Regular software updates are essential for fixing common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs), addressing bugs, and adding new features, all while maintaining security and increasing the lifespan of embedded Linux devices. Over the past decade, the landscape has changed significantly, with many high-quality and reliable open source solutions now available, making the development of in-house update solutions unnecessary. During this time, several SOTA solutions using different strategies have come and gone. Open source options based on the dual A/B redundant update scheme have become widely adopted in the industry. This session will focus on three such solutions: Mender, RAUC, and swupdate. We will analyze their strengths and weaknesses, offering guidance on selecting the best solution for different use cases and industries. Additionally, we will explore advanced features such as HTTP streaming, which allows direct installation of updates without the need to download and store the update file locally. We will also discuss the potential of adaptive and delta updates, which are additional features built on top of A/B update schemes. These features minimize data transfer by sending only the changes, rather than the full update files.

The hands-on examples will demonstrate the integration of three different open source solutions: Mender, RAUC, and swupdate - on two different devices: Raspberry Pi 5 and the open source hardware Olimex I.MX8MP SoM, using the Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded. The demonstrations will highlight the differences in setup, configuration, and update management for each solution. Additionally, we will explore support for other build systems such as Buildroot, PTX dist, and distributions like Debian, Ubuntu, ArchLinux, and NixOS, emphasizing how each solution integrates with these environments.

This talk is suitable for engineers and developers looking to implement an open source update solution for embedded Linux devices. It will provide a deeper understanding of the technical challenges and available open source solutions, empowering attendees to address these challenges more effectively and focus on enhancing the unique features of their products.