What challenges do embedded engineers face when managing firmware and apps on embedded Linux for IoT? Learn how containers make distros portable and secure.
Join the DZone community and get the full member experience. The embedded Linux appliance industry is changing from making innovative apps for low-cost, low-spec devices to one where powerful hardware runs more complex applications. While resource-intensive devices will become the norm, the low-end will still be the ones delivering the volume and the backbone of the consumer industry in today’s embedded Linux Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. With the explosion of the connected IoT on the intelligent edge, it’s more important than ever to keep devices up to date and secure. We discuss the challenges faced by embedded engineers on managing firmware and their apps on low-spec embedded devices. Finally, we’ll describe how containers and other cloud-native technologies can help automate and make IoT Linux distros secure and portable. Most embedded devices for IoT are single-function and single-purpose, and they are fitted with minimal hardware capabilities that support their intended purpose. In addition, the diverse set of hardware can have limited flash memory with a minimum of 32 MB of NAND, NOR, or EMMC storage with a minimum RAM of 64 MB. These constraints, as well as the diversity of hardware, can limit its processing and networking capability. Because of these limitations, any firmware and apps created for the appliance need to be efficient and lean without unnecessary binaries, libraries, and modules. Most low-spec single-purpose devices aren’t designed to be updated on a continuous basis. A big issue is managing the device state and having the ability to roll back in real-time in the case of a catastrophe. For example, a simple power outage or a bad patch can turn the device into a brick if you do not have a failsafe method of updating and returning to a good state during the update. Modern cloud-native tools and practices are not common among embedded developers. But now, with the proliferation of IoT apps and the need to apply Linux critical security patches as soon as announced, release teams must embrace DevOps methods to automate and manage firmware and software upgrades to appliances more efficiently.
