Before running an update, open System Health in the staff console. It's an admin-only screen that gives you an honest readout of whether your server is in shape — and the updater uses the same signals to protect you.
What it shows
- Services — app, database, cache, queue worker, and scheduler all running
- Resources — CPU, RAM, and swap headroom
- Storage — free disk and database size
- Backups — whether recent backups exist
- License — your license status
- Email/queue — that background jobs and mail are flowing
The pre-update safety gate
The updater won't run if the server can't safely complete an update. In particular it refuses to start if free disk is less than about 3× your database + uploads size, or if available RAM+swap is below the level a migration needs. This is deliberate — a half-finished update on a full disk is exactly the disaster the gate prevents. It will also warn before you enable heavier features (like search) on an under-spec host.
If something's amber or red
Fix it before updating: free up disk, add swap (see Server requirements and sizing your VPS), or restart a stopped service. Then re-check — a green board means the safe updater will sail through.