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Release 16.5.0

Released: 2026-05-28

caution

This version of base is only compatible with application version 26.5 or higher and allows in-place upgrades from base version 15 or higher.

note

This is the final release of the 16.x base line.

The next base version will ship as a closed appliance with locked-down shell access.

Security​

Fwd-tui​

  • Upgrade files can now be downloaded directly from URLs.
  • Adds support to reset the Forward Enterprise admin user password.
  • NTP configuration now supports authenticated servers and multiple servers.
  • Cluster orchestrator certificates can now be renewed from the TUI, with a banner shown when certificates are about to expire.
  • Adds the ability to push images to the internal registry without upgrading the application.
  • Adds a disk validation check before application upgrade to prevent upgrade failures caused by disk issues.
  • Older upgrade files are now cleaned up automatically to reclaim disk space, retaining only the last two versions.

Bug Fixes​

  • Resolved an issue where Rich markup tags in the Remove Node alert were rendered as literal text instead of formatted output.
  • Resolved an issue where the main menu used a fixed width matching the longest label across all menus, wasting horizontal space on shorter menus.

Enhancements​

  • The in-cluster image registry now runs as a highly available, operator-managed deployment with stateful replicas, garbage collection, and integration with the latest upstream distribution release. Replicas refuse to start unless they hold the latest registry data, preventing stale images from being served after node failover.
  • Adds a containerd CRI registry drop-in so local HTTP pulls from the in-cluster registry work reliably across all nodes.

Upgrade from previous versions​

caution

It is strongly recommended that a support engineer from Forward Networks is present when doing the upgrade to avoid mistakes that can impact the deployment.

Check the base version using the below command and make sure it is at least 15.0.0. Direct upgrade from previous base versions is not supported.

BaseVersion: cat /opt/forward/updates/system/original-version

caution

This upgrade takes about 5 minutes per node. During the base upgrade, the nodes will be rebooted and the Forward application will be unavailable for some of that time.

Upgrade from base version v16.4.0​

note

If the cluster node has internet access, the upgrade package can be downloaded directly on the VM. If the VM does not have internet access, the upgrade file must be downloaded locally and then uploaded to the primary node.

  • If the VM does not have internet access, download forward-base-update-16.5.0.tar.gz locally before continuing.
  • Log in to one of the primary nodes
  • Select Cluster > Upgrade base from the TUI, then choose Upload New Package
  • Choose one of the following upload methods:
    • HTTPS (Browser) — opens a temporary upload service at https://<node-ip>:30000 where the package can be uploaded through a browser
    • SSH (SFTP) — opens a temporary SFTP service on port 30000 for transferring the package via SCP/SFTP: scp -P 30000 forward-base-update-16.5.0.tar.gz forward@<Primary_Node_IP>:~/
    • Download from URL — enter the URL to download from in the form and click Download
  • Select the upgrade file uploaded in the previous step, then select Start Upgrade to start the base upgrade
  • Confirm the upgrade when prompted to initiate the process
  • Wait for completion:
    • The upgrade reboots the node. Once the node becomes available again, SSH back into it
    • Select Cluster > Upgrade base from the TUI, then choose Resume Upgrade
    • Once the upgrade completes successfully, select Close to close the upgrade logs view
  • After the base upgrade is completed, the Forward Enterprise application images must be pushed to the in-cluster registry and update the deployment spec to use new registry. Follow the steps in Upgrade Forward Enterprise application

Upgrade from base version v16.3.0 or lower​

Upgrade base OS​

note

Ensure that TCP port 30000 is open for inbound traffic to the cluster nodes. This port is required for file upload and download operations. See the network requirements for the full list of required ports.

warning
File download links are not included in archived documentation. Please visit this page in your Forward Enterprise environment to access the required files.
  • On every node (1 node at a time)
    • Download forward-base-update-16.5.0.tar.gz and forward-base-update-16.5.0.sha256 files
    • Verify the update file integrity using the command below:
      • sha256sum --check forward-base-update-16.5.0.sha256
    • Extract contents of the update file:
      • tar -zxf forward-base-update-16.5.0.tar.gz
    • Navigate into the forward-base-update-16.5.0 folder:
      • cd forward-base-update-16.5.0
    • Start the base upgrade by executing the command below:
      • ./run_update.sh
    • Wait for completion.
      • After script has finished rebooting the node and node becomes available again, ssh to the node and run the script:
        cd forward-base-update-16.5.0
        ./run_update.sh
    • Run base_updates_utils DESCRIBEfrom the command line, and confirm that you are on base version16.5.0.
    • The forward-base-update-16.5.0.tar.gz file and the corresponding unzipped directory can be deleted at this time:
      • rm -rf forward-base-update-16.5.0*

Upgrade cluster components​

caution

This upgrade takes about 5 minutes and during this upgrade the Forward application may be unavailable for some of that time.

  • On one of the primary nodes

    • Launch the fwd-cluster utility by running the following command fwd-cluster

    • The utility will detect any pending k0s updates and prompt you to confirm the upgrade. When prompted, enter y and press Enter to proceed with the upgrade.

      K0S Update found, do you want to apply it now? [y/n]: y

    • Once the upgrade completes successfully, exit the fwd-cluster utility

  • After the base upgrade is completed, the Forward Enterprise application images must be pushed to the in-cluster registry and update the deployment spec to use new registry. Follow the steps in Upgrade Forward Enterprise application

Upgrade Forward Enterprise application​

caution

This step is required after the base upgrade has finished. The base v16.5.0 upgrade replaces the in-cluster image registry with a new highly available, operator-managed deployment, which starts empty. The Forward Enterprise application images must be pushed to the new registry and update the deployment spec before the application can start successfully.

  • Log in to one of the primary nodes where the application package is present
  • Select Forward Enterprise > Install/Upgrade from the TUI
  • Select the package file, then choose Deploy to update the spec and push Forward Enterprise application images to the new registry
  • Select Close once the task has completed