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Version: 1.26.0

Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates

Shipping hardware means shipping bugs you will need to fix later. This tutorial shows how to deliver over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates to a device fleet using OpenRemote's integration with Eclipse hawkBit - a dedicated software update server with managed rollouts and campaigns, not just a file drop.

Why this matters for OEMs and integrators

OpenRemote integrates a purpose-built rollout engine (hawkBit) for device lifecycle management: staged rollouts, target filtering and update status - so you can patch thousands of deployed devices safely rather than pushing a binary and hoping.

Prerequisites​

  • A running OpenRemote instance - see the Quick Start.
  • A hawkBit instance reachable from OpenRemote (can be co-located with your stack).
  • Devices whose firmware can poll a hawkBit DDI endpoint and apply an update image.

Step 1 - Enable the hawkBit integration​

Configure OpenRemote to connect to your hawkBit server. Once linked, OpenRemote can represent firmware/device-update state on your assets and surface update actions. See Firmware updating with Hawkbit for the supported features and configuration.

Step 2 - Register devices as hawkBit targets​

Each device becomes a target in hawkBit. Use a consistent target/controller ID (for example the same serial used during auto-provisioning) so a device's OpenRemote asset and its hawkBit target line up one-to-one.

Step 3 - Upload a software module and distribution set​

  1. In hawkBit, create a software module containing your new firmware image.
  2. Bundle it into a distribution set (the versioned package you assign to targets).
  3. Tag your targets (for example region:eu, model:v2, ring:canary) so you can roll out by group.

Step 4 - Create a managed rollout​

  1. Create a rollout against a target filter (e.g. start with the ring:canary group).
  2. Define rollout groups and success/error thresholds so a failing batch pauses the rollout automatically.
  3. Start the rollout and watch devices move through scheduled → running → finished.
caution

Always start with a small canary group and verify devices come back online and report the new version before rolling out to the whole fleet.

Step 5 - Track update status in OpenRemote​

Monitor update progress and firmware version on the device assets in the Manager. Combine this with rules to alert an operator if a device fails to check in after an update.

Next steps​