As organizations accelerate their adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, it is increasingly important that connected devices are up-to-date and easy to manage. Keeping a network of IoT devices secure and up to date can be complex and costly, especially for organizations with limited technology staffing.
Today we are announcing that Device Update for IoT Hub is now generally available.
Device Update for IoT Hub is a comprehensive platform that customers can use to publish, distribute, and manage over-the-air updates for everything from tiny sensors to gateway-level devices. Rather than take on the cost and work of building and maintaining custom update solutions, Device Update for IoT Hub customers can take advantage of a platform that is tailored for IoT devices and built on the experience Microsoft has developed through regularly updating hundreds of millions of Windows devices.
Device Update for IoT Hub offers optimized update deployment and streamlined operations through integration with Azure IoT Hub. With extended reach through Azure IoT Edge, it provides a cloud-hosted solution that connects virtually any device. It supports a broad range of IoT operating systems—including Linux and Azure RTOS (real-time operating system)—and is extensible via open source. As part of our investments in Azure RTOS, we also are co-developing Device Update for IoT Hub offerings with our semiconductor partners, including STMicroelectronics, NXP, Renesas, and Microchip. We have also collaborated with these semiconductor partners to enable their secure boot solutions to work with Device Update on their devices. Browse some of the available offerings.
Key capabilities
Device Update has added new features in addition to the rich feature set already available in public preview. General availability brings the following new functionality:
- Automatic rollback enables you to define a fallback version for your managed devices if they meet the rollback criteria that can be easily set from the cloud
- Automatic group provisioning will automatically create groups of devices based on their compatibility properties and device tags, so you can easily deploy updates to your devices without the additional overhead
- Improved troubleshooting features such as agent check and device sync help you troubleshoot and repair your devices with ease
- Azure CLI Support enables you to create and mange DU resources, groups and deployments using command line functions
- Support for OS platforms such as Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 20.04
- Support in additional Azure regions
- [Available in Public Preview] Delta updates enables devices to only download the parts of the update image that have changed since the last update, significantly reducing the bandwidth consumed for update downloads.
These new features are in addition to the feature set already in public preview, which include:
- Update management UX integrated with Azure IoT Hub
- Gradual update rollout through device grouping and update scheduling controls
- Programmatic APIs to enable automation and custom portal experiences
- At-a-glance update compliance and status views across heterogenous device fleets
- Support for resilient device updates (A/B) to deliver seamless rollback
- Content caching and disconnected device support, including those in nested configurations, through built-in Microsoft Connected Cache and integration with Azure IoT Edge
- Comprehensive cloud-to-edge security features and privacy controls
- Proxy updates enable customers to orchestrate updates to connected sensors over various network protocols and to individual components on the device. This feature allows customers to update devices more easily with multiple sensors (or peripherals) which is common in the automotive or robotics industry.
- Multi-step updates allow customers to include pre/post update install scripts and specify an installation order for multiple update payloads sent to a device (i.e., specify an installation order for update payloads for the host firmware, the kernel or the root file system, applications, or any other connected sensors).
- Dynamic deployments automatically deploy updates to newly provisioned, applicable devices.
Customer adoption and ecosystem support
We have been working together with customers and partners such as Hilo, conplement AG, MyLight Systems, and Reycom during public preview to ensure Device Update for IoT Hub can meet important business needs and assist organizations as they work to transform their operations using IoT devices.
Customer testimonials:
“Hilo is the division of Hydro-Quebec, the 4th largest hydroelectricity producer in the world, responsible for deploying its virtual power plant infrastructure. As society transitions away from carbon-intensive mobility solutions and electricity production, pressure is growing on electrical infrastructure providers to address the added production and consumption volatility induced by these changes. IoT based energy efficiency solutions, DR and other network functions are becoming a central concern for most grid operators.
At Hilo, we are building virtual power plant technology, AI systems, as well as consumer facing products, to help utilities resolve these challenges. Leveraging the multitude of IoT devices and consumer profiles that compose a modern grid, through a virtual power plant, requires a platform with unparalleled flexibility, reliability, and security features. Hilo has chosen Microsoft’s IoT Hub and IoT Edge stacks, combined with custom development, to bring this vision to market. The new Device Update feature for IoT Hub has allowed Hilo to efficiently interface its hundreds of thousands of connected devices. Hilo has been a launch partner in this adventure and Microsoft has provided best in class flexibility to match our needs.” – David Saint-Germain, CTO, Hydro Quebec
“We as conplement AG are always seeking for the best way to support our customers. Microsoft Azure with its Azure Device Update helped us already in providing an easy workflow to update devices in the field. We are amazed by the powerful tools included in ADU which will help us even more in the future to cover all aspects of our customer workflows. We are now ready to start the future of device updates with the support of Microsoft Azure.“ – Sebastien Fischer, Conplement AG
“Mylight Systems is providing an all-in-one solution for solar power generation and self-consumption for residential customers and small businesses. This includes solar panels empowered by an embedded system providing home automation and smart insights to thousands of its clients to help them optimize the use of their own electricity and save on their energy bill.
Constant and reliable software updates are a key component of our solution, allowing us to keep up with the ever-evolving process of energy usage optimization. The Azure Device Update for IoT Hub provided us with this feature in an easy and secure way, letting us focus on delivering value to our customers.” – Nicolas Riou, Mylight Systems
"The Reycom Industrial Secure Edge (RISE) platform uses Device Update for Azure IoT Hub as key component for over the air (OTA) updates in its best-in-class End to End (E2E) safe and secure edge platform. Thanks to the outstanding cooperation over the last few months with Microsoft, Reycom is looking forward to applying the new features of the Device Update for Azure IoT Hub to efficiently update complex configurations of powerful edge devices with multiple connected programmable sensors and actuators. Secure updates over the air are of utmost importance for guaranteeing reliable operation of construction vehicles, machines, robots and IoT devices today and in the future." - Pascal Rey - CEO at Reycom
Learn more about Device Update
We are committed to ensuring customers can use Device Update for IoT Hub to address their device updating needs. Get started with Device Update by exploring available documentation for Device Update for IoT Hub. You can try out the service for free with up to ten (10) devices and take advantage or see pricing information for additional devices. We would love any feedback you have on Device Update, so please send any suggestions or issues to https://aka.ms/dufeedback.