The Azure Sphere 21.01 feature release includes the following components:
- Updated Azure Sphere OS
- Updated Azure Sphere SDK for Windows and for Linux
- Updated Azure Sphere extensions for Visual Studio and for Visual Studio Code
If your devices are connected to the internet, they will receive the updated OS from the cloud. You'll be prompted to install the updated SDK on next use, or you can install it now. To install the latest SDK, see the installation Quickstart for Windows or Linux:
New and changed features in the 21.01 release
The 21.01 release includes additional features in the CLI v2 Beta, a new API to help applications monitor their memory usage, support for application crash data collection, and improved capabilities in Azure Sphere Explorer. In addition, we've added the ability to control current for GPIOs and additional ways to access ADC peripherals.
The following sections provide details about these changes.
Azure Sphere CLI v2
In the 21.01 release, the Azure Sphere CLI v2 continues to evolve, but is still considered a Beta product. We encourage you to use this new, more powerful CLI and to report any problems by using the v2 Beta CLI azsphere feedback command. In general, the V2 CLI is backwards compatible with the V1 CLI; however, it has a few differences that are worth noting, as described in the online documentation.
In each subsequent release of CLI v2, we aim to maintain backwards compatibility for both input (command names, parameter names, parameter values) and output in JSON and yaml. In cases where such compatibility is not possible, we will provide at least 6 months' notice before making changes.
The 21.01 release of CLI v2 supports simplified object identification so that you can use either use the ID (GUID), IP address, or Local Connection ID to identify the device.
API features
Several of the Applibs libraries contain new functions at this release:
- New memory functions allow high-level applications to monitor their own memory usage. The functions return the total memory usage, user-mode memory usage, and peak user-mode memory usage.
- New GPIO libraries components, which include gpiopin_request, pin_config_param_type, and GPIO_SET_PIN_CONFIG_IOCTL, allow you to control the amount of current used to drive GPIO pins.
Support for crash data collection
Optional diagnostic data can be configured to collect a full Linux core dump when an application or system service crashes.
The Device Group - Patch function in the public API (PAPI) supports enabling crash dump collection for one or more of your device groups.
Access to ADC peripherals
ADC peripherals can now be accessed in the following ways:
- Simplified functions that are wrappers for base Linux functionality.
- Advanced functions that rely on Linux ioctls that communicate with the peripheral directly.
Code snippets are provided for both simplified and advanced functions that show how to:
- Get the channel specification
- Set the reference voltage
- Get the sample bit count
- Read the ADC
See the Implementation Overview for a side-by-side comparison of reading the ADC with the simplified, advanced, and Linux sysfs implementations.
New features in the 21.01 SDK
The IoT C SDK that is released with Azure Sphere was upgraded to the July LTS Refresh. This update contains an important security patch.
Updated Azure Sphere Explorer in Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code
Azure Sphere Explorer has been updated for this release. Visual Studio supports a read-only version and the Visual Studio Code version now supports write capabilities.
New and updated samples for 21.01
The 21.01 release includes the following new and updated sample hardware designs and applications:
- A new ADC sample that demonstrates how to use analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) functionality.
- Updates to the HTTPS_CurlEasy sample to showcase chunked downloads.
We have continued to make more of our existing Azure Sphere samples available for download through the Microsoft Samples Browser.
In addition, we now provide a collection of unmaintained samples and hardware designs in the Azure Sphere Gallery.
For more information on Azure Sphere OS feeds and setting up an evaluation device group, see Azure Sphere OS feeds and Set up devices for OS evaluation.
For self-help technical inquiries, please visit Microsoft Q&A or Stack Overflow. If you require technical support and have a support plan, please submit a support ticket in Microsoft Azure Support or work with your Microsoft Technical Account Manager. If you would like to purchase a support plan, please explore the Azure support plans.
