Update Confluence Cloud apps - why manual update needed?

[Simon Sahli]

Hi Atlassian community,

I was wondering about something concerning the Atlassian marketplace apps in  Confluence Cloud (or actually for Jira Cloud too).
I thought that all Atlassian marketplace apps will be automatically be updated in Cloud, except when there is an "action required" needed by an administrator, like when the pricing changes or when something needs to be manually configured.

However, I had it now the second time that I needed to update to a new version of an app manually by clicking "Update". This time it was an Atlassian app (see printscreen), but last time it was an app of another manufacturer.

So I was wondering, when do I need to update an app manually in the Confluence Cloud (and Jira Cloud) by clicking the "update" button and when does it happen automatically?

If it needs to be done manually, like in the displayed case, would you recommend testing the new version somehow first before updating it?
Like I have a test Cloud environment, where I could update the app first and then perform some tests, so if this is best practice then I consider start doing it. However I am wondering what to actually test, I guess just doing some test to test the basic most important functionality and check if it still works as expected...

I am now watching all apps to get notified, because I didn´t even get a notification so far, so I needed to open the "manage apps" menu to even see that a new version of an app is available.

Cheers,
Simon

[Linh Pham_Ricksoft_Inc · Accepted solution]

Hi @Simon Sahli

This document explains cloud app versioning and when a manual update is required: https://developer.atlassian.com/platform/marketplace/upgrading-and-versioning-cloud-apps/#changes-that-require-manual-customer-approval 

As far as I know, I don't think there's a way to test the changes before upgrading, you can check the scope changes detailed in the release notes and contact the app vendor if necessary.

I hope this helps clarify some of your concerns! 

[Simon Sahli]

Hi @Linh Pham_Ricksoft_Inc

first, thanks for your response!
I know the page you were mentioning and the "approval" part.

However what I don´t understand is why in the example (and there was at least one other similar case) that I am showing with the printscreen, the App was not in the "Action required" menu, where apps that need "approval" should be shown, right?

I will keep an eye on this for the next weeks/ month to see if this situation repeats itself, perhaps this were just special cases and as far as I can see in many other instances the app got automated automatically.

One additional question, let´s say a new version of an app implements some bugs, is there any way in Cloud to go back to an old version or do we basically need to wait on the manufacturer to fix the bug in a new version?

Cheers,
Simon

[Linh Pham_Ricksoft_Inc]

Hi @Simon Sahli 

One additional question, let´s say a new version of an app implements some bugs, is there any way in Cloud to go back to an old version or do we basically need to wait on the manufacturer to fix the bug in a new version?

Typically, bugs in the app will get fixed by the vendor and a full roll-back might not be necessary. I found another document regarding rolling back an app update: https://confluence.atlassian.com/upm/downgrading-an-add-on-to-an-earlier-version-311918719.html 

I hope it's helpful!

Cheers,

Linh

[Simon Sahli]

One update from my side concerning my question that might be good to know for others.
In the Cloud admin section for products there is a section called "Release tracks", there one can choose between different release strategies:

Per default the "Continuous track" is choosen, which means that updates get almost instantly installed.
We might change to the "Bundled track" release track so that they get installed once a month, I think always the first Tuesday of a month (just add a calendar reminder). 
Like that I think it is more transparent when changes from the software side can occur and they can be tested before if needed.