About firmware updates for access control appliances

Manual firmware updates

Best Practice:

When a firmware update becomes available, you should manually install it as soon as possible.

To update firmware manually, click the appliance on the Devices page of Genetec™ Configuration web. In the Software section of the details pane, click Update now.

Automatic firmware updates

If you don’t manually update the firmware, an automatic update occurs. The update schedule varies by manufacturer.

Security Center SaaS doesn’t update the firmware on all appliances simultaneously. Instead, updates to all appliances occur within a three-hour period that depends on the location of your Security Center SaaS tenant:


Region	Automatic update period	Time zone
US and Canada	2 - 5 am	Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5)
Australia	11 pm - 2 am	Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)
Europe	10 pm - 1 am	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)

Updating the firmware of Axis Powered by Genetec appliances

For Axis Powered by Genetec appliances, an email notification is sent to Security Center SaaS administrators when new firmware is available. If you don’t manually update the firmware, an automatic update occurs on the date specified in the notification email.

Important:

The first update takes 15 - 20 minutes. Subsequent updates take 7 - 10 minutes. During this time, access readers aren’t functional and doors don’t open.

Updating the firmware of Synergis Cloud Link G2 appliances

For Synergis™ Cloud Link G2 appliances, an email notification is sent to Security Center SaaS administrators the first time a new firmware is available. Following the first update, click the device in Genetec Configuration web to verify if a firmware update is available.

If you don’t manually upgrade your appliances, an automatic update occurs two weeks after the firmware becomes available.

Firmware updates take 30 - 60 seconds. During this time, access readers and doors remain functional but are offline in Security Center SaaS. As a result, manual actions made from Genetec Configuration or Genetec™ Operation don't work, and modifications made to access control entities aren't applied until the unit is back online.

If your firmware runs a version earlier than 11.6, Security Center SaaS prompts you to update to version 11.6 before updating to the latest version.

Note:

After you update to version 11.6, it takes up to 15 minutes before you can perform a manual update to the latest version.