Olpc-update
This method of updating from one operating system (OS) build to another is experimental. It works by transferring only the differences across the internet link from an updates server. This makes updating easier, mostly quicker, and almost always with less data transfer.
As an example of the data efficiency gain,
- An autoreinstallation from OS build 602 to 603 would normally take about 279Mb of download data, whereas olpc-update takes 16Mb of download data,
- An autoreinstallation from OS build 603 to 608 would normally take 262Mb of download data, whereas olpc-update takes 6.5Mb of download data,
The time efficiency gain is less easy to characterise. It depends on the speed of the internet link, the speed of the updates server, and whether the autoreinstallation image needs to be downloaded. An olpc-update from 602 to 603 cost under 17 minutes.
The current updates server is updates.laptop.org.
Usage
In summary:
- Be connected to the internet,
- Log in as root,
- Type olpc-update NNN where NNN is the build number,
- Wait for the update to complete,
- Reboot.
Be Connected
Ensure the laptop or the emulator is able to access the internet, by being connected an an access point, or via the mesh, or using an ethernet connection.
Be Root
Using either the Sugar developers console, or the alternate text console, or via SSH, obtain a root prompt. You can check like this:
-bash-3.2# whoami root
Run olpc-update
Normally you only need to run olpc-update with a build number, like this:
# olpc-update 613
There are other options. For example:
# olpc-update --help
Usage:
Update to build-<id>: olpc-update [-r] [-s SERVER] <id>
Update to <url>: olpc-update [-r] -u <toc url> <tree url>
Find a target: olpc-update [-s SERVER] -l
Get a changelog: olpc-update [-s SERVER] -c <id>
Options:
--version show program's version number and exit
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-l, --list-targets show available update targets
-c, --changelog show changelog for build NUM
-s SERVER, --server=SERVER
override the rsync base url (e.g. rsync://my.server)
-u, --urls give raw contents-file and tree urls(e.g.
rsync://my.server)
-r, --reboot reboot after update
Update Targets
There are several update targets available. There is usually one for each operating system build, and there are others for test builds and for Debian. To get a list of the available builds, use the command:
# olpc-update -l
Or from a system without olpc-update installed you can also:
# rsync rsync://updates.laptop.org | sort
Latest Version
Q: What is the latest version of the updater?
A: the most-recent released version of the updater is at:
# wget http://dev.laptop.org/~mstone/olpccontents-latest.rpm # wget http://dev.laptop.org/~mstone/rainbow-latest.rpm
A: the most-recent unstable version of the updater is at:
# wget http://dev.laptop.org/~mstone/pyvserver.rpm # wget http://dev.laptop.org/~mstone/rainbow.rpm
These packages can be installed with something like:
# rpm --upgrade --force *.rpm
You can do this on any build.
Update Using Another Laptop
Q: How can I re-use the bits for multiple laptops, using a laptop?
A: Imagine that you have two laptops, one is called SOURCE and the other TARGET.
On the SOURCE laptop, add an rsyncd.conf file to /etc:
[contents]
path = /versions/contents
uid = root
gid = root
[pristine]
path = /versions/pristine
uid = root
gid = root
Then start rsync --daemon there.
On the TARGET laptop, use rsync to check access and identify the build that is available:
rsync rsync://SOURCE/contents
Where SOURCE is the IP address or domain name of the SOURCE laptop.
Take note of the build identifier. It will be a hexadecimal hash.
On the TARGET laptop, use olpc-update to upgrade or downgrade to that build:
olpc-update -u rsync://SOURCE/contents/BUILD rsync://SOURCE/pristine/BUILD/
Note that the extra slash on the second argument is needed.
Several laptops can all be updated in the same way from one source.
Setting Up A Local Updates Server
Q: How can I re-use the bits for multiple laptops, using a server?
A: This feature is available for testing but is not yet released. Also, no one that I know of is yet publishing their own builds.
In any case, in very recent versions of the updater, one may specify something like
# olpc-update -s rsync://teach.laptop.org -l
to see a list of builds available from teach.laptop.org.
Note: In the future, it may be possible to use this feature to perform incremental updates from a USB stick or SD card, e.g. by giving something like
# olpc-update -s /mnt/mmcblk0p1 613
Please give feedback on whether you would use such an update target.
- manifest was an old name for contents, and was present for builds 602 603 605 607 608 and omitted from builds 609 610 611 612,
- updates.laptop.org generates an AUTH request, so an ident server on the system running rsync may be helpful, Debian package oidentd is sufficient,
Source Repository
Q: Where is the source?
A: The source repo is http://dev.laptop.org/git/users/mstone/security
The branch you want is currently called updater, though this will likely change in the future. There are five important files in the repository. They are:
rainbow/sbin/olpc-update rainbow/sbin/olpc-update-rsync rainbow/rainbow/update.py rainbow/rainbow/launch/targets/update.py rainbow/rainbow/launch/stages/update.py
A: More recent work is being done on the master branch.