ARC6 6.6.205.0 x64 TRIAL CANDIDATE
Standalone Manual Setup ZIP
October 30, 2026

ABOUT THIS BUILD

This is a pre-release ARC6.6 Trial candidate for existing x64 installations.
It contains the complete self-contained Setup program. Extract the ZIP into a
short writable folder outside the ARC6 installation, then run ARC6-Setup.exe.

Upgrade one selected instance first. Keep its backups and maintenance folders.
On a host with several ARC6 nodes, verify the callsign and installation path
carefully before allowing Setup to stop or update anything. Other instances can
remain running.

CHANGES SINCE TRIAL .200

PC92 topology performance

- Reuse bounded node reachability when only user membership changes. Node,
  route, session, identity, expiry and ambiguous changes invalidate or bypass
  the cache so immediate routing and membership behavior remain unchanged.
- Build warm route unions directly instead of creating a temporary destination
  collection for every peer.
- Compare the retained projection components exactly without allocating one
  large combined comparison string.
- Apply ordinary remote-user add/remove changes through bounded reusable
  projection indexes when the node graph, direct connections, local users and
  identity state are proven unchanged. Complex changes use the full rebuild.

Security checkpoint reliability

- Learned security checkpoints now preserve valid events that arrived from
  concurrent callers in a different timestamp order. Save and restore use
  sorted private views without dropping evidence, extending deadlines or
  changing configured security policy.

Installed Apps and ProgramData maintenance

- After upgrading to .205, Windows Installed Apps Modify can move a selected,
  stopped instance's data into its owned ProgramData location.
- The move verifies the selected registration, instance identity, cached Setup,
  source and destination contents. Configuration, databases, lists, logs,
  learned security state and recovery sidecars are preserved byte-for-byte.
- The program remains in its existing installation folder, the original data
  is retained, and ARC6 is not automatically stopped or restarted.
- Maintenance registration and cached tools are refreshed and verified.
  ProgramData operations use the normal timed step and summary log format.

INSTALL OR UPGRADE

1. Record the node callsign/SSID, installed version and exact installation path.
2. Extract the complete ZIP to a short writable folder outside the installation.
3. Run ARC6-Setup.exe and select the intended existing instance.
4. Verify the displayed callsign and path. Stop only that instance normally, or
   use Setup's selected-instance stop option. Close extra ARC6 dialogs first.
5. Let Setup finish its database, file, registration and recovery checks.
6. Review the final result and operation log. Start the node when ready.
7. Confirm version 6.6.205.0, callsign/SSID, listeners, peers, feeds, filters,
   profiles, history and normal real traffic. Read-only API settings are
   preserved during an upgrade.

OPTIONAL PROGRAMDATA MOVE

After a successful .205 upgrade, open Windows Installed Apps, select the exact
ARC6 instance, choose Modify, and select Move data to ProgramData. The instance
must be stopped and any automatic restart/watchdog for it must be paused. Review
the source and destination shown by Setup before confirming. ARC6 remains
stopped when the operation finishes; start it normally after reviewing the log.

If Setup reports an incomplete or conflicting operation, leave the instance
stopped and follow its recovery guidance. Do not merge folders manually or
delete maintenance, rollback or original-data directories.

QUALIFICATION SUMMARY

- Offline service differentials matched 2,484 topology snapshots and 11,001
  projection equality cases, including alternate routes, disconnects, identity
  precedence, expiry and fallback behavior.
- NC7J-3 canary upgrades, security save/reload and ProgramData preservation
  checks passed with the same runtime used for this candidate.
- NC7J completed an overnight .205 soak. At 12.7 hours, with 377 origins,
  428 remote nodes, 31 peers and 150 users, .205 measured 30.5% lower CPU,
  25.3% lower allocation rate and 21.4% fewer GC starts than the retained .200
  sample. The network shape was nearly identical and filtering work was higher.
  These are observed workload results, not a universal performance guarantee.
- Security checkpoint writes, database writes, listeners and logs were healthy;
  no capacity rejection, persistence failure or trace loss was observed.

PACKAGE AND RECOVERY NOTES

The standalone ZIP changes transport size only. Its embedded Setup retains the
complete verified payload, database safeguards and recovery support. This ZIP
is not the automatic-updater package format. Do not substitute it into an older
update feed or delete recovery archives to reduce disk usage.

No private databases, licenses, profiles, callsign credentials or API tokens are
included. Keep COPYING, LICENSE.md and third-party notices with the package.

Feedback, direction, implementation and qualification: NG7M.
ProgramData migration question and feedback: Dave K1TTT and NG7M.

