[Buildroot] Package to manage multiple buildroot filesystem "versions"?

[Buildroot] Package to manage multiple buildroot filesystem "versions"?

[Tudor Holton]

Hi all,

I understand that buildroot is for building root filesystems and not 
really outside that, but...

Is there a package that can manage the partition layout, and buildroot 
filesystem "versions", for upgrade and fallback?

For example, something like:

1) During build, allocate space for 2 or more partitions, the first 
partition is the running buildroot filesystem
2) When the buildroot filesystem is running, download a newer version of 
the filesystem, verify it, and dd it to the second partition
3) Tell grub/EFI to boot the newer partition and reboot
BUT
4a) It doesn't complete the startup for some reason (like there's a 
kernel panic, or something doesn't start properly triggering the 
watchdog)
SO
5a) It reboots again, calling the previous version (e.g. using grub 
fallback or fallback.efi)
OR
4b) It does complete the startup, but some important service doesn't 
work (like it can't connect to the internet) so we presume we need to 
roll back
5B) It rolls back to the previous version with some kind of failure flag 
to tell the server that it failed the upgrade

I can see that this could be fairly easily written, but I was wondering 
if there was a buildroot package or environment that does this kind of 
behaviour already?

Cheers,
Tudor.
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Re: [Buildroot] Package to manage multiple buildroot filesystem "versions"?

[Thomas Petazzoni]

Hello Tudor,

On Wed, 25 Aug 2021 17:08:16 +1000
Tudor Holton <tudor@tudorholton.com> wrote:

> I understand that buildroot is for building root filesystems and not 
> really outside that, but...
> 
> Is there a package that can manage the partition layout, and buildroot 
> filesystem "versions", for upgrade and fallback?
> 
> For example, something like:
> 
> 1) During build, allocate space for 2 or more partitions, the first 
> partition is the running buildroot filesystem
> 2) When the buildroot filesystem is running, download a newer version of 
> the filesystem, verify it, and dd it to the second partition
> 3) Tell grub/EFI to boot the newer partition and reboot
> BUT
> 4a) It doesn't complete the startup for some reason (like there's a 
> kernel panic, or something doesn't start properly triggering the 
> watchdog)
> SO
> 5a) It reboots again, calling the previous version (e.g. using grub 
> fallback or fallback.efi)
> OR
> 4b) It does complete the startup, but some important service doesn't 
> work (like it can't connect to the internet) so we presume we need to 
> roll back
> 5B) It rolls back to the previous version with some kind of failure flag 
> to tell the server that it failed the upgrade
> 
> I can see that this could be fairly easily written, but I was wondering 
> if there was a buildroot package or environment that does this kind of 
> behaviour already?

You are re-inventing the concept of OTA update systems. Check out:

 * swupdate, https://sbabic.github.io/swupdate/

 * RAUC, https://rauc.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

 * Mender, https://mender.io/

All three are packaged in Buildroot.

Best regards,

Thomas Petazzoni
-- 
Thomas Petazzoni, co-owner and CEO, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
https://bootlin.com
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