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”

[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