Mender is an open source over-the-air (OTA) software updater for embedded devices. Mender comprises a client running at the embedded device, as well as a server that manages deployments across many devices.
Mender provides modules to integrate with Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS). The code can be found
in mender-mcu repository.
This repository contains a reference project on how to integrate a user application with Mender OTA Zephyr Module, with configurations for some boards to choose from.
This repository is a work in progress. As we continue development, features and functionality may evolve significantly.
Since the project is under active development, we recommend watching the repository or checking back regularly for updates. Detailed documentation and usage instructions will be provided as the project progresses.
To start using Mender, we recommend that you begin with the Getting started section in the Mender documentation.
Initialize a Zephyr workspace based on this repository's manifest, which will pull Mender MCU code and its dependencies:
west init workspace --manifest-url https://github.com/mendersoftware/mender-mcu-integration
cd workspace && west update
To built the project, you need a board that supports MCU boot. The following link will filter the officially supported boards that also support MCU boot:
See board support information an Zephyr Project docs. Follow the instructions there to install and configure all the necessary software for programming and debugging.
For the integration, we use an W5500 Ethernet Shield. See shield description in WIZnet website
Build the bootloader and the reference project with sysbuild with:
west build \
--sysbuild \
--board nrf52840dk/nrf52840 \
mender-mcu-integration \
-- \
-DEXTRA_DTC_OVERLAY_FILE=boards/shields/wiznet_eth_w5500.overlay \
-DEXTRA_CONF_FILE=boards/shields/wiznet_eth_w5500.conf
Flash the two binaries to your board with:
west flash
The application should now start! You can monitor the serial line with:
minicom -D /dev/ttyACM1 -b 115200 -w
Once the bootloader is flashed, the next time you need to flash the application you can do it with:
west flash --domain mender-mcu-integration
To have a fresh start of the board, reset it with:
nrfjprog --reset
You can attach with gdb at any moment of the execution with:
west attach --domain mender-mcu-integration
Enjoy your debugging session!
See board support information an Zephyr Project docs.
This is the first board that we use as a reference given the convenience of the ethernet port and the low price of the first generation ESP32. We will add more boards in the near future.
To build the reference project for ESP32-Ethernet-Kit, execute:
west build --board esp32_ethernet_kit/esp32/procpu mender-mcu-integration
Flash it now to the board and read the serial line with something like:
west flash && minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB1 -b 115200 -w
To build the reference project for ESP32-Ethernet-Kit, execute:
west build -b esp32s3_devkitc/esp32s3/procpu mender-mcu-integration -- -DEXTRA_CONF_FILE=overlay-wifi.conf
Flash it now to the board and read the serial line with something like:
west flash && west espressif monitor
See board support information an Zephyr Project docs. The board doesn't come with Ethernet support in the upstream Zephyr 3.7 board integrations, but this repository ships a device tree overlay adding the necessary bits.
To build the reference project for Olimex ESP32-EVB, execute:
west build --board olimex_esp32_evb/esp32/procpu mender-mcu-integration
Flash it now to the board and read the serial line with something like:
west flash && west espressif monitor
WARNING: this board does not support MCUBoot, so the default "zephyr-image" Update Module is not compiled in. To make it actually perform an update an Update Module needs to be written. The "noop-update" from this repository is compiled in as a way to get started but, as the name shows, this update module does nothing.
To build the reference project for NXP MR-CANHUBK3, execute:
west build --board mr_canhubk3 mender-mcu-integration
See board support information from Zephyr Project docs.
WARNING: this board does not support MCUBoot, so the default "zephyr-image" Update Module is not compiled in, but rather "noop-update", which does nothing. This is meant to be used for testing purposes only.
To set up networking, run net-setup.sh from /path/to/workspace/tools/net-tools, and see
instructions in the
Zephyr documentation
on how to configure the host machine to access internet.
To build the reference project for native_sim, execute:
west build --board native_sim mender-mcu-integration
Then you can run the binary with:
./build/zephyr/zephyr.exe
or
west build -t run
For the first time of using the board, you need to build and flash the bootloader. It can either be done by:
- Using
--sysbuildoption in yourwest build. Read the docs here. - Building and flashing the bootloader alone following this guide
Additionally, you might want to erase the whole flash so that the storage partition is clean. Use
python -m esptool --chip esp32 erase_flash for that. Find the vendor documentation
here
Create an Artifact (remember to disable compression):
mender-artifact write module-image \
--type zephyr-image \
--file build/zephyr/zephyr.signed.bin \
--compression none \
--artifact-name <artifact_name> \
--device-type <device_type>
We welcome and ask for your contribution. If you would like to contribute to Mender, please read our guide on how to best get started contributing code or documentation.
Mender is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for the full license text.
We take security very seriously. If you come across any issue regarding security, please disclose the information by sending an email to security@mender.io. Please do not create a new public issue. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.
- Join the Mender Hub discussion forum
- Follow us on Twitter. Please feel free to tweet us questions.
- Fork us on Github
- Create an issue in the bugtracker
- Email us at contact@mender.io
- Connect to the #mender IRC channel on Libera
Mender was created by the team at Northern.tech AS, with many contributions from the community. Thanks everyone!
Mender is sponsored by Northern.tech AS.