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PCs & shop network

Automatic updates at night

Let the store PC install BooksPOS updates by itself at night, at a quiet moment, or keep installing them only when you click Install.

The store PC asks BooksPOS Cloud for new versions of BooksPOS every 12 hours. An update is used only when BooksPOS's signature and the file's SHA-256 check out. You choose how it installs: only when you click Install, which is how every store starts, or automatically at night, at a moment when nobody is billing. This guide explains both, what "a quiet moment" means, and what happens if an update does not start.

Choose how updates install

  1. On the store PC, sign in as the owner or a manager and open Settings › System & updates.
  2. In How updates install, choose:
    • Automatically at night, and the window in Pakistan time (From and Until, 23:00 to 05:00 unless you change it; the window may run past midnight); or
    • Only when I click Install.
  3. Choose Save. The change is recorded in the audit log.

The BooksPOS updates card above it shows both versions, the last check, a new version's notes, and what will happen to it, for example "BooksPOS 0.9.6 installs by itself between 23:00 and 05:00…".

What "a quiet moment" means

With Automatically at night, the store PC downloads a new version by itself and checks it. It then installs it inside the window, and only when all of these are true:

  • No shift is open on any counter. Close the day's shifts as usual; an update never interrupts an open till shift.
  • No bill has changed on any till for 15 minutes. Every till tells the store PC, with each request, whether a bill is in progress; a bill being built or finished counts as a change.
  • This version did not fail before. A version that did not install is never tried again by itself; you can still choose Install now.

If one of these is not true, the card says what it waits for, for example "A shift is still open: it installs once it is closed." The store PC looks again every five minutes.

What happens during the update

  1. A backup of the shop's data is taken, and from that moment the store server refuses new work for a minute, so nothing is posted after the backup. Tills show that the store server is being updated and keep their bills.
  2. The installer replaces the program and starts the store server again. The shop's data is kept.
  3. The store server reports to BooksPOS whether the update installed.
  4. Extra tills show Update to … from the store PC and take the same version from the store PC (see Updating tills from the store PC).

If an update does not start

If the new store server does not answer, the installer puts the previous version back and starts it again. If the new version had already changed the database, the backup taken just before the update is put back; nothing could be posted after it, so nothing is lost. The database the new version changed is kept beside it for BooksPOS support.

Settings › System & updates, the dashboard and the notifications bell then say that the update was undone. BooksPOS support is told through the update report.

Required and security updates

A release can be marked required or security update. With Only when I click Install, BooksPOS still does not install it by itself: the dashboard and the bell show it, a security update in red, until an owner or manager chooses Install now.

Common questions

Is automatic installation on by default?

No. Every store starts with Only when I click Install. Updates install by themselves only after an owner or manager chooses Automatically at night.

What if my shop is open late?

Set the window to start after closing time, for example 00:30 to 06:00. Even inside the window nothing installs while a shift is open or a bill is changing.

Does the store PC have to be switched on at night?

Yes, for an automatic update. If it is off, the update waits for the next night; you can always choose Install now in the day instead.

Last updated 30 September 2026. Still stuck? Contact us.