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This is wonderfully timed, I’m currently looking for options when it comes to doing firmware updates on Linux based IoT devices. Does anyone have any recommenda

This is wonderfully timed, I’m currently looking for options when it comes to doing firmware updates on Linux based IoT devices. Does anyone have any recommendations?

bgentry 9y ago
The source of this article is Mender.io, which is an open source embedded linux distro that includes built-in OTA updates: http://mender.io/ http://mender.io/ I can't speak to their quality as I haven't tried it yet. I have used Resin.io quite a bit and it's great if it fits your use case (and the pricing model makes sense for you).
sjmulder 9y ago
A friend who is building an Linux appliance is using Yocto: https://www.yoctoproject.org/ https://www.yoctoproject.org/. He also talked about Mender, mentioned in the other comment. I don't know how much overlap there is between these projects.
- ralphmender 9y ago
  Disclaimer: I'm with Mender.io and author of the article. The Yocto Project is a popular build system for your own embedded Linux distribution. Mender integrates with the Yocto Project with a layer (https://github.com/mendersoftware/meta-mender https://github.com/mendersoftware/meta-mender), but is a separate project for end-to-end OTA, which includes the client and the management server. Both are licensed under Apache 2.0 thus it is freely available and you're not locked into a hosted-only backend. Although this is an older blog post, here is how you can port the Mender client to a non-Yocto build system: https://mender.io/blog/porting-mender-to-a-non-yocto-build-system https://mender.io/blog/porting-mender-to-a-non-yocto-build-s...
- kbaker 9y ago
  This page on the Yocto wiki https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/System_Update https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/System_Update provides an overview of many of the current offerings for software update systems.
subway 9y ago
Since Mender and Yocto have already been mentioned, I have to bring up Buildroot with SWupdate. Batteries aren't included like with Mender, but you also don't have to assemble layers from the far reaches of the internet like Yocto.
SEJeff 9y ago
I occasionally contribute to a fairly large home automation project named Home Assistant (https://home-assistant.io/ https://home-assistant.io/) They have an all in one operating system perconfigured for a raspberry pi or intel nuc dubbed "hass.io" that uses ResinOS under the covers: https://home-assistant.io/hassio/ https://home-assistant.io/hassio/ https://resinos.io/ https://resinos.io/ Under the covers, ResinOS is a minimal Yocto embedded linux + docker + some ota stuff. Consider looking into that before building your own.
- jon-wood 9y ago
  Resin is definitely quite high up on my list of options, I've done some prototyping with their SaaS service as well, my only hesitation is that the pricing is pretty prohibitive for the sort of volumes we're looking at in the medium term. Like you, my initial contact with them was through Hassio, which has been fantastic. Definitely going to do some digging into Yocto and Mender though.

This is wonderfully timed, I’m currently looking for options when it comes to doing firmware updates on Linux based IoT devices. Does anyone have any recommendations?

bgentry 9y ago

The source of this article is Mender.io, which is an open source embedded linux distro that includes built-in OTA updates: http://mender.io/ http://mender.io/ I can't speak to their quality as I haven't tried it yet. I have used Resin.io quite a bit and it's great if it fits your use case (and the pricing model makes sense for you).

sjmulder 9y ago

A friend who is building an Linux appliance is using Yocto: https://www.yoctoproject.org/ https://www.yoctoproject.org/. He also talked about Mender, mentioned in the other comment. I don't know how much overlap there is between these projects.

ralphmender 9y ago
Disclaimer: I'm with Mender.io and author of the article. The Yocto Project is a popular build system for your own embedded Linux distribution. Mender integrates with the Yocto Project with a layer (https://github.com/mendersoftware/meta-mender https://github.com/mendersoftware/meta-mender), but is a separate project for end-to-end OTA, which includes the client and the management server. Both are licensed under Apache 2.0 thus it is freely available and you're not locked into a hosted-only backend. Although this is an older blog post, here is how you can port the Mender client to a non-Yocto build system: https://mender.io/blog/porting-mender-to-a-non-yocto-build-system https://mender.io/blog/porting-mender-to-a-non-yocto-build-s...
kbaker 9y ago
This page on the Yocto wiki https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/System_Update https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/System_Update provides an overview of many of the current offerings for software update systems.

subway 9y ago

Since Mender and Yocto have already been mentioned, I have to bring up Buildroot with SWupdate. Batteries aren't included like with Mender, but you also don't have to assemble layers from the far reaches of the internet like Yocto.

SEJeff 9y ago

I occasionally contribute to a fairly large home automation project named Home Assistant (https://home-assistant.io/ https://home-assistant.io/) They have an all in one operating system perconfigured for a raspberry pi or intel nuc dubbed "hass.io" that uses ResinOS under the covers: https://home-assistant.io/hassio/ https://home-assistant.io/hassio/ https://resinos.io/ https://resinos.io/ Under the covers, ResinOS is a minimal Yocto embedded linux + docker + some ota stuff. Consider looking into that before building your own.

jon-wood 9y ago
Resin is definitely quite high up on my list of options, I've done some prototyping with their SaaS service as well, my only hesitation is that the pricing is pretty prohibitive for the sort of volumes we're looking at in the medium term. Like you, my initial contact with them was through Hassio, which has been fantastic. Definitely going to do some digging into Yocto and Mender though.