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I know that OTA updating for Linux can be a complicated topic and that there are ready-made solutions out there.

I'm talking in terms of using an embedded computer running Linux such as a Rasberry Pi or Beaglebone.

It first involves partitioning the flash memory of the device to suit the over-the-air update mechanism such has having fall-back partit

However, is it possible to even re-partition a device over-the-air later?

My use case is, I wish to deploy devices in the field now, knowing that later the partitioning of the device may completely change due to a new system being created and that I have no physical access to the device.

An idea is to perhaps deploy my image with a separate partition to store some partitioning scripts that may be loaded and executed there later.

Is this even at all possible, or am I missing something obvious that says , this can't work ?

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  • Sure, it's possible. However, bricking is also possible. – frostschutz Feb 21 '19 at 18:18
  • @frostchutz . What are the risks in doing this that can cause it to brick? – Engineer999 Feb 22 '19 at 2:49
  • @Engineer999 the risks would be the chance to overwrite a critical part of your system like sshd which would prevent you from ever remoting on again. If you set up your partitions in a manner that works the first time why would you need to change it while the system is running? – kemotep Feb 22 '19 at 13:46
  • @kemotep The problem is, I am putting new embedded Linux devices in the field now. However, in 6 months we will have a new solution, which will use different partitioning schemes etc. For the new devices produced after the 6 months, it's not a problem, I will have the devices in my hand, but the others will be very difficult and expensive to get into my hand again. I'm therefore trying to see if there is something I can do in advance now to those devices to make way for the change after 6 months which could be updated remotely over-the-air, which includes the re-partitioning – Engineer999 Feb 25 '19 at 6:51
  • @Engineer999 It all depends on the exact issue at hand. What is the original partitioning scheme, how much disk space is unused or available at the time of repartitioning, and what will the new partitioning scheme be? It is certainly possible to resize a partition that is in use. The risk is that if there arises any issues you would have needed to set up the device to allow for out-of-band management to assist in a remote re-installation or you will need to get physical access again. This means doing things "right" the first time or accepting the associated risk/cost of changing things later. – kemotep Feb 25 '19 at 13:42

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