Create an Update Window

Create update windows on your devices by using the Connect API to block and unblock updates on the device.

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 example, your device is in use by the end-user, a new update at that time might interfere with the user experience. By blocking updates using a Connect API request, you can manage from within your application when the device is available to receive updates, and when it is not available.

After setting the block updates flag (called update_trigger in the Connect API), your device will not receive new updates until you or your software unsets the flag. By setting and unsetting the flag 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 software is out of use, it goes into standby mode and comes out of standby upon first use in the morning.

When the software comes out of standby, it uses the Update Device API request to set the update trigger to ON, so that it will not receive updates. When it goes to sleep again, the software 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 Device API request using the update_trigger parameter might be used in the code of the kiosk software.

What’s Next?

Learn more about the Update Device request in the Connect API v2 and the parameters that can be set and updated in that request.