First Steps with Torizon Remote Updates

Applicable for

TorizonCore (Linux)

Introduction

Remote Updates is a feature in Torizon that enables Over-The-Air (OTA) remote updates. It is an alternative to the Torizon Secure Offline Updates and uses the same technology stack: OSTree and Aktualizr. The Remote Updates feature brings the capability to perform secure and reliable application and OS updates to TorizonCore based devices.

You can learn more about updates with Torizon on our overview article, and for more in depth knowledge, read the Torizon Remote Updates Technical Overview .

Main Features

With the Remote Updates feature it is possible to:

Securely update the Operating System and/or Application components of a running device with an active internet connection
Automatically update a device whenever a new update is available on the server
Perform synchronous - both the OS and the Application as a single component - remote updates securely
Automatically roll back to the last working version of the OS or the application in case the update fails
Block updates from happening from the application’s side, in case you have a critical application that cannot stop for an update to take place

First Steps

Prerequisites

In order to perform remote updates, you should have:

The TorizonCore OS images and/or application files for the updates readily available
TorizonCore Builder installed on your host machine
Account register for your Torizon Platform Services account
Device using TorizonCore provisioned on the same account
Device configured for using remote update
The credentials.zip file download from your Torizon Plattform account session

The Update Process

The update processes of a device with Secure Offline Updates and Remote Updates are similar since both are based on the same technology stack. You can see the workflow in the diagram below:

Remote Update Workflow

Creating the Packages

The first step is to bring your OS Image/Application to the Torizon Platform Services domain.

You can create a Torizon Application Package from the web UI, TorizonCore Builder or an IDE with Extension for Torizon:

Use our Visual Studio Code Extension for Torizon to deploy a container image of your application, or
Select a docker-compose file on your host machine from the Torizon Platform Web UI, or
Push a docker-compose file to the Torizon Platform Services with TorizonCore Builder

Remember that you will also have to push your application to a docker registry, so the device can download it.

To create a Torizon OS Package, you should use TorizonCore Builder to push images built by you or other collaborators. Remember, you can always use Toradex's provided images out-of-the-box.

Initiating the Update

The next step is selecting the components in the Torizon Platform Services. You can choose OS and/or Application packages to be updated in a single device or in an entire fleet. When you initiate an update, it means that the target device or the devices in a fleet will have a new update to process when it goes online and reaches the Torizon Platform Services.

Deploying the Remote Update

The provisioned devices will periodically search for newly available instructions and update packages on the server. The next time any device addressed for updates goes online it will download, validate, and deploy the update.

Note: The update process is fully automated and no user intervention is required at any time. If you are performing an OS or synchronous update, the board will automatically reboot once.