How to update to 2.8

[derbarbarian]

Hey guys, 

I apologize for the stupid question in advance, but I'm not seeing any way of updating to 2.8, I don't see it in the settings or on the launcher. I talked to a couple people on FB, and they said  they updated it via the launcher, but as I mentioned I'm definitely not seeing it.. I've seen a few threads where people have talked about running commands in the command prompt, but aside from that I'm not seeing how exactly I'm supposed to update? 

[Rudel_chw]

2.8 is for now available only for open beta, perhaps you use the stable branch of DCS?

[XCNuse]

Assuming you aren't on steam; which would be a different way; and require going into the betas tab and accepting it.

In your EagleDynamics/DCS/bin folder you should see DCS_Updater.exe

That will update DCS.

A long while ago DCS kicked the updater.exe to actually be the launcher; so it's rare to see someone using the actual DCS.exe to launch DCS and not getting updated.

 

However... if you aren't on Open Beta, and are instead on Stable:

(this will be easy to find out if you run the updater and discover it doesn't find anything new to update to)

 

[derbarbarian]

So you can't update the stable release of 2.7 to 2.8 Beta? it has to be from 2.7 Beta to 2.8 Beta? If that's the case, that makes sense. I actually asked a couple of people that EXACT question and they told me you could upgrade from the stable 2.7 release to 2.8 Beta.. 

[Ollie]

If you download Open Beta 2.7 and direct the install to your existing release build you will then be asked if you want to update to OB 2.8. Just did that and all fine - so far.

[HiJack]

You can install both the beta and the stable on the same computer. If you join a squad they may require you to have the stable version. Install both is the smart solution. 

[Art-J]

3 hours ago, derbarbarian said:

So you can't update the stable release of 2.7 to 2.8 Beta? it has to be from 2.7 Beta to 2.8 Beta? If that's the case, that makes sense. I actually asked a couple of people that EXACT question and they told me you could upgrade from the stable 2.7 release to 2.8 Beta.. 

They probably meant you can convert any stable install to beta (or the other way around) at any time and when you do so, the dcs_updater will automatically convert to the latest beta available on the server right now, which is 2.8.

Thread that XCNuse linked to above explains how to use updater for conversion procedure (amongst other things), but if the instructions are too puzzling, you can use Skatezilla's updater utility to do the same thing:

https://forum.dcs.world/topic/134493-the-dcs-updater-gui-utility/

 

[Rudel_chw]

5 hours ago, derbarbarian said:

So you can't update the stable release of 2.7 to 2.8 Beta?

You can also just wait a few weeks, as the version 2.8 should be released on the Stable branch as well.

[Ghostrider142]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:25 PM, Ollie said:

If you download Open Beta 2.7 and direct the install to your existing release build you will then be asked if you want to update to OB 2.8. Just did that and all fine - so far.

I don't have room for 2.7 and 2.8 at once and I think that's the case for others asking this question, so this seems to be the answer right here, thank you.

[DerFangzahn]

On 11/3/2022 at 3:26 AM, XCNuse said:

Assuming you aren't on steam; which would be a different way; and require going into the betas tab and accepting it.

In your EagleDynamics/DCS/bin folder you should see DCS_Updater.exe

That will update DCS.

A long while ago DCS kicked the updater.exe to actually be the launcher; so it's rare to see someone using the actual DCS.exe to launch DCS and not getting updated.

 

However... if you aren't on Open Beta, and are instead on Stable:

(this will be easy to find out if you run the updater and discover it doesn't find anything new to update to)

 

I have the same issue that DCS_Update.exe does NOT udpate to 2.8. I am on the beta branch. But no updates are visible. No Offline mode is used.

Any thought?

Regards

[Splashtrick68]

On 11/2/2022 at 10:12 PM, HiJack said:

You can install both the beta and the stable on the same computer. If you join a squad they may require you to have the stable version. Install both is the smart solution. 

This is what I'd like to do, and apologies if this information is somewhere already, but what is the easiest way to have 2 installs and keep or transfer bindings for controllers etc? 

Thank you in advance! 

[HiJack]

2 hours ago, Splashtrick68 said:

This is what I'd like to do, and apologies if this information is somewhere already, but what is the easiest way to have 2 installs and keep or transfer bindings for controllers etc? 

Thank you in advance! 

I just made every change in the OpenBeta configuration and just copied the  "Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Config\Input" over to the "Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input" and that worked fine. I also use one common "Missions" folder on the root of a drive to simplify mission swapping. I allways keep backups of the Saved Games folders for both instances. You can even have a 3rd or 4th install of both just by using the switch for it. You can have a modded version and clean ones. Actually no limits there.

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by HiJack

[Splashtrick68]

4 hours ago, HiJack said:

I just made every change in the OpenBeta configuration and just copied the  "Saved Games\DCS.openbeta\Config\Input" over to the "Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input" and that worked fine. I also use one common "Missions" folder on the root of a drive to simplify mission swapping. I allways keep backups of the Saved Games folders for both instances. You can even have a 3rd or 4th install of both just by using the switch for it. You can have a modded version and clean ones. Actually no limits there.

 

 

Thank you, I'll see if I can't do just that, albeit I suppose I'd copy the input folder from stable to beta. 

[DamnedRen]

You will probably get as many answers as to whether or not you're better off flying the stable or beta version. Far be it from me to tell you which one for you to use. You merely have to look at who's playing in stable and beta multiplayer. The numbers will tell you where you might want to spend your time. I may offer a few suggestions for your review. You might decide on stable or beta but might be wasting your time and HD space by having both. Having both is not the end of the world but if you fly with a squadron, where do they fly? You have just found out you have to perform updates from time to time. If you have both you will have to update them both. Most of the multiplayer servers get updated the same day the updates come out. In a squadron the words also gets out same day. If not, you kind of stumble around trying to enter a server only to find out you time out or just can't get in. 
Personally, my Squadron flies in Beta. We like being the first kids on the block to get the updates and enjoy flying the new toys DCS puts out along with 3rd party mods from time to time.  We normally fly only in beta although one or two of the guys might have both stable and Beta loaded. I do not. When I first got into DCS I downloaded both. I tried stable and found not very many people flying there. I then flew in Beta and found lotsa of folks. I eventually built a new computer and never re-installed the stable version and have never missed it. You appear to have been around for a while and might have gone with the stable version. Nothing wrong with it. Just make sure you get the updater and when something goes appears to go wrong when trying to get into whatever server you want don't forget to run it.
I hope this helps. Salute <S>
Damned Ren 
CO, the Damned 
Damned If We Do, No Fun If We Don't