diff --git a/configs/general/general_install b/configs/general/general_install
index a587914..33795ed 100755
--- a/configs/general/general_install
+++ b/configs/general/general_install
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 # ================================================================================
 # Installation Setup - Local or Git Repository configuration and version control
 # ================================================================================
-CFG_INSTALL_MODE=local                     # Installation Mode - Method used for installation of LibrePortal
+CFG_INSTALL_MODE=release                   # Installation Mode - How LibrePortal is fetched + updated [release:Release tarball (recommended)|git:Git clone (dev)|local:Local folder (dev)]
+CFG_RELEASE_BASE_URL=https://get.libreportal.org        # Release Host - Base URL serving the release channels (override for self-hosting) **ADVANCED**
+CFG_RELEASE_CHANNEL=stable                              # Release Channel - Which channel to install/update from [stable:Stable|edge:Edge]
 CFG_GIT_URL=changeme                                     # Git Repository URL - Git repository URL for LibrePortal configuration
 CFG_GIT_USER=changeme                                    # Git Username - Git username for repository authentication
 CFG_GIT_KEY=changeme                                     # Git Access Key - SSH key or API key for Git repository access
-CFG_GIT_UPDATES=true                                     # Auto Check Updates - Check for Git repository updates automatically
-CFG_GIT_AUTO_UPDATES=true                                # Auto Apply Updates - Automatically apply Git updates when available
+CFG_GIT_UPDATES=true                                     # Auto Check Updates - Check for updates automatically
+CFG_GIT_AUTO_UPDATES=true                                # Auto Apply Updates - Automatically apply updates when available
diff --git a/init.sh b/init.sh
index 3995ef7..1bfcfc9 100755
--- a/init.sh
+++ b/init.sh
@@ -1059,7 +1059,28 @@ initGIT()
         copyFilesFromLocal
         return
     fi
-    
+
+    # Handle release installation — a verified tarball, not a clone. The bootstrap
+    # (install.sh) usually staged + verified the code already (LP_ALREADY_FETCHED);
+    # otherwise fetch it via the sourced helper (only possible when run from a
+    # populated install tree — a bare /root reinstall must go through install.sh).
+    if [[ "$param7" == "release" ]]; then
+        if [[ "${LP_ALREADY_FETCHED:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
+            isNotice "Using the release staged + verified by the bootstrap installer."
+        elif [[ -f "$script_dir/scripts/source/fetch.sh" ]]; then
+            source "$script_dir/scripts/docker/command/run_privileged.sh"
+            source "$script_dir/scripts/source/fetch.sh"
+            lpFetchRelease || { isError "Release fetch failed."; exit 1; }
+        else
+            isError "Release-mode (re)install must be run via install.sh:  curl -fsSL <host>/install.sh | sudo bash"
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        sudo cp -f "$script_dir/init.sh" /root/ 2>/dev/null || true
+        setupConfigsFromRepo
+        sudo chown -R "$sudo_user_name":"$sudo_user_name" "$script_dir"
+        return
+    fi
+
     GIT_USER="$param3"
     GIT_TOKEN="$param4"
     GIT_URL="$param5"
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 6001fa4..774a7ae 100644
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -171,4 +171,7 @@ esac
 [[ "${GEN_PW:-0}" == 1 ]] && echo "Generated manager/WebUI password: $PASSWORD  (also recorded in the install log)"
 echo "Running installer ..."
 cd "$INSTALL_DIR"
+# Tell init.sh the code is already staged + verified, so initGIT skips re-fetching.
+export LP_ALREADY_FETCHED=1
+export LP_RELEASE_BASE_URL          # carry the (possibly overridden) host through
 exec bash "$INSTALL_DIR/init.sh" "${flags[@]}" "$@"
diff --git a/scripts/source/fetch.sh b/scripts/source/fetch.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7f6bd29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/source/fetch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# LibrePortal source-fetch helpers for the RUNTIME paths (update / reinstall /
+# reset). They place a fresh copy of the code at $script_dir (the install tree,
+# which holds ONLY code — configs/logs live in the separate system tree, so the
+# install tree can be replaced wholesale).
+#
+# Three modes, keyed off CFG_INSTALL_MODE:
+#   release  download a versioned, checksum-verified tarball over HTTPS (default)
+#   git      clone (handled by the existing git_* helpers / initGIT)
+#   local    copy from a local folder (existing copyFilesFromLocal)
+#
+# init.sh's initGIT does the FRESH-install fetch inline (it is self-contained for
+# the bare /root reinstall copy); these functions are the sourced runtime twins.
+
+# Release host + channel: env wins (testing), then config, then the public default.
+lpReleaseBaseUrl() { echo "${LP_RELEASE_BASE_URL:-${CFG_RELEASE_BASE_URL:-https://get.libreportal.org}}"; }
+lpReleaseChannel() { echo "${LP_RELEASE_CHANNEL:-${CFG_RELEASE_CHANNEL:-stable}}"; }
+
+# Downloader + checksum tool detection (curl|wget, sha256sum|shasum).
+_lpFetchTool() { command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1 && { echo curl; return; }; command -v wget >/dev/null 2>&1 && { echo wget; return; }; echo ""; }
+_lpDownload() {  # _lpDownload <url> <outfile|->
+    local tool; tool="$(_lpFetchTool)"
+    case "$tool" in
+        curl) [[ "$2" == "-" ]] && curl -fsSL "$1" || curl -fsSL "$1" -o "$2" ;;
+        wget) [[ "$2" == "-" ]] && wget -qO- "$1" || wget -qO "$2" "$1" ;;
+        *) return 1 ;;
+    esac
+}
+_lpSha256() { if command -v sha256sum >/dev/null 2>&1; then sha256sum "$1" | cut -d' ' -f1; elif command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then shasum -a 256 "$1" | cut -d' ' -f1; fi; }
+_lpJsonStr() { printf '%s' "$1" | grep -oE "\"$2\"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*\"[^\"]*\"" | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]*)"$/\1/'; }
+
+# Resolve the latest published version of the configured channel (empty on failure).
+lpReleaseLatestVersion() {
+    local m; m="$(_lpDownload "$(lpReleaseBaseUrl)/$(lpReleaseChannel)/latest.json" - 2>/dev/null)" || return 1
+    _lpJsonStr "$m" version
+}
+
+# Download + verify + extract a release into $script_dir. Arg: optional version
+# (else the channel's latest). Returns non-zero (and leaves $script_dir untouched)
+# on any download/checksum failure — callers must not proceed on failure.
+lpFetchRelease() {
+    local want_ver="${1:-}" base channel manifest tarname want_sha tmp tar got
+    base="$(lpReleaseBaseUrl)"; channel="$(lpReleaseChannel)"
+    [[ -n "$(_lpFetchTool)" ]] || { isError "lpFetchRelease: need curl or wget"; return 1; }
+
+    if [[ -z "$want_ver" ]]; then
+        manifest="$(_lpDownload "$base/$channel/latest.json" - 2>/dev/null)" || { isError "lpFetchRelease: cannot fetch channel manifest"; return 1; }
+        want_ver="$(_lpJsonStr "$manifest" version)"
+        tarname="$(_lpJsonStr "$manifest" url)"
+        want_sha="$(_lpJsonStr "$manifest" sha256)"
+    fi
+    [[ -n "$want_ver" ]] || { isError "lpFetchRelease: could not determine version"; return 1; }
+    [[ -n "$tarname" ]] || tarname="libreportal-${want_ver}.tar.gz"
+
+    tmp="$(mktemp -d)"; tar="$tmp/$tarname"
+    if ! _lpDownload "$base/$channel/$tarname" "$tar"; then isError "lpFetchRelease: download failed ($tarname)"; rm -rf "$tmp"; return 1; fi
+    if [[ -z "$want_sha" ]]; then
+        _lpDownload "$base/$channel/$tarname.sha256" "$tar.sha256" 2>/dev/null && want_sha="$(cut -d' ' -f1 < "$tar.sha256")"
+    fi
+    [[ -n "$want_sha" ]] || { isError "lpFetchRelease: no checksum available — refusing"; rm -rf "$tmp"; return 1; }
+    got="$(_lpSha256 "$tar")"
+    if [[ "$got" != "$want_sha" ]]; then isError "lpFetchRelease: CHECKSUM MISMATCH ($tarname) — refusing"; rm -rf "$tmp"; return 1; fi
+
+    # Replace the install tree (code only; configs/logs are in the system tree).
+    runInstallOp rm -rf "$script_dir"
+    runInstallOp mkdir -p "$script_dir"
+    if ! runInstallOp tar xzf "$tar" -C "$script_dir" --strip-components=1; then
+        isError "lpFetchRelease: extract failed"; rm -rf "$tmp"; return 1
+    fi
+    rm -rf "$tmp"
+    isSuccessful "Fetched LibrePortal $want_ver ($channel) and verified its checksum."
+}
+
+# Mode-aware runtime fetch. git/local stay with their existing helpers; this adds
+# the release path. Callers (updater/reinstall/reset) decide pre/post (config
+# backup, redeploy) around it.
+lpFetchSource() {
+    case "${CFG_INSTALL_MODE:-release}" in
+        release) lpFetchRelease "$@" ;;
+        local)   declare -f copyFilesFromLocal >/dev/null 2>&1 && copyFilesFromLocal ;;
+        git)     declare -f gitFolderResetAndBackup >/dev/null 2>&1 && gitFolderResetAndBackup ;;
+        *)       isError "lpFetchSource: unknown CFG_INSTALL_MODE '${CFG_INSTALL_MODE}'"; return 1 ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+# Semver-ish compare: lpVersionGt A B  → true if A > B (numeric dotted compare,
+# trailing non-numeric ignored). Used by the updater + the badge generator.
+lpVersionGt() {
+    local a="${1%%-*}" b="${2%%-*}" i x y
+    local -a A B; IFS='.' read -r -a A <<< "$a"; IFS='.' read -r -a B <<< "$b"
+    for ((i=0; i<${#A[@]} || i<${#B[@]}; i++)); do
+        x=$((10#${A[i]:-0} + 0)) 2>/dev/null; y=$((10#${B[i]:-0} + 0)) 2>/dev/null
+        (( x > y )) && return 0
+        (( x < y )) && return 1
+    done
+    return 1
+}
diff --git a/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_release.sh b/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_release.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fab1575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# This file is auto-generated by generate_arrays.sh
+# Do not edit manually - run './scripts/source/files/generate_arrays.sh run' to regenerate
+
+release_scripts=(
+    "release/make_release.sh"
+
+)
diff --git a/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_source.sh b/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_source.sh
index 14277fd..d47f033 100755
--- a/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_source.sh
+++ b/scripts/source/files/arrays/files_source.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # Do not edit manually - run './scripts/source/files/generate_arrays.sh run' to regenerate
 
 source_scripts=(
+    "source/fetch.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_app.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_backup.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_checks.sh"
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ source_scripts=(
     "source/files/arrays/files_migrate.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_network.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_os.sh"
+    "source/files/arrays/files_release.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_restore.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_setup.sh"
     "source/files/arrays/files_source.sh"