defines which other modules Mod is dependent on. In the relup file, instructions related to these modules come before the instruction for loading Mod when upgrading, and conversely when downgrading.

{delete_module, Mod}
{delete_module, Mod, DepMods}
  Mod = atom()

Deletes a module Mod using the low-level instructions remove and purge.

DepMods defaults to [] and defines which other modules Mod is dependent on. In the relup file, instructions related to these modules come before the instruction for removing Mod when upgrading, and conversely when downgrading.

{add_application, Application}
{add_application, Application, Type}
  Application = atom()
  Type = permanent | transient | temporary | load | none

Adding an application means that the modules defined by the modules key in the .app file are loaded using add_module.

Type defaults to permanent and specifies the start type of the application. If Type = permanent | transient | temporary, the application is loaded and started in the corresponding way, see application(3). If Type = load, the application is only loaded. If Type = none, the application is not loaded and not started, although the code for its modules is loaded.

{remove_application, Application}
  Application = atom()

Removing an application means that the application is stopped, the modules are unloaded using delete_module, and then the application specification is unloaded from the application controller.

{restart_application, Application}
  Application = atom()

Restarting an application means that the application is stopped and then started again, similar to using the instructions remove_application and add_application in sequence. Note that, even if the application has been started before the release upgrade is performed, restart_application may only load it rather than start it, depending on the application's start type: If Type = load, the application is only loaded. If Type = none, the application is not loaded and not started, although the code for its modules is loaded.

Low-Level Instructions

{load_object_code, {App, Vsn, [Mod]}}
  App = Mod = atom()
  Vsn = string()

Reads each Mod from directory App-Vsn/ebin as a binary. It does not load the modules. The instruction is to be placed first in the script to read all new code from the file to make the suspend-load-resume cycle less time-consuming.

point_of_no_return

If a crash occurs after this instruction, the system cannot recover and is restarted from the old release version. The instruction must only occur once in a script. It is to be placed after all load_object_code instructions.

{load, {Mod, PrePurge, PostPurge}}
  Mod = atom()
  PrePurge = PostPurge = soft_purge | brutal_purge

Before this instruction occurs, Mod must have been loaded using load_object_code. This instruction loads the module. PrePurge is ignored. For a description of PostPurge, see the high-level instruction update earlier.

{remove, {Mod, PrePurge, PostPurge}}
  Mod = atom()
  PrePurge = PostPurge = soft_purge | brutal_purge

Makes the current version of Mod old. PrePurge is ignored. For a description of PostPurge, see the high-level instruction update earlier.

{purge, [Mod]}
  Mod = atom()

Purges each module Mod, that is, removes the old code. Notice that any process executing purged code is killed.

{suspend, [Mod | {Mod, Timeout}]}
  Mod = atom()
  Timeout = int()>0 | default | infinity

Tries to suspend all processes using a module Mod. If a process does not respond, it is ignored. This can cause the process to die, either because it crashes when it spontaneously switches to new code, or as a result of a purge operation. If no Timeout is specified or default is specified, the default value for sys:suspend is used.

{resume, [Mod]}
  Mod = atom()

Resumes all suspended processes using a module Mod.

{code_change, [{Mod, Extra}]}
{code_change, Mode, [{Mod, Extra}]}
  Mod = atom()
  Mode = up | down
  Extra = term()

Mode defaults to up and specifies if it is an upgrade or downgrade. This instruction sends a code_change system message to all processes using a module Mod by calling function sys:change_code, passing term Extra as argument.

{stop, [Mod]}
  Mod = atom()

Stops all processes using a module Mod by calling supervisor:terminate_child/2. This instruction is useful when the simplest way to change code is to stop and restart the processes that run the code.

{start, [Mod]}
  Mod = atom()

Starts all stopped processes using a module Mod by calling supervisor:restart_child/2.

{sync_nodes, Id, [Node]}
{sync_nodes, Id, {M, F, A}}
  Id = term()
  Node = node()
  M = F = atom()
  A = [term()]

apply(M, F, A) must return a list of nodes.

This instruction synchronizes the release installation with other nodes. Each Node must evaluate this command with the same Id. The local node waits for all other nodes to evaluate the instruction before execution continues. If a node goes down, it is considered to be an unrecoverable error, and the local node is restarted from the old release. There is no time-out for this instruction, which means that it can hang forever.

{apply, {M, F, A}}
  M = F = atom()
  A = [term()]

Evaluates apply(M, F, A).

If the instruction appears before instruction point_of_no_return, a failure is caught. release_handler:install_release/1 then returns {error,{'EXIT',Reason}}, unless {error,Error} is thrown or returned. Then it returns {error,Error}.

If the instruction appears after instruction point_of_no_return and the function call fails, the system is restarted.

restart_new_emulator

This instruction is used when the application ERTS, Kernel, STDLIB, or SASL is upgraded. It shuts down the current emulator and starts a new one. All processes are terminated gracefully, and the new version of ERTS, Kernel, STDLIB, and SASL are used when the emulator restarts. Only one restart_new_emulator instruction is allowed in the relup file, and it must be placed first. systools:make_relup/3,4 ensures this when the relup file is generated. The rest of the instructions in the relup file is executed after the restart as a part of the boot script.

An info report is written when the upgrade is completed. To programmatically determine if the upgrade is complete, call release_handler:which_releases/0,1 and check if the expected release has status current.

The new release must still be made permanent after the upgrade is completed, otherwise the old emulator is started if there is an emulator restart.

restart_emulator

This instruction is similar to restart_new_emulator, except it must be placed at the end of the relup file. It is not related to an upgrade of the emulator or the core applications, but can be used by any application when a complete reboot of the system is required.

When generating the relup file, systools:make_relup/3,4 ensures that there is only one restart_emulator instruction and that it is the last instruction in the relup file.