Node-red update from 1.35 to 3.x

General
1

How to properly upgrade node-red on beaglebone blue that uses debian 10 ?

2

Using the normal installation script should work, unless you have anything weird about your system (installed as root, non-standard installation directory etc)
You might need to force it to update node.js to v18 too.

cd
bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered) --node18

Obviously take a backup of anything important first.

3

Is that right for Beaglebone? This doesn't mention using the script Running on BeagleBone Boards : Node-RED

4

Node-red flow is in /var/lib/node-red/.node-red/
Owner of a folder is node-red

Did a node.js and npm update
nvm install 18.17.1
nvm alias default 18.17.1
n=$(which node);n=${n%/bin/node}; chmod -R 755 $n/bin/*; sudo cp -r $n/{bin,lib,share} /usr/local

5

To be honest I'm not sure. Your link, which I've never previously seen, begins

If you want the latest Node-RED 1.x

So it is clearly very out of date.

It does state

Note: Do NOT use the Raspberry Pi / Debian upgrade script

while the page for the Raspberry Pi script says

This script will work on any Debian-based operating system, including Ubuntu and Diet-Pi. You may need to run sudo apt install build-essential git curl first to ensure npm is able to fetch and build any binary modules it needs to install.

I do not have a beaglebone to test and in the absense of clearer documentation I suggest @Aivaras1 is probably right to ignore my suggestion about the script (but not about the backup :grin: )

6

After you update nodejs you must go into your .node-red folder and run
npm install
to make sure that any nodes that need compiling are built against the current nodejs version.

7

The Beaglebone boards have their own set of packages... Unfortunately the bb-node-red-installer they have that is still included on their latest bullseye image still relies on the debian nodejs 12 package so Node-RED is somewhat stuck.

You should be able to move to the install script... BUT - a) backup first... :-)... b) you will need to fully remove the bb-node-red-installer package and any existing traces of nodejs and Node-RED - and then run the install script...

You will lose access to GPIO pins and such like as the BB install had nodes that were specific to them. I can't recall if they are generally available via the flows site to be pulled in or not. IE - If you need GPIO then you are likely better off not upgrading - or doing lots of homework first.

8

Okay. It's possible to update node-red while it's running on device. Like, update packages and do a restart ?

9

In theory yes, and with normal simple upgrade on a Pi for example that is no problem. With such a massive change as Dave has suggested the chances of you getting it exactly right first time is low I think. There is bound to be a good chance it will be non-functional for a time.

10

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