Mender is an open source over-the-air (OTA) software updater for embedded Linux devices. Mender comprises a client running at the embedded device, as well as a server that manages deployments across many devices.
Embedded product teams often end up creating homegrown updaters at the last minute due to the need to fix bugs in field-deployed devices. However, the most important requirement for an embedded update process is robustness, for example loss of power at any time should not brick a device. This creates a challenge given the time constraints to develop and maintain a homegrown updater.
Mender aims to address this challenge with a robust and easy to use updater for embedded Linux devices, which is open source and available to anyone.
Robustness is ensured with atomic image-based deployments using a dual A/B rootfs partition layout. This makes it always possible to roll back to a working state, even when losing power at any time during the update process.
Ease of use is addressed with an intuitive UI, comprehensive documentation, a meta layer for the Yocto Project for easy integration into existing environments, and high quality software (see the test coverage badge).
This repository contains the Mender client updater, which can be run in standalone mode (manually triggered through its command line interface) or managed mode (connected to the Mender server).
Mender not only provides the client-side updater, but also the backend and UI for managing deployments as open source. The Mender server is designed as a microservices architecture and comprises several repositories.
To start using Mender, we recommend that you begin with the Getting started section in the Mender documentation.
In order to support rollback, the Mender client depends on integration with U-Boot and the partition layout. It is therefore most easily built as part of your Yocto Project image by using the meta layer for the Yocto Project.
This example is targeting armhf architecture but is applicable to other
architectures with minor adjustments.
A working go environment is required, instructions on to how to set one up
can be found on the official golang page.
A working cross toolchain is required and in this case one for armhf, to keep
it simple we can install it using:
sudo apt install gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf
Fetch Mender client source code:
go get github.com/mendersoftware/mender
Change directory to where the Mender sources are:
cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/mendersoftware/mender
And now we are ready to cross-compile the mender binary with:
env CGO_ENABLED=1 \
CC=arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc \
GOOS=linux \
GOARCH=arm make build
The Mender binary is located at:
$GOPATH/src/github.com/mendersoftware/mender/mender
NOTE: The strip command can be used to reduce the size of the binary by removing symbols that are not needed on a production system.
arm-linux-gnueabihf-strip mender
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.
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- Email us at contact@mender.io