# sbabic/swupdate

Software Update for Embedded Systems

Repository: https://github.com/sbabic/swupdate
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/swupdate
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: embedded, embedded-systems, flashes, emmc, swupdate, lua, iot, ota, industrial-linux, fota, software-update, firmware-update, ota-updater, ota-firmware-updates, linux, hawkbit
Last push: 2026-08-19T12:49:46+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 87/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 98, release rhythm 65, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4672, "days_push": 14, "days_rel": 72, "gap_med": 103, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1860, forks 462 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:45.351100+00:00)

## What it is
SWUpdate is a Linux update agent for safely updating embedded Linux devices in the field, supporting local and OTA updates with multiple strategies. It handles updating rootfs, kernel, bootloader, and firmware across various flash types, with cryptographic signing, delta updates, and hawkBit fleet management integration.

## Use cases
- update firmware on embedded linux devices over the air
- deploy OTA updates to a fleet of IoT devices
- perform atomic fail-safe rootfs updates on eMMC
- integrate device updates with Eclipse hawkBit
- sign and verify firmware update images
- run delta updates to reduce bandwidth on constrained devices
- build a rescue system to restore bricked devices

## When to choose
- you maintain embedded Linux devices that need secure field updates
- you need atomic, fail-safe updates across rootfs, kernel, and bootloader
- you want hawkBit integration for fleet-wide OTA updates
- you need signed/encrypted update artifacts and delta updates
- you target multiple flash types like NAND, UBIFS, SPI-NOR, or eMMC

## When to avoid
- you need OTA updates for Android or non-Linux embedded OSes
- you only update desktop or server Linux systems
- you want a managed cloud update service without self-hosting components
- your devices are not running Linux

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: stable
- function: deployment, security, configuration-management, webhook, cli
- domain: embedded-systems, iot, security, self-hosted
- platform: embedded, iot, c, lua
- tags: ota-updates, firmware-update, delta-updates, hawkbit, atomic-update, embedded-linux, fota, rescue-system, devops, linux

## Member repositories
- sbabic/swupdate (main) score 87

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:45.351100+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:15:55.929458+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/sbabic/swupdate (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:45.351100+00:00, sha 64d687fb9a65)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.