Mender Easy Installer
Mender
Mender is an end-to-end open-source software updater for embedded Linux devices.
Mender is a server-client application that allows you to deploy an image-based update from the server-side component to your connected clients (device or fleet of devices). The deployment is done securely using HTTPS and the partitioned setup (dual A/B rootfs partition) makes sure your device will stay up and running should anything interrupt the update process.
Toradex also provides over-the-air (OTA) update functionality, and much more, all built-in and fully tested within our hardware on our ready-to-use Embedded Linux distribution Torizon.
Hosted Mender and Toradex Easy Installer
Hosted Mender delivers a secure and robust update server as a service and now it is fully integrated in the Toradex Easy Installer image format. This integration enables Over The Air (OTA) updates in an out-of-the-box experience for Toradex customers.
Supported Modules
The following Computer on Modules are supported:
Supported Displays
While you can use a wide variety of displays and monitors, additional configuration may be required for a specific setup.
A section at the end of this guide provides instructions about the display and touch screen configuration.
Intended Use
This partner demo image is meant for the evaluation of the technology. It is not suitable for development or production.
How to Get Started
This section provides instructions for you to quickly get started with Mender Easy Installer.
Load the Toradex Easy Installer on the target module and select the Mender demo image from the list of available images:
Connecting to Hosted Mender
Mender enables the management of software updates to connected devices over any TCP/IP network. One can update devices over-the-air (OTA) with Hosted Mender which is a secure Mender Server with monthly subscription.
In your host PC, sign up to Hosted Mender or log in if you already have an account.
Boot the board and sign in with your Hosted Mender account on board:
- Go to the Hosted Mender dashboard .
- Go to the DEVICES section at the left bar and verify that your device was added. If it does not show immediately, please authorize your device at the Pending tab. In this example the Colibri iMX7 is used:
Over the air Updates and Deployments
- To start updates and deployments, one needs to upload an artifact in the ARTIFACTS tab:
- Download and unpack Colibri iMX7 sample artifacts in your host PC. You can simply right-click the file and extract, or if you are familiar with command-line use the following instructions:
user@pc:~$ wget https://docs.toradex.cn/105541-artifacts.zip
user@pc:~$ unzip artifacts.zip
Two artifacts are provided:
user@pc:~$ ls artifacts
core-image-sato-colibri-imx7-mender-release-2.0.mender
core-image-sato-colibri-imx7-mender-release-3.0.mender
- Upload the artifacts to Hosted Mender:
- Access the DEPLOYMENTS section to create a new deployment:
- Choose your artifact and device group properly:
Next Steps
For more information about how to create your own image artifacts and deployment head over to the Colibri iMX7 guide in hub.mender.io and visit the extensive Mender.io documentation.
Display and Touch Screen
Displays and Monitors used in Embedded Systems are available in a myriad of configuration possibilities - resistive, capacitive or without touch, single or multi touch, different resolution, density of pixels, pin-out and clock frequency are some examples.
To make things easy for you, Toradex provides specific instructions on how to use its display offerings as well as comprehensive information about how to interface your custom display or monitor to Toradex modules. Please refer to the table below:
| Display | Display Resolution | Touch Screen Support | Touch Screen Calibration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resistive Touch Display 7" Parallel | First Steps with Parallel Resistive Touch Display - Resolution | Supported out-of-the-box | Touch Screen Calibration (Linux) |
| Capacitive Touch Display 7" Parallel | First Steps with Capacitive Touch Display 7 Inch Parallel - Resolution | First Steps with Capacitive Touch Display 7 Inch Parallel - Touch Screen | Touch Screen Calibration (Linux) |
| VGA monitor | Display Output, Resolution and Timings | USB HID touch screen works out-of-the-box | Touch Screen Calibration (Linux) |
| DVI/HDMI monitor | Display Output, Resolution and Timings | USB HID touch screen works out-of-the-box | Touch Screen Calibration (Linux) |
| • For additional comprehensive information • If you use another display/monitor | Display Output, Resolution and Timings | • Compile the specific kernel driver: Build Linux kernel • Enable it in the device-tree: Device Tree Customization | Touch Screen Calibration (Linux) |
Downloads
Download offline installers and older releases of the Partner Demo Image in this section.