How often is OSMC updated?

OSMC receives a monthly update. This update brings bug fixes, stability improvements, performance improvements and new features. There are times when we need to deliver an update more urgently. In recent times we have seen some critical vulnerabilities, such as Heartbleed and Shellshock that needed addressing immediately. Kodi updates are made available as soon as they have been tested by the OSMC team to ensure that they deliver an experience to the standard you would expect from OSMC.

Why you should keep OSMC up to date

By keeping OSMC up to date, you can ensure:

  • That your device will be running with the best performance
  • That your installation of OSMC will be stable with the latest bug fixes and improvements
  • That your installation of OSMC will be running with the latest features and support for new hardware
  • That your OSMC installation is secure with the latest security patches applied

What is included in the latest update ?

Information about Updates, and details on what they contain, are posted on the OSMC Blog as each update becomes available.

Setting up an update schedule

By default, OSMC will check for updates automatically and prompt you. You can refine this via My OSMC. If you are using the default OSMC skin, then My OSMC will be accessible via your Home screen. If you are using Confluence then it will be available via the Settings sub-menu. For other skins, My OSMC can be found via the Programs section.

To change the update schedule, select Updater. You will now be able to configure OSMC’s update behaviour.

Did you know?: you can also force an update check on demand by going to My OSMC → Updater → Manual Controls → Check for updates now.

New Kodi versions

New versions of Kodi always have database changes. If you are using a shared MySQL library with several Kodi clients, then they will all need to be running the same version of Kodi. To avoid any accidental upgrades, OSMC will always inform you if a new update is delivering a new version of Kodi. This will allow you to plan ahead and ensure your other clients are upgraded as well.

Updating from the command line

OSMC uses the APT packaging system. As such, OSMC can be fully upgraded via the command line by running the following two commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Warning: Avoid running sudo apt-get upgrade as it won’t fully upgrade your system. Be sure to run the above commands instead. Running the former command can break your OSMC installation.

We recommend however that users upgrade via My OSMC. Upgrading via My OSMC will still ensure that all Debian packages are upgraded.