Is there a way to do modem FOTA with Azure IOT hub/Fota?

[JVantol]

It doesn't look like there's a way to do an incremental modem FOTA with the Azure IOT hub implementation. I have app fota working great with the 1.4.0 tag, and am quite pleased with how well it works, but it does not appear that there's any way to specify a modem FOTA.

Have I missed some detail and it's actually possible? I'm not seeing anything in the documentation that indicates how to do this.

Additionally, at some future point, I'm interested in leveraging this mechanism to enable updating the firmware of a connected sensor board, is there a suggested way that the this could be accomplished?

Josh

[Øyvind]

Hi Josh, 

Have you confirmed this with AT+CGMR?

It doesn't look like there's a way to do an incremental modem FOTA with the Azure IOT hub implementation.

Our apps team confirms that it should work, however, only APP FOTA is documented and tested. Modem FOTA is not officially supported yet, but customers can experiment with it.

You should be able to do modem FOTA using e.g. mfw_nrf9160_update_from_1.2.2_to_1.2.2-FOTA-TEST.bin. 

The library however, will check if the app was updated, and print this one if modem FOTA was performed (regardless of success or not):
<wrn> azure_fota: FOTA image was not applied, rolled back

Please let me know how that works for you.

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[JVantol]

Øyvind,

My issue is not that I think the actual application of the FOTA won't work. The issue is that there doesn't appear to be a way to stage a modem firmware. I.e. the syntax for the command you put in the device twin does not seem to allow a way to specify a modem firmware update.

Is there something I'm missing here, or do I need to implement my own handing for, for example a "modemFirmware" device twin tag?

Regards,

Josh

[Øyvind]

Yes, it's correct that modem FW is not officially supported. We have it in the backlog, and it will come at some point, but no promises on timeline. 

Our apps team responds: 

The modem delta image can be provided the same way as app image in the device twin.

The Azure FOTA sample is prepared for modem FOTA, so it will check for pending upgrades and print if the device needs a reboot after applying a new modem update

The library however, will check if the app was updated, and print this one if modem FOTA was performed (regardless of success or not):

<wrn> azure_fota: FOTA image was not applied, rolled back

[RonanB96]

Hi Øyvind,

Has there been any update regarding this being handled in the azure fota library?

[Øyvind]

Hello, 

Please see the Azure FOTA documentation in NCS docs.

Kind regards,
Øyvind