NextBox: Debian-12-Upgrade, NextBox 2

Today we have some important news about the NextBox. As you’ve surely noticed,
the NextBox has not been available for quite some time. For everyone who already owns a NextBox,
however, this by no means means the end. We are rolling out the upgrade to Debian 12 starting now
and are simultaneously working full steam ahead on the NextBox 2.

NextBox OS and Nextcloud Upgrades

Debian 12 Upgrade: At Least Two More Years of Support

Starting immediately, we are rolling out the upgrade to Debian 12 to all NextBoxes. This ensures that every NextBox will receive at least two more years of full support, including security updates for the operating system.

Currently, you still need to start the upgrade manually; as was the case with Debian 11, this will remain the case for a short time, after which the upgrade will be performed fully automatically.

Nextcloud Updates

Of course, Nextcloud updates will continue to be available for the NextBox—also for at least two more years. This means your NextBox will remain up-to-date, secure, and fully functional.

What's Next?

It is not yet clear what will happen after these two years regarding support for the first generation of NextBox. We don't want to make any promises here that we can't keep. As soon as we have more information, we'll let you know here on the blog. One important factor is the option to switch to the NextBox 2 software platform.

NextBox 2: The Plan

The NextBox 2 is already in development and will be based on the Raspberry Pi 5 Compute Module. Here’s an overview of the key new features:

Lean Operating System Based on Buildroot

Instead of a full Linux distribution, the NextBox 2 uses an operating system built with Buildroot. It contains only what is truly necessary for operation. This reduces the attack surface and makes the system easier to maintain. In particular, major OS updates (such as the Debian 12 upgrade) will no longer be necessary, as the OS is continuously updated in smaller increments.

A/B Updates

In the future, updates will be installed on a second system partition while the current
version continues to run. The system will switch over only after the update is successful. If anything
goes wrong during the process, the NextBox will automatically restart with the previous, working version.
Failed updates are now a thing of the past.

External NextBox Administration Tool

Going forward, NextBox will be managed using a standalone administration tool that  
runs largely independently of Nextcloud. This allows you to manage, repair, and update your NextBox even if Nextcloud itself fails to start.

RAID 1 on NVMe SSDs

The NextBox 2 can store your data in a mirrored configuration across two NVMe SSDs (RAID 1). If one drive fails, your data remains intact on the second drive. At the same time, you benefit from the significantly higher speed of NVMe storage.

When will the NextBox 2 be released?

If everything goes according to plan, the NextBox 2 is scheduled to be released before the end of this year. We will keep you updated on our progress.

Upgrade for Existing NextBox Customers

It’s especially important to us that anyone who owns a NextBox today isn’t left behind.  
Our plan is to allow NextBox 1 customers to upgrade to the new NextBox 2 operating system as well, so they can benefit from the improvements in updates and administration. The exact details of this process haven’t been finalized yet. 

We’ll publish details as soon as the NextBox 2 is released.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the Debian 12 upgrade or the NextBox 2, feel free to write to us in the
comments or on our forum.