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<disclaimer: I am with Mender> We have been evaluating OSTree as a potential building block for Mender, however the key challenges we've come across: integra
by ralphmender 10y ago
<disclaimer: I am with Mender>
We have been evaluating OSTree as a potential building block for Mender, however the key challenges we've come across:
integrating OSTree into an existing device/OS seems quite invasive - https://ostree.readthedocs.io/en/latest/manual/adapting-existing/ https://ostree.readthedocs.io/en/latest/manual/adapting-exis...
block level signatures is not possible, which we feel is a requirement for an over-the-air updater
rollback is not built-in and can be quite challenging to implement reliably (bootloader level)
Think OSTree as more of a building block, like Git is for your development process. We might use it in the future but robustness and easy integration are our first priorities.
- mwcampbell 10y agoWhy is it important to have signatures at the block level? Wouldn't signing an archive or binary diff be good enough?
- eystein 10y agoSigning an archive would probably be good enough for many cases. Block level is a bit simpler (all or nothing) and thus less risk of mixing with unsigned parts (sideloading attacks). For security-sensitive embedded devices (e.g. payment terminals), block level signatures would allow hardware verification during boot as well (1st stage bootloader verifies 2nd stage, then kernel, etc.) if designed correctly.