Block Updates with Update Trigger

Using the update trigger, you can give the edge device the ability to block software updates. The device will only receive software updates when you deactivate the update trigger.

JFrog Connect provides different methods for you to control the timing of software updates, including the following:

• Start a software deployment at a time that you specify in the deployment configuration.

• Block or allow software updates to a single device by setting the update trigger in the Connect UI.

• Use the Update Trigger API to create update windows and update blocking windows for device groups in your fleet.

Set Update Trigger

The Update Trigger creates a device-based server flag that determines whether or not the edge device is available for updates. The On status indicates that the device will not receive updates. In the Off status (Connect’s default), the device can receive updates.

To block updates to a specific device, do the following:

1. Go to Devices in the left sidebar and click a device in the table of devices. If the device you want does not appear in the table, use the search box to find it.

1. Scroll down to the General Details panel and click Edit.

1. Click Update Trigger and Save.

Create an Update Window

When you deploy OTA updates to edge devices, there may be time periods when it is inappropriate or risky to send new updates. If, for instance, your device is in use by the end-user, a new update at that time might interfere with the user experience. Using the Update Trigger API call, you can manage from within your application when the device can receive updates, and when it can’t.

After setting the update trigger, your device will not receive new updates until you or your application unsets the trigger. By setting and unsetting the trigger at various times, you can create update windows that allow updates only during specific periods of time.

Example Use Case

A sample use case is a fleet of kiosk screen devices that are in use throughout the day, but are not used during the night. When the app is out of use, it goes into standby mode and comes out of standby upon first use in the morning.

When the app comes out of standby, it uses the Update Trigger API call to set the update trigger to On, so that it will not receive updates. When it goes to sleep again, the app unsets the update trigger so that it can receive updates while in standby mode. In effect, this creates an update window in which updates are allowed, and a blocking window in which the device will not accept updates.

For this use case to work, the Update Trigger API call would be used in the code of the kiosk app.

What’s Next?

Learn how to set the update trigger in the Deploy Update API request in the Connect API Reference.