Applying Hotfixes to the Rancher Dashboard UI

Rancher v2.9+

SUSE Rancher support and engineering might propose a hotfix Rancher Dashboard UI build, which contains a potential fix for a specific issue, for troubleshooting purposes.

Hotfixes follow the naming convention: "v<X.Y.Z>-hotfix-"

SUSE Support will give information about the content of a hotfix.

Disclaimers:
Please, use a hotfix build only when instructed by SUSE Support/Engineering personnel. Hotfix builds are meant to help troubleshoot specific problems and they are not supported for general use. 
From an Engineering standpoint we are confident that hotfix builds will not introduce regressions, as changes target a small code region, pass reviews and a selection of automated tests as well. Nevertheless, hotfix builds do not go through full Rancher QA processes, so please be ready to revert to the original version in case unexpected behavior is noticed (instructions are provided below).

Important Upgrade Notice: This hotfix includes changes that may not be present in all subsequent Rancher releases. Therefore, to ensure a smooth upgrade process after applying this hotfix, please contact SUSE Support for guidance before upgrading to any later Rancher version. SUSE Support will indicate which versions are safe to upgrade to.

Installation instructions

Verify prerequisites:

• Ensure the necessary files are accessible via the Rancher's Content Delivery Network (CDN). Verify the presence of the index.html file at the following URL (replace v<X.Y.Z>-hotfix-<IDENTIFIER> with the name provided by Support):

https://releases.rancher.com/dashboard/v<X.Y.Z>-hotfix-<IDENTIFIER>/index.html

• this URL has to be reachable from:
  • The Rancher container(s).
  • The same browser used to access the Rancher UI. A successful test should display a custom Rancher page indicating 404: This page could not be found.
• Make sure the Rancher environment is not airgapped.

Activate the hotfix:

1. Access Global Settings: In the Rancher UI, navigate to Global Settings -> Settings.
2. Modify ui-dashboard-index: Locate the ui-dashboard-index setting and update its value to the URL of the hotfix index.html. For example: https://releases.rancher.com/dashboard/v2.9.3-hotfix-ch-1-deadbeef/index.html
3. Set ui-offline-preferred: Find the ui-offline-preferred setting and change it to Remote.
4. Refresh Browser: Instruct users experiencing the issue to refresh their browser or open the Rancher UI in a new tab. This forces the Rancher UI to load assets from the CDN at releases.rancher.com instead of using the locally shipped assets.

Reverting the Hotfix

1. Access Global Settings: Navigate to Global Settings -> Settings in the Rancher UI.
2. Revert ui-offline-preferred: Locate the ui-offline-preferred setting and change it back to Local.
3. Refresh Browser: Advise users to refresh their browser or open Rancher in a new tab to revert to the default behavior.

This process allows you to apply and revert hotfixes to the Rancher Dashboard UI, providing a way to address issues without requiring a full upgrade.