Implementing A/B System Updates with U-Boot

Explore a comprehensive conference talk on implementing A/B system updates using U-Boot. Dive into practical solutions for identifying active partitions, detecting boot failures, and implementing failsafe mechanisms. Learn how to utilize lesser-known U-Boot commands and capabilities, and understand the cooperation between Linux and U-Boot in the update process. Discover strategies for handling bootloader updates, overcoming challenges in failed upgrade recovery, and leveraging watchdogs and partition flags. Gain valuable insights from real-world experience and access references for further exploration of this essential topic in embedded systems development.

Syllabus

Michael Opdenacker
Abstract
Context and experience
Full image update approaches
Main practical questions
Using partition bootable flags
Detecting the active partition in Linux
Detecting the active partition in U-Boot at boot time
U-Boot: booting on the active partition (2)
U-Boot: using extlinux support (2)
Recovering from a failed upgrade - Challenges
Accessing the U-Boot environment from Linux
Using a watchdog
Editing a partition's bootable flag from U-Boot
Why partition flags?
Limitations and advice
Strategies for updating the bootloader?
What to remember
References