Updating the Omega

In order to keep improving the user experience for the Omega, we will be releasing updated firmwares on a rolling basis. To get the benefits of these improvements, users should frequently update their Omegas to the latest firmware release. We have created a command-line utility oupgrade (Onion Upgrade) to handle firmware transitions.

The oupgrade command will not work properly if you run it from the Terminal App on the Console. Use oupgrade when connected to the Omega via SSH or Serial. If upgrading using the Console, use the Settings App.

The oupgrade tool will only install official Omega2 firmware images. The official Omega2 firmware images can be found at: http://repo.onioniot.com/omega2/images/

How do I know if I need to update my Omega?

Warning: When an upgrade is performed, only the /root and /etc folders are preserved. It is important to backup your files on the Omega prior to upgrading if you don’t want to lose any of your work.

To check if your Omega needs an upgrade, run oupgrade -check. The output will let you know if you need an update:

root@Omega-2757:/# oupgrade -c
> Device Firmware Version: 0.1.4 b210
> Checking latest version online...
> Repo Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b132
> Comparing version numbers
> New firmware version available, need to upgrade device firmware

The easiest thing to do is to just run oupgrade. This way it will check if your firmware needs updating and will perform the upgrade if necessary.

Versions vs. Build Numbers

Every firmware has a version and build number.

Minor updates will be released as new build numbers for a given firmware version.
- eg. version 0.1.4 build 100, build 103, build 110
Major updates will be released as a new firmware version.
- eg. version 0.1.3, version 0.1.5, version 0.1.6

Performing the Upgrade

To run the oupgrade tool, simply enter the following in your command-line:

oupgrade

It will take care of checking for firmware updates, and automatically installing them if they are available.

By default, oupgrade will only install new firmware versions.

Getting your firmware version

To get the current firmware installed on the device type:

oupgrade -v

And you’ll see:

root@Omega-2757:/# oupgrade -v
> Device Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b132

Here we’re on version 0.1.5 and build 132 of the device firmware.

Checking for New Firmware Versions

To check your firmware version and compare it with the latest available firmware versions type:

oupgrade -c

root@Omega-2757:/# oupgrade -c
> Device Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b132
> Checking latest version online...
> Repo Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b132
> Comparing version numbers
> Device firmware is up to date!

As you can see from the output, our firmware is up to date!

If it were not up to date, this command would show:

root@Omega-2757:/# oupgrade -c
> Device Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b131
> Checking latest version online...
> Repo Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b132
> Comparing version numbers
> New build of current firmware available, upgrade is optional, rerun with '-force' option to upgrade

or if you’re on an older version:

root@Omega-2757:/# oupgrade -c
> Device Firmware Version: 0.1.4 b210
> Checking latest version online...
> Repo Firmware Version: 0.1.5 b132
> Comparing version numbers
> New firmware version available, need to upgrade device firmware

This command only checks for the latest firmware version and will not modify your device.

Upgrading to the Latest Version

Here at Onion we’re constantly developing, adding new features and fixing bugs. However, sometimes the features we release may cause the firmware to be unstable. Normally oupgrade will only upgrade to the latest stable version, skipping any unstable versions.

If you need to upgrade to the latest version anyway, you can type:

oupgrade -l

WARNING! This is not recommended unless you know what you’re doing! Onion is not responsible for issues or damage to your device caused by using an unstable firmware version.

This will not reflash the Omega if the latest firmware is already installed.

Force Update/Reflash

You can force oupgrade to reflash the Omega with the latest firmware using the -f flag. Note: This will reinstall the firmware even if the Omega already has the latest available!

oupgrade -f

Since this will cause the Omega to reflash itself, this can be used in case you need to safely reset to a working state on the latest firmware.

IMPORTANT: See the warning below about what files will be preserved and erased when upgrading the firmware.

Help with `oupgrade`

oupgrade has a lot of functionality on the command line. Type

oupgrade -h

to get the usage output.

root@Omega-2757:/# oupgrade -h
Functionality:
  Check if new Onion firmware is available and perform upgrade

Usage: /usr/bin/oupgrade

Arguments:
 -h, --help        Print this usage prompt
 -v, --version     Just print the current firmware version
 -l, --latest      Use latest repo version (instead of stable version)
 -f, --force       Force the upgrade, regardless of versions
 -c, --check       Only compare versions, do not actually update
 -u, --ubus        Script outputs only json