The ultimate guide to software updates on embedded Linux devices
summary
Compares concrete update systems (SWUpdate with an integrated web server, Mender with an open-source server and streaming updates, RAUC, aktualizr/libostree for delta (OSTree) updates, and resin.io using containers) and their tradeoffs: image-based A/B updates (two copies, seamless rollback), recovery-image approaches, and delta complexity. Covers signing, atomicity, bootloader requirements, unreliable power/connectivity, Mender’s ~10 releases and ~30 customer stories, and resin’s proprietary management server — practical feature-level comparison, not vague claims.
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chapters (32)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:37About me
- 1:59Whats an embedded Linux device
- 2:26Key factors
- 4:09Why update
- 5:33Onsite updates
- 6:42Typical components
- 7:41Basic requirements
- 10:39Overtheair
- 11:24Common approaches
- 13:31Imagebased updates
- 16:13remove recovery less
- 18:00open source ecosystem
- 18:25frameworks
- 18:56SoftwareUpdate
- 22:11Rock
- 23:06Bus Interface
- 24:23hocbit
- 25:10LGPL
- 28:15LGPL projects
- 28:58Software Update
- 29:47Endtoend solutions
- 31:25Integration
- 35:22ETS Garage
- 36:21UpdateHub
- 36:58Summary
- 37:34Most common approach
- 40:23Boot counter
- 42:21Bender
- 43:30Delta Update
- 45:13Delta rollback
- 46:50Bootloader redundancy
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