Can't generate DFU package with nrfutil

[JimPetkosek]

I have installed nrfutil from PyPI using the instructions in section 2 of the nRF Util User Guide v 6.1.0. My main purpose for using nrfutil is to generate a DFU package. Whenever I try to use the nrfutil pkg generate command I get the error message: “Subcommand nrfutil-pkg.exe not found”. If I use the nrfutil list command it finds 0 installable commands.

The version of nrfutil I have installed is:

nrfutil 8.1.1 (b6089d0 2025-08-21)

commit-hash: b6089d08a9cfdb292f8ab8d21e0908ded814cd11

commit-date: 2025-08-21

host: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

build-timestamp: 2025-08-21T14:12:43.593658000Z

classification: nrf-external

How do I install the nrfutil-pkg subcommand? I didn’t see any description about this in the User Guide. Please help as the DFU function is important for a product release that our company is doing.

Also I saw “Subcommand nrfutil-dfu.exe not found”

[Amanda Hsieh]

Hi, 

Are you working with nRF5SDK DFU? Please be aware that this command tool only support for nRF5 SDK.

You can run "nrfutil install nrf5sdk-tools" to install the tool, then you can use nrfutil nrf5sdk-tools dfu function.

>nrfutil install nrf5sdk-tools
[00:00:07] ###### 100% [Install packages] Install packages

>nrfutil nrf5sdk-tools --help
Usage: pc_nrfutil_legacy_v6.1.7.exe [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options:
  -v, --verbose            Increase verbosity of output. Can be specified more
                           than once (up to -v -v -v -v).  [x>=0]
  -o, --output <filename>  Log output to file
  --help                   Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  dfu       Perform a Device Firmware Update over serial, BLE, Thread, Zigbee
            or ANT transport given a DFU package (zip file).
  keys      Generate and display private and public keys.
  pkg       Display or generate a DFU package (zip file).
  settings  Generate and display Bootloader DFU settings.
  version   Display nrfutil version.
  zigbee    Zigbee-related commands and utilities.

>nrfutil nrf5sdk-tools dfu --help
Usage: pc_nrfutil_legacy_v6.1.7.exe dfu [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

  This set of commands supports Device Firmware Upgrade procedures over both
  BLE and serial transports.

Options:
  --help  Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  ant         Update the firmware on a device over an ANT connection.
  ble         Update the firmware on a device over a BLE connection.
  serial      Update the firmware on a device over a UART serial connection.
              The DFU target must be a chip using digital I/O pins as an UART.
  thread      Update the firmware on a device over a Thread connection.
  usb-serial  Update the firmware on a device over a USB serial connection.
              The DFU target must be a chip with USB pins (i.e. nRF52840) and
              provide a USB ACM CDC serial interface.
  zigbee      Update the firmware on a device over a Zigbee connection.

Regards,
Amanda H.

[JimPetkosek]

Thank you. I was able to install nrf5sdk-tools. Now nrfutil pkg generate --help is working. I am using the nRF5_SDK_17.0.2 SDK for my application development. I tried the following but got:

C:\Firmware\DFU_pkg>nrfutil pkg generate --application app.hex BD_dfu_package.zip
Usage: pc_nrfutil_legacy_v6.1.7.exe pkg generate [OPTIONS] ZIPFILE
Try 'pc_nrfutil_legacy_v6.1.7.exe pkg generate --help' for help.

Error: --hw-version required.

I am targeting the nRF52840 device. The help doc says "--hw-version INTEGER            The hardware version."

What integer do I use for the nRF52840 micro?

[Amanda Hsieh]

The hard version for nRF52840 is "52". 

See the  nRF5 SDK v17.1.0 Secure DFU Hands-on Tutorial